What do you think is the greatest environmental problem faced by the country that needs to be given priority?

1.) The BP Oil Spill in Gulf of Mexico:





Environmental Impact


Due to the difference in location, the depth of the oil spill, and the ecological systems in the area, it's difficult for scientists to determine exactly how the environment will be affected. The spill in the Gulf of Mexico occurred at a depth of 5,000 feet, thus affecting the water from seafloor to surface. Sadly the affects of the spill could last for decades.


According to Larry Dignan in his 2010 Smart Science article "BP Oil Spill Puts Nalco Holdings, Oil Dispersants In Spotlight", dispersants are being used to help break up the oil on the surface of the water; however the oil will gather together to make globules that will sink to the sea floor, potentially causing problems that could last for decades.


The globules that are formed eventually make their way to the ocean floor where they might remain for decades, thus affecting bottom feeding animals indefinitely. In Mark Guarino and Peter N. Spotts' 2010 article "Gulf Spill's Environmental Impact: How Long to Recover?", the globules cause algae to die, which rids the area of the oxygen. The fish flee the area, but bottom feeders, like crabs and other shellfish, are too slow to get away, and end up perishing as a result.





Economic Impact


The economic impact includes environmental repercussions as well. Naturally, there are those who are directly and immediately affected by the oil spill: the people who live and work in the area. But there is also an economical ripple effect due to the explosion that occurred in April.


In an interview, Matthew Lepetich, who owns the rights to oyster beds not far from where the oil is spilling out, relates that he still has a few months before he can harvest his oysters. If the leak is not stopped soon and his oyster beds are contaminated, he runs the risk of losing $4,500 a day.


Unfortunately, the economic devastation doesn't stop there because Mr. Lepetich sells his oysters to seven different states anywhere from Louisiana to Maryland. One oyster house in Mississippi has been forced to lay off 60 of its workers due to oyster beds in the Gulf being off limits for harvesting. Shrimpers and fishermen have been forced to increase prices of their product anywhere from $1 to $10 per pound because of the BP explosion.


Logically, because the selling price to restaurants for seafood is rising, the restaurants are being forced to raise the prices for their customers, in some cases 10%. Similarly, hotels and resorts are losing money - between $100,00 and $200,000 during the Memorial Day weekend. Over the Memorial Day weekend, the Gulf Coast saw a 50% decrease in sales, and hotel occupancy as low as 15-19%.


Read more at Suite101: The Economic and Environmental Impact of the BP Oil Spill, 2010 http://www.suite101.com/content/oil-spil…





Social Impact


The BP oil spill was an international disaster which has hurt international industries, employment, food supplies and the general health of the people who live in the Gulf region.


http://www.helium.com/items/1931956-soci…








2.) Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone:





American farmers love their chemical fertilizers and pesticides, and apply them liberally to their crops. Unfortunately, these chemicals – along with nitrogen-rich livestock waste – seeps from farmlands along the Mississippi River into the water and eventually, down into the Gulf of Mexico, where they have led to an oxygen-starved “dead zone” the size of New Jersey. Ocean dead zones cannot support sea life.


Nitrogen in the chemicals and animal waste spur the growth of algae, which is eaten by zooplankton. Those microscopic creatures then excrete pellets that sink to the bottom of the ocean and decay, a process that depletes the water of oxygen.


Researchers set out last July to study the dead zone, taking water samples and measuring the total affected area. Some water samples showed no oxygen at all, and smelled of hydrogen sulfide, a rotten egg smell that indicates organic sediments on the sea floor.


The dead zone has grown steadily over the past few decades. Though it tends to disappear in October once cold weather sets in, there’s a “legacy” left behind due to the fact that not all organic matter on the bottom decays in any given year. This means that even if the same amount of nitrogen is released into the Gulf year after year, the dead zone will get larger.


A recent study identified many of the sources of the nitrogen runoff along the Mississippi River, and the government plans to help states focus their pollution-reduction efforts to prevent some of the runoff from ending up in the river.


http://earthfirst.com/americas-top-10-wo…