What’s in store for the gulf? Lessons from previous disasters.

I liked this write up, if you live local to the spill it is worth a read. It will give you an insight based on previous spills.

Don't just read these clips below read the article - its not all bad. Then again there not much good.

News week
Interesting clips from the article

But some parts of the coast recovered far more quickly than others, an indication of the tangle of variables, from the chemical reactions in the oil to the millions of moving parts that make up every discrete ecosystem it touches

and..........

“There are people who are saying that if oil touches a mangrove, the mangrove is dead. That’s the doomsday scenario, that’s absolutely not true,” said Robin Lewis, who runs an environmental consulting firm in Florida and studied the Puerto Rican spill in 1986. Even if some trees die, “mangroves recolonize areas relatively rapidly, even if there’s oil present.”

and..........

Like mangroves, marsh grasses can grow back as long as their roots stay untouched. But just how long that will take is difficult to predict. Five years after oil spilled from the Metula when untouched by clean-up crews in Chile, much of the marshes hadn’t grown back. Some areas, though, recovered within five months. The difference? Deader areas experienced heavier coats of oil.

News week

I hope you guys get this leak plugged soon but IMO I can't see it happening. Drilling relief wells is going to be so hit a miss I can believe BP is relying on it as a fix. I can't believe the public think it will work.

But lets stay positive

Cheers

MJ2

Marsh areas will be burned this fall to burn off the oil.
This will protect the roots of the marsh grasses from the oil as it stays above water levels and will burn off.
The roots are under water or mud and will not burn.

Also tar balls are a lot less damaging then fresh crude oil.(the light volatiles are gone in tar balls.
The longer the oil has to age into tar ball the less damaging it is.

reply to post by ANNED


Interesting perspective, ANNED. But will the roots absorb toxins? And how will this affect the edible marsh grasses like cattails and the wildlife that eat other vegetation?

Originally posted by ANNED
Marsh areas will be burned this fall to burn off the oil.
This will protect the roots of the marsh grasses from the oil as it stays above water levels and will burn off.

So would you be happy to clean up by burning and pollute the atmosphere affecting even more people than now.