{"id":136302,"date":"2010-06-05T14:17:46","date_gmt":"2010-06-05T13:17:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/universo\/?p=136302"},"modified":"2010-06-05T17:05:49","modified_gmt":"2010-06-05T16:05:49","slug":"bp-desastre-ecologico-en-el-golfo-de-mexico-humedales-y-mucho-que-reflexionar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/universo\/2010\/06\/05\/136302","title":{"rendered":"BP, Desastre Ecol\u00f3gico en el Golfo de M\u00e9xico, Humedales y Mucho que Reflexionar"},"content":{"rendered":"

\u00bfQuien contamina paga? \u00bfY en base a que c\u00e1lculos? \u00bfQuien los lleva a cabo? <\/strong><\/span>No he entrado a abordar este tr\u00e1gico tema, por cuanto Antonio Figueras, en su magn\u00edfico blog \u201cCiencias Marinas y Otros Asuntos<\/a>\u201d\u00a0 nos lo est\u00e1 explicando con mayor conocimiento de causa. Cuando escribo este post, los ejecutivos de BP intentan convencer a sus accionistas para que no cunda el p\u00e1nico entre sus codiciosas mentes. Dicen haber amasado dinero suficiente como para afrontar tal debacle. Lo dudo, por no decir \u00a1lo niego!, si se valora el da\u00f1o que est\u00e1n causando y cuya resoluci\u00f3n dista mucho de ver la luz. Si quien contamina paga, habr\u00e1 que replantearse muy seriamente quienes son los culpables. Esta compa\u00f1\u00eda por supuesto. Sin embargo, cabr\u00eda preguntarse cual es la responsabilidad de los que concedieron las licencias<\/span><\/strong>, el sistema econ\u00f3mico que permite los continuos desmanes que sufrimos, as\u00ed como del silencio de los corderos, es decir de nosotros como ciudadanos<\/span><\/strong>. Porque todos formamos parte de esta sociedad globalizada, es decir bobalizada hasta decir basta.\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

\"Humedales\u00a0<\/p>\n

Los Humedales de Luisisina. Fuente: El Polvor\u00edn.com<\/a><\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Hoy mismo, un d\u00eda despu\u00e9s de haber escrito el post, una nueva noticia arroja una peque\u00f1a luz de esperanza<\/a>, aunque habr\u00e1 que esperar, ya que el incidente dista de mucho de haber sido resuelto. No obstante, este hecho no invalida nada de lo que os comentaba ayer, por lo que os dejo el post intacto.<\/p>\n

Esperaba abordar el tema cuando el \u201ccrudo\u201d comenzara a generar estragos en los humedades, por cuanto estos ya atesoran suelos terrestres y sumergidos. Empero este esperp\u00e9ntico culebr\u00f3n va camino se convertirse en un drama shakesperiano si un milagro (de los de verdad) no se cruza en su camino. Iba guardando material y hoy me he percatado que ya hab\u00eda almacenado m\u00e1s de 120 p\u00e1ginas, sin prestarle la debida atenci\u00f3n, que si no (\u2026). Obviamente, debemos hablar de este desastre humano que deviene en ambiental, econ\u00f3mico y social. Sin embargo, al comenzar a leer alguna de las noticias que estaba compilando la c\u00f3lera comenzaba a apoderarse de m\u00ed. \u00a1Tranqui Juanjo!: date una \u201cpaseito\u201d y a ver si nos calmamos. Pero es dif\u00edcil. Veamos:<\/p>\n

