Katrina vs. Deepwater Horizon
As the days and weeks go by without a solution to the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico my opinions surrounding this latest disaster facing Earth are crystallizing. I have read articles which have underplayed the oil spill by stating that hurricane Katrina had greater negative impact. What a bunch of BS.
Admittedly, Katrina was a terrible natural disaster. Approximately 1850 people lost their lives and the damage estimates have been calculated at $81 billion. But it was a natural disaster. Of course, man made it worse by building cities in flood plains, below sea-level and not maintaining the protective dykes. Had man not tried to control the flow of water in the area much less people would have died as the concentration of population would have been lower.
The day after the hurricane passed nature was already back in equilibrium and in its more familiar calm steady-state. For humans the calm would take months and years (and for some it likely has not yet returned). But for nature all was fine the day after.
In contrast, the Deepwater Horizon is a terrible man-made disaster. Eleven people lost their lives. Cost estimates, so far, are sitting at $5.5 billion in damages. Based on those two numbers it would, indeed, seem that Katrina was the worse of the two. But consider this. Naturally, crude oil would still be safely locked under the Earth's crust. Naturally, a huge oil platform would not have been built, exploded and created this mess which is well on its way to becoming the worse oil spill in US history. Naturally, there would not be a 10 km plume of oil sitting at a depth of 1200 metres. (see BBC article). It may take decades for nature to recover from this disaster as opposed to the few days that it took to recover from Katrina.
The good news in all of this is that Earth will continue to spin around the Sun. Decades and centuries (and for that matter milleniums) are but a blink of an eye for it. The bad news is that for us humans it is actually worse. You see, we have a short lifespan and this disaster may take a few lives to rectify itself. So its effects will be felt on us for years.
Katrina was worse in human lives and costs. This oil spill, however, places us humans on Earth in an unfathomably deeper load of trouble. Something that economists and politicians (and most citizens) just cannot quantify and, therefore, understand. Let's hope more people start paying attention. The patient is dying.
Let me know what you think about what you have just read. Please and thanks!
Admittedly, Katrina was a terrible natural disaster. Approximately 1850 people lost their lives and the damage estimates have been calculated at $81 billion. But it was a natural disaster. Of course, man made it worse by building cities in flood plains, below sea-level and not maintaining the protective dykes. Had man not tried to control the flow of water in the area much less people would have died as the concentration of population would have been lower.
The day after the hurricane passed nature was already back in equilibrium and in its more familiar calm steady-state. For humans the calm would take months and years (and for some it likely has not yet returned). But for nature all was fine the day after.
In contrast, the Deepwater Horizon is a terrible man-made disaster. Eleven people lost their lives. Cost estimates, so far, are sitting at $5.5 billion in damages. Based on those two numbers it would, indeed, seem that Katrina was the worse of the two. But consider this. Naturally, crude oil would still be safely locked under the Earth's crust. Naturally, a huge oil platform would not have been built, exploded and created this mess which is well on its way to becoming the worse oil spill in US history. Naturally, there would not be a 10 km plume of oil sitting at a depth of 1200 metres. (see BBC article). It may take decades for nature to recover from this disaster as opposed to the few days that it took to recover from Katrina.
The good news in all of this is that Earth will continue to spin around the Sun. Decades and centuries (and for that matter milleniums) are but a blink of an eye for it. The bad news is that for us humans it is actually worse. You see, we have a short lifespan and this disaster may take a few lives to rectify itself. So its effects will be felt on us for years.
Katrina was worse in human lives and costs. This oil spill, however, places us humans on Earth in an unfathomably deeper load of trouble. Something that economists and politicians (and most citizens) just cannot quantify and, therefore, understand. Let's hope more people start paying attention. The patient is dying.
Let me know what you think about what you have just read. Please and thanks!
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