Fire - Part 2
Yesterday the city of Montreal was touched by a plume of smoke that was at least 400 km long. About that far north there were (are) many forest fires burning out of control. This smoke did not have much of an impact on the citizens of the city. People with severe asthma and respiratory issues were told that they should limit their physical exertion - but that was about it. Some of the fifty fires were started by lightning but some were caused by man.
Further south, in the Gulf of Mexico, there has been talk of other plumes. These particular ones all caused by man. Two oil plumes have been discovered by scientists from various institutions. The latest, discovered on May 27, is thirty-five kilometres long and close to ten kilometres wide. Not surprisingly these have been disputed by the CEO of BP. "There aren't any plumes".
Ya....OK...whatever Tony.
What scientists are saying is that these underwater plumes risk getting caught up in undersea currents. The result would be that the oil still spewing from the Deepwater Horizon disaster might end up much further away than the Gulf of Mexico and begin to venture up the Atlantic coast of the United States.
It is time that the leaders of this world of ours take out their own plumes - good old-fashioned quills - dip them in some black India ink and write down some new regulations and laws governing this method of extracting oil and, more importantly, laws that will ensure that the cost of oil pollution (accidental or via regular use) is incorporated in the price we pay on petroleum-based products.
The point I wanted to make, though, is unrelated to what man has been doing. It is about what nature is doing. The Earth is full of, and surrounded by, currents. Wind, magnetic, solar, water. They cause sand from dust storms in Africa to be found in South America. They cause ash from a volcano to circle the world. They create the borealis light spectacles. And, as described above, they move smoke over cities hundreds of kilometres away and oil over large expanses of ocean.
Trying to contain our disasters may be an honourable objective but let us remember that there are much greater forces at play. What we do in our backyards affects our neighbours across oceans and continents.
Let me know what you think about what you have just read. Please and thanks!
Further south, in the Gulf of Mexico, there has been talk of other plumes. These particular ones all caused by man. Two oil plumes have been discovered by scientists from various institutions. The latest, discovered on May 27, is thirty-five kilometres long and close to ten kilometres wide. Not surprisingly these have been disputed by the CEO of BP. "There aren't any plumes".
Ya....OK...whatever Tony.
What scientists are saying is that these underwater plumes risk getting caught up in undersea currents. The result would be that the oil still spewing from the Deepwater Horizon disaster might end up much further away than the Gulf of Mexico and begin to venture up the Atlantic coast of the United States.
It is time that the leaders of this world of ours take out their own plumes - good old-fashioned quills - dip them in some black India ink and write down some new regulations and laws governing this method of extracting oil and, more importantly, laws that will ensure that the cost of oil pollution (accidental or via regular use) is incorporated in the price we pay on petroleum-based products.
The point I wanted to make, though, is unrelated to what man has been doing. It is about what nature is doing. The Earth is full of, and surrounded by, currents. Wind, magnetic, solar, water. They cause sand from dust storms in Africa to be found in South America. They cause ash from a volcano to circle the world. They create the borealis light spectacles. And, as described above, they move smoke over cities hundreds of kilometres away and oil over large expanses of ocean.
Trying to contain our disasters may be an honourable objective but let us remember that there are much greater forces at play. What we do in our backyards affects our neighbours across oceans and continents.
Let me know what you think about what you have just read. Please and thanks!
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