The Gulf of Mexicos diverse and productive ecosystems, which provide a variety of valuable resources and services to the region, are becoming imperiled by pollution. The once pristine waters of the Gulf are now pasty. The adverse impact of the environmental degradation on the birds, marine mammals, fish, crustaceans and other organisms dependent upon the Gulf cannot be over-emphasized. Tankers and other large cargo ships travelling through the Gulf are thought to contribute significantly to the problem by adding debris and chemical pollutants to the water. Debris and chemicals from land sources, such as materials from waste disposal facilities, effluents from waste water treatment plants, and post-storm runoff derived from urban and agricultural sites, compound the problem. While different types of pollutants affect the biota in varying fashion (physical entanglement, consumption of non-digestible materials, direct toxicity from chemicals,indirect effects from excessive nutrient input), the overall effect is a diminution in the variety and abundance of the flora and fauna of the region. This in turn has wide-reaching implications for the long term health of the Gulf and, subsequently, for the sustainability of fishing industries, as well as industries that support recreation and tourism. Examples of annual pollutant and nutrient loading in the region are: * over 800,000 tons of nitrogen * over 200,000 tons of phosphorus * 100 million tons of dredged sediments * over 2,000 tons of toxic substances from coastal industrial and municipal sites (four of the top five states in the U.S. in total surface discharge of toxic chemicals are Gulf States - Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas) * approximately 1,000 tons of pesticides from coastal agriculture * over 6,000 tons of produced waters from near-shore oil and gas platforms
Posted on: Fri, 29 Nov 2013 22:39:24 +0000
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