El Golfo de M\u00e9xico<\/a> (y sus famosos humeadles aleda\u00f1os) ya comenzaba a ser una pocilga a causa de la poluci\u00f3n y contaminaci\u00f3n que\u00a0 el r\u00edo Misisipi<\/a> vierte en su delta. Ya os hemos comentado la raz\u00f3n en otros post. Esta cuenca drena una buna parte de las llanuras centroamericanas tradicionalmente utilizadas para la agricultura. Su caudal es rico en fertilizantes (nitr\u00f3geno y f\u00f3sforo, especialmente), as\u00ed como en todo tipo de plaguicidas. Esos eutrofizar las aguas litorales, causando floraciones algales<\/a> primero y puntos muertos<\/a> (es decir desiertos oce\u00e1nicos) despu\u00e9s. Sus pesquer\u00edas menguaban tanto como crec\u00eda la contaminaci\u00f3n de tales manjares. Los huracanes, tambi\u00e9n causan enormes estragos de vez en cuando. Pero ahora BP quiere dejar su impronta en la historia de la estulticia bobalizante.<\/p>\n

Y el petr\u00f3leo sigue fluyendo a toneladas diariamente mientras PB compra los dispersantes (que tambi\u00e9n son t\u00f3xicos) a una de sus empresas subsidiarias<\/span><\/strong>, tranquiliz\u00e1ndonos al alegar que tarde o temprano lograr\u00e1n enmendar su desaguisado. Lo que ocurre es que la naturaleza no es una cuenta bancaria. Una vez causado el impacto, los da\u00f1os pueden ser irreparables desde muchos puntos de vista. Y nadie sabe que hacer. La mancha puede extenderse desde Luisiana<\/a> hacia las costas atl\u00e1nticas de EE.UU., ba\u00f1ar una de las zonas m\u00e1s tur\u00edsticas de este pa\u00eds, como lo es el Estado de Florida<\/span><\/strong>, acariciar a la ya m\u00e1s que empobrecida Cuba<\/span><\/strong>, tomar el sol en las costas Mexicanas de Veracruz<\/span><\/strong> (pobre amigo R\u00e9gulo), y a saber que m\u00e1s. Los ec\u00f3logos americanos no saben que hacer para evitar que este \u201coro negro\u201d penetre en sus ricos y biodiversos humedales, mientras que sus modelizadores reconocen desconocer cual ser\u00e1 el trayecto de la \u201cmanchita de PB\u201d. Realmente es impredecible. Vamos que \u201centre todos la mataron y ella sola se muri\u00f3\u201d. Pero la cosa no acaba aqu\u00ed.<\/p>\n

Entramos en la estaci\u00f3n de los huracanes<\/span><\/strong>. Si uno o varios de ellos tocan las costas por donde deambula a sus anchas esa capa negruzca, las olas gigantes arrastrar\u00e1n tierra a dentro el fuel, contamin\u00e1ndolo<\/span><\/strong> todo y poniendo en riesgo la salud de los afectados. Pero no hablamos de un posible riesgo, sino de otro m\u00e1s que probable. Y PB no sabe que hacer m\u00e1s que enga\u00f1ar a sus inversores y calamar las iras del \u201cTio Sam\u201d. Pero claro, a base de fracaso tras fracaso, al amigo americano la sangre se le acumula en las sienes (\u2026).<\/p>\n

Ya sabr\u00e9is que la explotaci\u00f3n se realizaba a m\u00e1s de mil metros de profundidad<\/span><\/strong>. Responsables en Europa alegan que tal problema no ocurrir\u00eda en este continente, por cuanto las explotaciones de BP y otras multinacionales petrol\u00edferas en el Mar del Norte no profundizan m\u00e1s de 100 o 200. Debemos pues repreguntarnos, \u00bfSe dispon\u00eda de la tecnolog\u00eda adecuada para hacer frente a este \u201cpeque\u00f1o contratiempo\u201d? \u00bfSe hab\u00eda testado su eficacia?<\/span><\/strong> Trabajar bajo la presi\u00f3n de una\u00a0 columna de agua a cien metros de profundidad no acarrea los problemas de hacerlo a m\u00e1s de mil, por cuanto en las \u00faltimas la presi\u00f3n es enorme. \u00bfNadie se hab\u00eda percatado de tan insignificante detalle? \u00a1Imposible! Por tanto, debemos preguntarnos una vez m\u00e1s \u00bfQu\u00e9 estudios de impacto ambiental se presentaron? \u00bfQu\u00e9 organismo concedi\u00f3 las licencias?<\/span><\/strong> La respuesta la tiene el Tio Sam. Ellos tambi\u00e9n son responsables.<\/p>\n

