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Doug,<div><br></div><div>I'm Hi Chris, Thank you all for the observations. We are all part of the problem which led to the oil spill in the Gulf, and I hope we can be part of the solution. Ian Davidson, the new Executive Director of Nature Canada was former director for Canadian Wildlife Federation, the Canadian International Development Agency, Wildlife Habitat Canada and more recently regional director for Bird Life International. He said he believes that the impact of this spill is beyond what we can imagine. We Coastal Guardians in NS and all Nova Scotians should start to prepare for what may come our way. If any good may come of such an environmental disaster, it will be the raised awareness of the fact that all life is interconnected. What a way to mark the Year of Biodiversity! These maps from NASA may be of interest: *//**//*http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/news/news.cfm?release=2010-188 *//**//**/ /*Christopher Majka wrote: > Hi folks, > > Following on our discussion of the environmental impact of the Gulf > Oil spill, and picking on some of the points Dave Webster made to Doug > Linzey, the NatureNS moderator, I wrote to Doug to say: > > Begin forwarded message: > >> From: Christopher Majka <c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca> >> Date: May 27, 2010 9:42:53 AM ADT >> To: Doug Linzey <doug@fundymud.com> >> Subject: Re: [NatureNS] Gulf Oil Spill: the lesson's to be learned >> >> Hi Doug, >> >> I'm going to pick up on Dave's letter and disagree with you on this >> point. While it's true that the Gulf of Mexico is some distance from >> Nova Scotia, the events currently unfolding there are a very serious >> environmental crisis with large-scale and long-term repercussions >> globally, and clearly with a direct import to Nova Scotia. >> >> Above and beyond the points raised by Dave below, all of which I >> agree with, there have been concerns raised that this oil spill could >> eventually leave the Gulf of Mexico and enter the Gulf Stream, thence >> moving north and eventually entering Nova Scotian waters. The one >> piece of land that lies directly in this pathway is Canada's newly >> declared national park, Sable Island, an extremely environmentally >> sensitive area. >> >> Furthermore the Gulf of Mexico is a major staging ground for >> migratory shorebirds enroute to or through the Maritime Provinces on >> both northward and southward migration routes. In my view it is >> almost a certainty that, given the scale of this oil spill and (even >> if they succeed in capping it in the near term) how long this oil >> will be present in marshes and wetlands on the Gulf coast, that this >> will directly impact some of our migratory shorebirds and waterfowl. >> >> Furthermore, this oil spill is of direct relevance to potential plans >> to drill for oil on George's Bank. As you may know the current >> moratorium on drilling there was set to expire in 2012 and the Nova >> Scotia government has recently extended this moratorium to 2015. The >> issue of the safety of undersea oil drilling and the potential impact >> of drilling (and oil spills) on the environment and wildlife is a >> vital one for Nova Scotia and the current events in the Gulf are >> unquestionably influencing the environmental and political landscape >> around this issue in Nova Scotia. > > Doug replied to say: > > On 27-May-10, at 11:47 AM, Doug Linzey wrote: > >> Chris, your points are all valid, and I thank you (and Dave) for >> making them. That's the part of the discussion that was missing >> previously -- the Nova Scotia context. My original moderator reaction >> was to the degeneration of the discussion into the mechanics of >> stopping an oil leak. >> >> Thanks, >> Doug > > Accordingly, I'll take the opportunity to draw the attention of > NatureNS subscribers to the above in light of the long sequence of > failed containment measures (the coffer dam, the siphon tube, the "top > kill", the "junk shot"). BP is now trying a variant of their "top hat" > on a sheared off riser, but as of this moment there is still no world > on whether this will be any more successful than any of the previous > failed attempts. > > This unfolding disaster continues, of course, to be of concern not > only to residents of the Gulf region, but much more widely (including > to Nova Scotians) for the above reasons, and also given the recent > news that the quantity of oil that has been gushing from the wellhead > is 12 to 25 times as great as BP originally claimed, and also that the > oil spill is approaching, if not already entering, the so called "loop > current" a current which runs north into the Gulf of Mexico before > looping out again around the Florida panhandle and entering the Gulf > Stream. Computer modeling now indicates that the oil from the spill > could reach North Carolina beaches by July. How far north could it go? > Time alone may tell. > > Best wishes, > > Chris > > > Christopher Majka > Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada B3H 2G5 > c.majka@ns.sympatico.ca > > "If all else fails, immortality can always be assured by spectacular > error." - John Kenneth Galbraith > >
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