• Question: what do you think about the BP oil spill in the Gulf Mexico and how will it effect the people living there in the future

    Asked by padster to Michael, Panos, Sarah on 24 Jun 2010 in Categories: .
    • Photo: Panos Soultanas

      Panos Soultanas answered on 24 Jun 2010:

      Padster,

      This has been a terrible disaster and one that did not have to become so serious in the first place if only people had put in place contigency plans and ways to deal with unforseen accidents like the one that occured. As it stands the amount of oil that has been spilled and is still spilling out in the open sea has caused immense catastrophy to the wild life. I think we are still to see the big effects it is going to create and it will probably affect us here in the UK too. The plangton in the Mexico Gulf will be destroyed which will affect sea life badly and may even cause effects on the general gulf stream that comes to the UK and heats up our own climate.
      I just hope people have learned a valuable lesson from all this and that big companies like BP will not sucrifice safety and the environment in pursue of more money.

    • Photo: Michael Loughlin

      Michael Loughlin answered on 24 Jun 2010:

      I think..or rather hope it was an unavoidable accident ( well unless you just stop looking for oil)
      If it was down to cutting corners to save money then I am very angry about that.

      The problem has been the depth of the leak..how far under the sea it was …so very hard to deal with, and the fact the amount of oil under the surface of the sea bed is so much more than in a tanker it has just kept coming and coming and coming.
      Effects of oil well much is toxic and will kill crustaceans fish, render mammals and birds unable to retain heat and so freeze, or be poisoned.
      So food taken from the sea will have to be monitored…although i had heard certain areas were safe to fish from.
      That won’t help those relying on money based on sea food and tourism. alos food will have to be brought in..less fresh cheap produce from the sea.
      Eventually it will be brought back to normal…oil is naturally degraded by bacteria and there are lots of things we can do to speed it up..most often pouring fertilizer into the sea…honest

      so if people can get through the immediate effects the long term damage will be minimal..hopefully if they fully stop the flow

Comments