Obama amenaza con adoptar medidas que van m\u00e1s all\u00e1 de las financieras, es decir penales<\/span><\/strong>. \u00bfEs que no es de justicia, encarcelar a los causantes de este problema de \u00e1mbito regional? \u00bfQu\u00e9 har\u00e1n los pa\u00edses vecinos, susceptibles de ser afectados? \u00bfSe conformar\u00e1n con una peque\u00f1a limosna? Hablamos de perdida de biodiversidad y destrucci\u00f3n da h\u00e1bitats naturales protegidos, pero tambi\u00e9n de grav\u00edsimas p\u00e9rdidas econ\u00f3micas que<\/span><\/strong> pueden alcanzar a pa\u00edses y ciudadanos que sufren las consecuencias de vivir al desamparo de econom\u00edas muy precarias.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Los atl\u00e1teres de la globalizaci\u00f3n econ\u00f3mica defend\u00edan la autorregulaci\u00f3n de los mercados. Ya vemos las consecuencias: una crisis mundial galopante bajo el imperio de la rapi\u00f1a de tramposos, estafadores y corruptos. \u00bfQui\u00e9n gobierna este mundo?: \u00bfLos Estados o las multinacionales? <\/span><\/strong>Estas campan a sus anchas como el caballo de Atila (por que si habl\u00e1ramos de \u00c1frica\u2026). Y ah\u00ed tenemos una y otra vez los resultados.<\/p>\n

\u00a0No se trata tan solo de juzgar por lo civil y lo criminal a BP, ya que bien podr\u00eda haber sido otra empresa la causante del desatino. Lo que realmente debemos plantearnos es si debemos poner ante un tribunal de justicia a todo un sistema capitalista que nos lleva hacia el abismo. Si, hablo de esos mismos que nos torturan con vocablos de la guisa de econom\u00eda sustentable, puestos de trabajo verde, brotes verdes, energ\u00eda verde y \u00a1verde que te quiero verde! Hoy, los ciudadanos de los pa\u00edses ricos son menos ricos, mientras que los de los pa\u00edses pobres, m\u00e1s pobres, con la salvedad de unos cuantos afortunados.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Mientras en Luisiana hoy los pescadores alegan que no se trata ya de dinero, sino de sus pesquer\u00edas, tierras y forma de vida, los de Florida tiemblan si sus playas se pintan de oro negro. \u00bfPero y en M\u00e9xico, Cuba, etc.?.<\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00a1S\u00ed!, todos somos culpables<\/span><\/strong>. Cuando en una sociedad los rotativos hablan mucho m\u00e1s de los iPads y los iPods (m\u00e1s residuos electr\u00f3nicos que ir\u00e1n a parar a \u00c1frica o el SE asi\u00e1tico para que los desheredados enfermen intentando reciclar residuos altamente contaminantes, so pena de no poderse llevar un trozo de pan a la boca!), la globalizaci\u00f3n continua su impenitente empresa de demoler la biosfera y convertirnos a todos en esclavos de unas empresas cuyos accionistas mayoritarios debieran pasar por los tribunales de la justicia, por no decir otra cosa. Todos somos culpables por perpetuar el silencio de los corderos<\/span><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Al final, las dimensiones de la tragedia depender\u00e1n, tanto de la diosa fortuna, es decir de los impredecibles devenires de las circulaciones oce\u00e1nicas y atmosf\u00e9ricas, como de<\/span><\/strong> que a los sesudos t\u00e9cnicos de BP se les enciendan las neuronas. No se cuales son menos peligrosos.<\/p>\n

