Environmental Flip - Flop
This picture of the Gulf Coast at sunset was sent in by Reta Voss. To me it's a reminder of how beautiful the region is, and why we value it as a natural resource. The ripple effect of Hurricane Katrina is going to be felt environmentally in the days ahead, which is a downturn from news released earlier this summer.
Let's begin with this past summer and the Midwest drought. Less rainfall meant less runoff. The resulting lower water volume carried with it less agricultural runoff and other chemicals. So back in July the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a forecast for the Gulf "Dead Zone" saying it would be a lot smaller than the average size during the past 15 years.
The "Dead Zone" is created when fertilizers cause algae to grow quickly. The algae then settles and decays consuming oxygen in the water, which kills other forms of aquatic life. According to NOAA, the area in the Gulf hardest hit over the past 15 years has been around 4,900 square miles. This year because of the drought it was diminished to around 1,400 square miles. That's still an area the size of Rhode Island.
And now the flip - flop.
Headlines around the world this morning are talking about the polluted water from New Orleans and where it's headed. There's no doubt that toxic water has to be pumped out of the city. And pumped out as quickly as possible. But there's no way it can be cleaned or filtered. So Katrina's final blow will be dealt to Lake Pontchartrain and the waters and beaches of the Gulf Coast. Billions of gallons of water contaminated by everything you can imagine all headed out and away from New Orleans. Many have described it as a toxic soup. NBC Nightly News had a sample tested and the results said the water had 45,000 times the bacteria level considered safe. 45,000.
I haven't heard if there will be any attempts to track this influx of pollution. But my guess is the "Dead Zone" which was coming back to life has been dealt a killing blow once again.
Today will be another very pleasant day here in the Tennessee Valley. And we'll continue to monitor Tropical Storm Ophelia. She promises to be another big forecasting headache for the National Hurricane Center.
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at1+shtml/084956.shtml?5day?large
Let's begin with this past summer and the Midwest drought. Less rainfall meant less runoff. The resulting lower water volume carried with it less agricultural runoff and other chemicals. So back in July the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration issued a forecast for the Gulf "Dead Zone" saying it would be a lot smaller than the average size during the past 15 years.
The "Dead Zone" is created when fertilizers cause algae to grow quickly. The algae then settles and decays consuming oxygen in the water, which kills other forms of aquatic life. According to NOAA, the area in the Gulf hardest hit over the past 15 years has been around 4,900 square miles. This year because of the drought it was diminished to around 1,400 square miles. That's still an area the size of Rhode Island.And now the flip - flop.
Headlines around the world this morning are talking about the polluted water from New Orleans and where it's headed. There's no doubt that toxic water has to be pumped out of the city. And pumped out as quickly as possible. But there's no way it can be cleaned or filtered. So Katrina's final blow will be dealt to Lake Pontchartrain and the waters and beaches of the Gulf Coast. Billions of gallons of water contaminated by everything you can imagine all headed out and away from New Orleans. Many have described it as a toxic soup. NBC Nightly News had a sample tested and the results said the water had 45,000 times the bacteria level considered safe. 45,000.
I haven't heard if there will be any attempts to track this influx of pollution. But my guess is the "Dead Zone" which was coming back to life has been dealt a killing blow once again.
Today will be another very pleasant day here in the Tennessee Valley. And we'll continue to monitor Tropical Storm Ophelia. She promises to be another big forecasting headache for the National Hurricane Center.
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_at1+shtml/084956.shtml?5day?large
posted by UnderH2Owxguy at 7:13 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home