The Gulf Of Mexico before the oil spill

[Javaman]

http://www.energybulletin.net/node/52942

The oil leak on Mississippi Canyon seafloor of the Gulf of Mexico proceeds apace. It is not clear that recent actions have succeeded in plugging the leak. The widely dispersed petroleum is a great disaster, but I get the distinct impression that this oil is seen as despoiling a pristine environment. Nothing could be further from the truth. I get this impression because, to my knowledge, the sorry state of the Gulf of Mexico before the oil spill has not been discussed. Before the oil spill, the Gulf of Mexico was being ravaged by—

coastal erosion
hypoxia (very low oxygen)
harmful algal blooms (red tides)

These ongoing, slower-acting environmental disasters have a common cause: human activity. Let's start with coastal erosion.

>snip<

Let's move on to hypoxia and the Gulf of Mexico Dead Zone.
The Gulf of Mexico dead zone is an area of hypoxic (less than 2 ppm dissolved oxygen) waters at the mouth of the Mississippi River. Its area varies in size, but can cover up to 6,000-7,000 square miles. The zone occurs between the inner and mid-continental shelf in the northern Gulf of Mexico, beginning at the Mississippi River delta and extending westward to the upper Texas coast... Dead zones can be found worldwide. The Gulf of Mexico dead zone is one of the largest in the world.
The dead zone is caused by nutrient enrichment from the Mississippi River, particularly nitrogen and phosphorous. Watersheds within the Mississippi River Basin drain much of the United States, from Montana to Pennsylvania and extending southward along the Mississippi River. Most of the nitrogen input comes from major farming states in the Mississippi River Valley...
Nitrogen and phosphorous enter the river through upstream runoff of fertilizers, soil erosion, animal wastes, and sewage. In a natural system, these nutrients aren't significant factors in algae growth because they are depleted in the soil by plants. However, with anthropogenically increased nitrogen and phosphorus input, algae growth is no longer limited. Consequently, algal blooms develop, the food chain is altered, and dissolved oxygen in the area is depleted. The size of the dead zone fluctuates seasonally, as it is exacerbated by farming practices. It is also affected by weather events such as flooding (more info) and hurricanes...


More at link...

(since this whole mess began with the oil chernobyl, I have written a few times regarding the sad state of the gulf prior, this article is a great overview of what was on going prior to the spill).

[SidDithers]

1. K&R...

thanks for posting.

Sid