\u00a0A bajo os dejo retazos, un tanto inconexos pero ilustrativos, de noticias sobre el tema, extra\u00eddas del bolet\u00edn Terradaily<\/span><\/strong>, eso s\u00ed, en suahili<\/em>, el idioma del imperio (excepto un enlace que nos ha proporcionado R\u00e9gulo Le\u00f3n Arteta en espa\u00f1ol<\/strong><\/span>) . Sinceramente como siga escribiendo terminar\u00e9 subi\u00e9ndome por las paredes. Mejor ingerir de un trago, una cervecita, o dos, si son peque\u00f1as. Si, \u00a1Yo si puedo!, otros ni eso. Lamentable no ser\u00eda ni un vocablo afortunado.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n

Juan Jos\u00e9 Ib\u00e1\u00f1ez<\/span><\/strong>\u00a0<\/p>\n

As\u00ed se ve el problema desde M\u00e9xico <\/a>\u00a0(gracias R\u00e9gulo)<\/p>\n

At Pass a Loutre oil seeps deep into Louisiana marshlands<\/a><\/p>\n

by Staff Writers: 0Pass A Loutre, Louisiana (AFP) May 29, 2010<\/p>\n

Thick black oil hung in the water and stained the bases of the roseau cane at Pass a Loutre, a shrinking patch of Louisiana’s fragile wetlands where crude from the BP spill first hit land and began seeping deep into the fragile marshes.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Louisiana’s wetlands make up some 40 percent of all the marshlands in the United States. Oil in the marshes can suffocate plants and animals or poison them with the toxic chemicals found in hydrocarbons. \u00abIf the roseau cane do end up dying, they have a really intricate root mass and if that goes they won’t hold in the sediment any more. That can really enhance erosion. And we are already having a serious problem with erosion,\u00bb said Freeman. Freeman dipped another jar into water closer to the lighthouse, which once stood in the midst of marshland flora but was left isolated after the passage of hurricane Katrina in 2005 with its deadly winds and rain.<\/p>\n

\u00a0British oil giant BP has sprayed hundreds of thousands of gallons of dispersant on the surface and tens of thousands of gallons underwater to try to mitigate the massive spill caused by the accident on its Deepwater Horizon rig on April 20. The dispersant, a low-level hazardous chemical, is meant to break down the oil so that, over time, the slick is reduced to smaller particles that biodegrade instead of being left as chunky, thick globs that can choke both wildlife and vegetation.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Another peril facing the marshes was the approach of hurricane season, which begins next week and is expected to bring more than a dozen powerful storms this year. A hurricane could push the oil in the Gulf into wetlands far upstream on the Mississippi, where teeming wildlife belie the tragedy being played out a half-hour boat ride away at Pass a Loutre and in the waters of the Gulf.<\/p>\n

<\/a>With oil spill, Louisiana fishermen’s way of life threatened<\/a>
\nGalliano, Louisiana (AFP) May 28, 2010<\/p>\n

In the more than half a century that Oliver Danos has been fishing the waters where Louisiana’s Lafourche bayou opens to the Gulf, he’s never seen anything like it: perfect fishing weather and not a boat on the water but his. Danos, 59, piloted the \u00abMiss Amy\u00bb shrimping boat along the narrow bayou and out onto the sea Thursday, past the sheds of immigrants from Vietnam and Croatia and descend … read more<\/a><\/p>\n

BP defends use of dispersant but seeks alternatives<\/a><\/p>\n

by Staff Writers: Robert, Louisiana (AFP) May 27, 2010
\nTop officials with BP and the US Coast Guard on Thursday sought to calm public fears over use of a chemical dispersant on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, after seven cleanup workers fell ill. \u00a0The cause of the workers’ illnesses is under investigation, BP chief operating officer Doug Suttles said Thursday. All seven workers were aboard spill response boats off the Louisiana coast Wednesday when they were exposed to spilled oil, the chemical dispersant, and searing midday heat. Much public attention has focused on Corexit, which BP selected for the Gulf spill from a US government-approved list of oil chemical dispersants. \u00abAs I’ve stated many times, if there is a less toxic, more effective. Environmental groups have expressed concerns over Corexit, which is manufactured for BP by NALCO Energy Services of Sugar Land, Texas.<\/p>\n

