another reason for alternate energy

Photo Courtesy: www.euronews.net

There are many many reasons why we should wean ourselves off of petroleum and advocate for alternate energy sources. One of the reasons has been all over the news. The Gulf of Mexico oil spill might be worse than the Exxon Valdez spill nearly twenty years ago. NOAA has concluded that oil is leaking from the rig at the rate of 5,000 barrels or 200,000 gallons a day. The Gulf of Mexico is a key area for the seafood industry and one of the world's richest fisheries and it could be badly affected, perhaps for years to come.

Oil spills are devastating to the environment. Oil once spilled onto the ocean forms a thick layer called the slick, which depending on the weather can split or get thinned out further to become the sheen. An oil spill far off the coast can be carried to the coastline due to wave action and can therefore affect coastal marine life. Coastal spills, unless cleaned up will stay around until it is broken down by weather or decomposed by bacteria - this takes a very long time. The gooey black tar-like substance coats everything it comes to contact with. On the surface of water, it is not only toxic but also cuts of oxygen supply to the waters below.

Coastlines and estuaries act as important nesting grounds, marine nurseries and oil spills in these areas prove devastating to birds, animals, juvenile fish, larvae and reefs. Microscopic diatoms and plankton are most severely affected and so are organisms like mussels, clams, crabs, other arthropods and burrowing animals. Birds and marine mammals when coated with oil can die by ingesting the oil trying to clean themselves or due to the toxic chemicals present in the oil. The effects of a spill this size might damage the ecosystem for years to come according to some biologists.

Burning the oil to clear it from the water faster which is what might be done will release more pollutants and GHGs into the atmosphere. Oil spills, volcanoes, earthquakes, tornadoes, forest fires - all man-made and natural disasters are no more localized events of catastrophe. Harm to a part is harm to the whole.

BP PLC the company responsible for the spill has stated that it will "take help from anyone". What happens to the people who depend on the Gulf for their livelihood, the ecosystem and the fishing industry is anybody's guess...

Every a****** who ever chanted 'Drill baby drill' should have to report to the Gulf coast today for cleanup duty - Bill Maher

year of biodiversity

The UN has declared 2010 as the year of biodiversity. 2009 was year of natural fibers and 2008 was year of the coral reefs. Public understanding and action are the clearest ways to halt loss of biodiversity. Even those climate change skeptics cannot deny loss of biodiversity that happens everyday on a massive scale. Biodiversity loss is even more irreversible than climate change even if one feeds the other.

The 2010 Biodiversity Target is an overall conservation target aiming to save biodiversity by the end of the year 2010. The UN has set a framework on how to achieve this. Prevention of biodiversity loss is a massive undertaking as most of it is linked to rapidly diminishing forest cover which is in turn connected with socio-economic balances within the country. Unfortunately most of the world's richest forests are found in the countries which means a high level of corruption exists which mars any conservation efforts. Governments and NGOs play a vital role is stressing that destruction of forests is not sustainable and instead expend efforts to show people a more sustainable method of using forest products for their livelihood. In a previous post I highlighted some of the factors that make conservation of forests very difficult. There are however, many success stories where forest area has been successfully preserved by involving the local community into its conservation.

I have blogged about biodiversity and its importance previously (here and here). I cannot stress enough the role that consumer choices play in the conservation of the ecosystem. It's a New Year and a new start: to your list of resolutions, add one eco-solution that you can keep and do it. It's easier than you think!