Oil Catastrophe

Issue:
Sunday, November 11, in the narrow Kerch Strait between Russia and Ukraine, the Russian tanker Volganeft-139 broke in two after a storm caused 67 mph winds and 16 ft waves. The tanker was caring more than 4,000 tons of fuel and nearly half the load has spilled as of Tuesday. Increasing the devastation to the seas, at least ten other ships sank during this storm and one contained nearly 6,000 tons of sulphur. The number of fish already killed by the oil spill is too great in number to even estimate and as of Tuesday, 30,000 birds have been killed. The photos of the dead, oil soaked birds along the shore with their beaks locked open, after struggling for any available air to penetrate the suffocating oil are horrific. Adding to the tragedy to the environmental catastrophe is the persistent bad weather, hampering rescue and clean up efforts. The heavy oil is sinking to the seabed and is forecasted to take several years to clean up. Investigations have begun if the tanker was sea worthy or if any of the other ships’ captains ignored warnings of the approaching storm.
It is unfortunate that oil spills are even occurring. The seas polluted, marine ecosystems destroyed, and the most prized possession, 4, 000 tons of oil are lost. These animals die in vain. If they were to find their end as a consequence of climate change, that means we at least got to use that oil. In this case nobody wins.

Discussion based on Story from BBC NEWS:Black Sea faces oil 'catastrophe'
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/europe/7092071.stmPublished: 2007/11/13 12:13:37 GMT© BBC MMVII

Deed:
Well, I haven’t eaten fish or seafood in three years, since I became a vegetarian. And in conjunction with today’s lecture, I don’t plan on starting. Since we, the U.S. or the rest of the world, really haven’t picked up on safe aquaculture and agriculture I’m going to stay away. But I did give the fish smart guide to my friend who is a big consumer of fish and seafood. Let me clarify, the person isn’t big, they just eat a lot of seafood.
On a totally different subject matter, I told my boss that she can and should recycle her plastic shopping bags, instead of throwing them away in the garbage. She had no idea. I even tried getting her pumped about reusable shopping bags-she’s not there yet. Bummer.