The dispersant itself is a low-level hazardous chemical, posing risks for eye and skin irritations and \u00abchemical pneumonia\u00bb but not cancers, according to NALCO data posted on the web site for the Gulf’s Deepwater Horizon rig accident.<\/p>\n

Coast Guard Admiral Thad Allen on Thursday approved plans to build a six-foot (1.82 meters) high sand berm at Scofield Island, around 10 miles (16 kilometers) southwest of the port of Venice. Louisiana officials to build a string of sand barriers along the coastline to keep the oil away will actually work.<\/p>\n

But environmentalists have issues with berms, fearing the solution officials are proposing to hold back the oil from Louisiana’s unique marshlands, if not done right, could do more harm than good to the Mississippi Delta, and might not do the job at all.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00abMud is not good for making berms because it’s very fine, and fine material won’t stack,\u00bb said Lopez. Even if it were possible to build a berm with mud, \u00abany kind of tidal action would make it disperse,\u00bb said Freeman. Oil could easily become trapped in and absorbed by the mud, which would prevent it from weathering and breaking down, the scientists said. Berms have to be built in such as way as to not block off tidal inlets, because narrower inlets would increase the velocity at which water is channeled into the delta area, which could mean that the oil is driven even further into the fragile marshlands than without the berms. Berms can also alter water salinity which would affect the fragile marshlands.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The plan approved Thursday would work with the natural system of the delta region by putting berms in places where barrier islands have been broken down naturally, and was \u00aban option we can live with,\u00bb the experts said.
\n<\/a>Environmental groups welcome Obama oil freeze<\/a><\/p>\n

Los Angeles (AFP) May 27, 2010
\nEnvironmental activists campaigning for a halt on Arctic oil exploration welcomed President Barack Obama’s decision to halt planned drilling in two regions off the coast of Alaska. A coalition of groups led by the Alaska Wilderness League had been lobbying for the suspension of Shell Oil’s proposed exploratory drilling in the Chukchi and Beaufort Seas, due to begin off the coast of Alaska in … read more<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0Gulf oil spill threatens Atlantic coast: study<\/a><\/p>\n

by Staff Writers
\nWashington (AFP) June 3, 2010<\/p>\n

Oil from the devastating Gulf of Mexico spill could reach thousands of miles of Atlantic coastline and ocean within months, a study showed Thursday.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Computer simulations produced by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) suggested that ocean currents could send oil surging beyond the Gulf of Mexico and along the United States’ eastern seaboard. \u00abI’ve had a lot of people ask me, ‘Will the oil reach Florida?'\u00bb NCAR scientist Synte Peacock said in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The NCAR, a Colorado-based facility supported by the National Science Foundation that works with university scientists, emphasized however that the simulations were not a forecast because it was impossible to accurately predict the exact location of the oil in several weeks or months time. However all six simulations released Thursday suggested oil would work its way into the Loop Current and along the Atlantic coastline. Spill threatens Florida’s beaches, and tourism livelihood<\/p>\n

Miami (AFP) June 3, 2010 – The Gulf of Mexico oil spill approached the sandy white beaches of Pensacola Thursday, threatening Florida’s tourist industry just ahead of the prime summer season.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00abThe phones are not ringing for reservations,\u00bb lamented Laura Lee, spokeswoman for Visit Florida in the beachside town, adding that the tourism industry is \u00abvery anxious about summer business.\u00bb The area’s crystal clear waters and famously bright beaches are open and not yet impacted by oil, Lee told AFP, saying \u00abright now we are just taking it day by day.\u00bb Having already contaminated the Louisiana coast, the United States’ worst environmental catastrophe is now being driven toward Florida by winds blowing from the south and west.<\/p>\n

