Gulf oil still a major issue, even 6 months later!

The hole that is causing all the oil to flow into the ocean is plugged, but the problems that this leak has caused are far from over.
But, let us rememberhow it all started. On 20th of April this year, the Deepwater horizon platform that drilled oil exploded. It slowly sank two days later. However, the long pipe that brought oil to the platform crumpled when the platform sank, and the oil started gushing out.
On July 15th, this year engineers plugged the hole that was causing so many problems. However this was no easy task. The hole was a mile underneath the surface of the water, and the cap that was supposed to plug it weighed about 75 tons. Between April 20th, and July 15th, about 4.9 million barrels of oil were wasted, and released into the ocean. That is enough to fill up 300 Olympic swimming pools. This oil spill is the biggest one in U.S history!
However, the problems are far from over. Some of the oil has reached the surface, but much of it has not. Scientists, government officials, and others are trying to figure out where all this oil went. In August one organization said that about 17 percent of the oil that leaked was immediately collected from the top of the well, before it had an opportunity to go into the water. Also, they said that 5 percent was burned, and 3 percent was skimmed and taken off the surface of the ocean. However, other scientists strongly disagree. One of those scientists, Ian MacDonald says that only about 10% has been taken out of the water, and that 10% could have evaporated. Some other scientists are studying and analysing the oil firsthand, from research ships that are floating around the Gulf. Those ships have mapped a giant cloud of oil floating beneath the surface. This cloud is as tall as a 50-story building, and a mile long. This cloud is expected to be around 3,000 feet beneath the surface of the water. Scientists were shocked with this discovery. This oil cloud could totally destroy some species of deep-ocean fish, but also, they do not understand how oil is still underwater. Oil is less dense then water, and, naturally, it would float to the top of the water's surface. Oil and water cannot mix.
One mathematician, Roberto Camassa, thinks he knows the answer to this mystery. He suspects that the tiny little microbes are eating the oil molecules. A lot of scientists agree with this theory, since lots of oil clouds are slowly disappearing from under the surface of the ocean.
However, we cannot rely on tiny microbes to solve the major eco disaster that we have created. It would take a very long time, and most of the marine life would have already die out. So we need to take the matter into our own hands, and fix the major eco disaster that we, ourselves, have caused.

Link: http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/63094/title/FOR_KIDS_Gulf_oil_finds_many_paths
Author: Stephen Ornes
Date published: September 7th, 2010

Reflection on "Our Human Footprint"

I have found this movie really fascinating, but also quite shocking, at the same time, as well. Who knew that we could produce so much carbon dioxide and so much pollution in just a few years of our life, through diapers and milk. I found it really sad that no one knows how much we waste, and how much we affect the planet. I had no idea, until now, that we have to waste so much crude oil and wood, just to make diapers for the toddlers. That is insane! The oil can be used for many other, more useful, purposes, such as powering cars, generating energy, etc. As for the wood, why would we deforest, just so we can make diapers? We ruin habitats, and we end lives, just so babies can keep clean. I find that horrible and inconsiderable for all the animals and plants.  

But, this is just for the few first years of our life! As we get older, we keep on producing more, and more waste. This waste comes from groceries, clothes, beauty products, building materials for houses, medicines/pills, etc. All of this adds up 64 tons of waste, per person, per lifetime. That is an AWFUL amount of waste, for just one person. There are 6 billion people on the Earth, and this number is still increasing! Just imagine THEN how much waste we produce!

However, just a few simple changes can help our environment. Instead of throwing out cell phones away, we could recycle them. We could also recycle paper, plastic and metal more. Instead of using cement and concrete to make our houses, we could make a small part of the house out of eco—friendly materials. Some of them are bamboo, or recyclable materials such as aluminum and steel. Also, you could just decrease your house-temperature by 2 degrees in winter and wear a jumper, and increase it by 2 degrees in the summer and wear lighter clothing. This could stop 2 tons of carbon emissions a year!

Sustainability means “the capacity to endure”. In ecology it is also referred to as “the ability of biological systems to remain diverse and productive over time”. When I think of sustainability, I think of sustainable energy sources. Those are renewable energy sources that do not have very big affects on the environment, and do not cause greenhouse effects or pollution. Some of those sources are wind power, solar power, geothermal, hydrothermal, etc.

When my family and I calculated our human footprint, it showed us that, if everyone lived our lifestyle, we would need 5.3 earths. The biggest effect on this score was the amount of gasoline my family consumes, and the distance we drive each year. I feel terrible, and I think that there are a few ways we can reduce our footprint. Firstly, my parents could follow my sisters’ and my example, and walk to nearby places, instead of always driving. They could also ride the bike. I could also reduce my human footprint by changing some other impacts, such as food, fuel, etc. I could reduce the amount of animal-products that I eat. So, just eating less meat, would help to reduce a lot of food being thrown out, and it would help (even a tiny bit) stop mass food production. Also, my family could make a change by generating, even a small bit of our heat and electricity, by using renewable sources, such as solar panels, or wind turbines. This year, we could also take a holiday in Serbia, instead of going out of the country, and reduce the amount of gasoline we use, and the amount of carbon dioxide emissions we cause.

This video opened my eyes, and it successfully got its point across. We are consuming much more then we need, and if we want to save our lives, and our planet, we need to stop. This movie is a wake-up call.