On 20th April, the Deepwater Horizon exploration rig exploded and killed 11 workers and caused an oil spill. The subsequent flow of oil threatens marine life, beaches and fishing grounds. The oil slick over the water's surface seemed to triple in size over the past days and the spill is spreading much faster than estimated.
President Barack Obama planned to visit the Gulf Coast on Sunday to assess the situation. Equipments were also used to clean up the oil and to prevent it from expanding to other unaffected areas. It is good as the government stepped in to deal with the national catastrophe and try to stop the damage before it gets worse.
There will be major environmental and economical consequences. Environmental consequences like endangering the lives of endangered animal species, such as sea turtles, bluefin tunas and brown pelicans. The sea turtles are endangered and their numbers might dwindle. Moreover, one of their major feeding grounds is in the area of the oil spill. More actions should be taken so as to ensure that these endangered animals will not be extincted. The authorities should do more to ensure that the marine life will not be severely affected.
The economy will also be affected as there is pollution in the fishing grounds. The marine catches from the sea are contaminated and the fishing trade will be affected. It will then affect the economy as the earnings from the fishing industry dropped. Also, there will be a drop in the number of tourists visiting to the country.
Fortunately, the authorities are doing their best to solve this issue and to curb the problems caused by this oil spill. However, I felt that more actions should be taken and it should be done more effectively and efficiently. At least actions are taken and measures were currently made to help solve this catastrophe.
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