\u00a0That spells disaster for a state that is one of the world’s top destination for tourists, with more than 80 million visitors a year. At a time of high unemployment in other sectors, tourism generates more than a million jobs and in 2008 brought the state 65 billion dollars in revenues.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The US Coast Guard said Thursday it was investigating reports of oily substances and tar balls reaching the hit the state’s idyllic Keys on its southern tip. Officials said the reports would require sampling and testing to determine if any pollution is related to the Gulf spill. The Gulf spill also had confirmed reports by fishermen who observed oil sheen not far from Pensacola Beach and other beaches in northwestern Florida.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The hotel business, commercial and sport fishing and diving are mainstays of the economy, especially in the summer, and they would be seriously impacted if oil spreads into the region and onto its beaches. \u00abWaters are clean and beaches are clean as well, but in this incident everything changes, so we are watchful, we are monitoring the situation, and we will do everything to protect our beautiful state,\u00bb said Crist.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Florida has already received 35 million dollars in compensation from BP, the British energy giant responsible for the leak, and is using it to promote visits to the state and get the word out that its beaches and waters are clean. But if oil tars Florida beaches, the message will change, said Crist.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Michael Sole, head of Florida’s environmental protection department, ruled out the use of dispersants to break up the spill before it reaches shore. \u00abThe product that is heading our way is largely a weathered product, tar balls, tar mats, that type of material. Dispersants are largely ineffective on this heavily weathered oil,\u00bb he said. Oceanographers have warned that the use of dispersants in Florida could have devastating effects on the coral reefs that run parallel to the Florida Keys at the southern end of the state, another tourist attraction that is now at risk.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Dozens of fish species in danger in US oil leak: expert<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0by Staff Writers: Galliano, Louisiana (AFP) May 31, 2010<\/p>\n

Dozens of species of fish including one just discovered six months ago, could be wiped out by the massive oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico that has been spewing crude into the sea for six weeks, a scientist said Monday. \u00a0\u00abWe may very well lose dozens of vulnerable fish species,\u00bb Prosanta Chakrabarty, a fish scientist at Louisiana State University, told AFP by email. \u00abCurrently there are no reports about massive fish kills being sighted, but I’m afraid that a lot of damage is being done below the surface where the majority of oil is,\u00bb he said. But officials from the British oil giant warned they may not be able to plug the Gulf of Mexico oil leak until August, when twin relief wells have been drilled.<\/p>\n

\u00a0US oil spill could last for weeks, officials warn<\/a><\/p>\n

by Staff Writers: Galliano, Louisiana (AFP) May 31, 2010
\nBP officials warned Monday they may not be able to plug the Gulf of Mexico oil leak until August, as Louisiana residents warned the spill could wipe out dozens of fish species and their centuries-old way of life. \u00abDrilling relief wells is still seen as the best solution,\u00bb but they will not be onstream for at least eight weeks, BP spokesman John Currie told AFP, as US officials warned the spill is now the worst environmental disaster to ever hit the United States. \u00abThis is a scam. BP does not charge to train and hire applicants,\u00bb said Neil Chapman, a spokesman for the oil company.<\/p>\n

Thousands of fishermen have been forced by the spill to leave their boats in port during peak fishing season, as state officials shut down prime fishing grounds.<\/p>\n

\u00a0Currie said BP has been paying up to 3,000 dollars a day to out-of-work fishermen and others who are able to prove they have been impacted by the crisis.<\/p>\n

\u00a0by Staff Writers<\/p>\n

Belle Chasse, Louisiana (AFP) May 31, 2010
\nLouisiana residents Tuesday braced for further woe as hurricane season officially began, threatening to whip up oil-soaked waves, and dump tarry sludge far into inland areas.<\/p>\n

\u00a0\u00abThis year especially we have a particular challenge as we go into hurricane season, with the oil in the Gulf,\u00bb said Billy Nungesser, president of Plaquemines Parish area. Five years after it was battered by Hurricane Katrina, the state braced for for more misery amid warnings the next six months may be a highly active storm season.<\/p>\n

