All the conditions are right for the return of the Red Tide along the Western Gulf Coast of Florida. If you are unfamiliar with the Red Tide, that is when 100,000s of thousands of dead fish wash up on shore dead and rotted and the tide is red from the algae bloom in the Gulf. It is a literal disaster for Beach Communities, real estate prices, tourism, fishing, and the local beach eco-system as a whole. Some say it's nature's way of telling humans to stop polluting the oceans with run-off agricultural nitrates, and dirty storm water discharges which end up in the ocean.
As if the Red Tide was not bad enough, now a more serious issue is brewing in the Gulf of Mexico which threatens the shoreline. Namely, the oil spill and leak from the giant Horizon Oil Rig. Now then, we know that algae blooms turn toxic when they mix with chemical, questions is what happens when they mix with crude oil floating on the same surface of the water? It won't be pretty, and there will be mixtures that are for the most part unhealthy, worse, there have not been a lot of studies on this before, so no one really knows for sure.
Yes, we can guesstimate what the combination will be, but the bacteria counts and types in a Red Tide often change slightly each time, as the portions of chemicals, and algae are never exactly the same. And the density of the oil slick, and when it reaches the algae bloom or Red Tide cannot be known just yet. But, I guess we better figure this out and have some contingency plans for this potentially deadly combination.
Further, we don't know if this combination could nullify some of the disastrous damage the Red Tide usually does. Thus, for those areas hit by the Red Tide this year, assuming scientists are correct that this is a Red Tide year. And if we mix some Hurricane Weather and Tropical Storms in this year, remember Hurricane Season is coming and Tropical Storms will begin soon. Meaning there will be dispersion, dilution, re-combination, scattering, and this makes any sort of prediction fairly impossible.
Still, I dare to ask the question again; "Okay so, What Happens When Oil Spills Mix With Red Tides or Algae Blooms?" Inquiring minds would like to know, and I can't find a darn thing on the Internet about this, nor any other ecosystem disasters where these two events did occur simultaneously in this modern era, when the resultant could be measured with modern equipment.
One last comment - What happens if all this mess washes out of the Gulf of Mexico on the gulf-stream surface ocean currents and rounds around and up the East Coast and out into the Atlantic Ocean, while some recirculates around the Caribbean and back along the rest of the Gulf Coast? Please consider all this.
Lance Winslow is a retired Founder of a Nationwide Franchise Chain, and now runs the Online Think Tank. Lance Winslow believes sometimes we must ask the question! Note: All of Lance Winslow's articles are written by him, not by Automated Software, any Computer Program, or Artificially Intelligent Software. None of his articles are outsourced, PLR Content or written by ghost writers. Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Lance_Winslow |  |