\u00a0The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has predicted up to 14 hurricanes, of which between three to seven will be \u00abmajor\u00bb tempests, packing winds in excess of 110 miles per hour (176 kilometers per hour).<\/p>\n

Officials say oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill has already tainted nearly 3,000 acres (1,214 hectares) of marshland since an explosion ripped through the Deepwater Horizon rig some 50 miles (80 kilometers) off Louisiana. Nungesser repeated a plea to US authorities to give the go-ahead for Plaquemines Parish officials to start building sand barriers off the coast to block the oil. \u00abWithout something out here to keep it from flowing in, there’s no way of defending ourselves — the only way we’re going to save the coastline is berms,\u00bb Nungesser told AFP.<\/p>\n

\u00abEverywhere oil has impacted, the marshes are going to die. If we see oil in the marshes now, next year they’ll all be gone,\u00bb he said. Oil has poured into the marshlands each time there has been a thunderstorm, said Nungesser.<\/p>\n

A storm surge — when sea water is washed inland by high hurricane-force winds — could carry oil from the Gulf, up the Mississippi Delta and \u00abinto people’s back gardens,\u00bb Nungesser told a packed hurricane preparedness meeting.<\/p>\n

Residents may be left dealing not only with flooding, but also with the toxic residue of the oil, he said. Scientists have said huge plumes of oil are hanging underneath the surface of the sea, and sheen has been spotted on the surface.<\/p>\n

\u00abIf we get a hurricane in the Gulf, that oil and all that dispersant they’re putting in there is going to be right up here with us, and that just scares the heck out of me,\u00bb said 60-year-old Belle Chasse resident Harriet Hamilton. Locals have slammed BP for its handling of the crisis, accusing the British oil giant of fudging facts, of \u00abpoisoning\u00bb the Gulf waters with dispersant and of being too slow to staunch the flow of crude into the sea.<\/p>\n

Fishermen have been unable to fish during prime season, and their economic plight is impacting other industries that depend on the multi-billion-dollar seafood business.<\/p>\n

BP has shipped in thousands of workers to help with the oil clean-up effort in the worst environmental disaster in US history. But that poses another problem for local leaders as a major hurricane would mean thousands more people would have to be evacuated.<\/p>\n

Scope of Gulf of Mexico oil spill still a mystery<\/a>
\nWashington (AFP) June 3, 2010 -The spreading Gulf of Mexico slick is already the worst in US history, but its long-term effect on vulnerable ecosystems along the fragile coast remains virtually unknown, experts say. \u00abThe situation is the worst that I have known… but you don’t know what the impact will be,\u00bb said Michael Boufadel, civil and environmental engineering chair at Temple University in Philadelphia. But one<\/p>\n

World’s ecosystems provide ‘services’ equal to global income<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00bfQuien contamina paga? \u00bfY en base a que c\u00e1lculos? \u00bfQuien los lleva a cabo? No he entrado a abordar este tr\u00e1gico tema, por cuanto Antonio Figueras, en su magn\u00edfico blog \u201cCiencias Marinas y Otros Asuntos\u201d\u00a0 nos lo est\u00e1 explicando con mayor conocimiento de causa. Cuando escribo este post, los ejecutivos de BP intentan convencer a sus accionistas para que no cunda el p\u00e1nico entre sus codiciosas mentes. Dicen haber amasado dinero suficiente como para afrontar tal debacle. Lo dudo, por no decir \u00a1lo niego!, si se valora el da\u00f1o que est\u00e1n causando y cuya resoluci\u00f3n dista mucho de ver la\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":26,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0},"categories":[594,615,606,617],"tags":[1848,1846,1847,46704],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":4}},"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/universo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136302"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/universo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/universo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/universo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/26"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/universo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=136302"}],"version-history":[{"count":14,"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/universo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136302\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":136346,"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/universo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136302\/revisions\/136346"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/universo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=136302"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/universo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=136302"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.madrimasd.org\/blogs\/universo\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=136302"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}