The Gulf of Mexico has existed for about 300 million years.

[ladjf]

As a result of the BP oil disaster, we may be witness to the greatest loss of sea life in the Gulf's geological history.

[Gman]

1. It's happened before in the Gulf

[amerikat]

2. Please explain

Asteroid?

[WolverineDG]

23. Start your Google search with "Ixtapa 1979" nt

[Duer 157099]

33. Except spell it "Ixtoc" n/t

[ladjf]

7. Giant meteor, Northern Yucatan, 65 million years ago, 90%

wipe out. But, this kill could exceed that and it was caused by a handful of thugs for the price of a few bucks.

[Posteritatis]

25. Nothing short of a full-scale nuclear exchange can come close to the K-T impact.

Even that might not match it. The scope of that thing is beyond comprehension.

The whole Gulf of Texaco thing sucks hard, yes, but that kind of absurd hyperbole isn't necessary, and just makes you look silly.

[ladjf]

28. Well, I've certainly had my ass kicked over this one.

Perhaps if I had limited the loss of sea life to acts by sentient beings, and predicted that if it lasted six more months it might kill 50% of the sea life I might not have been such easy flame bait.

[Name removed]

34. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[nadinbrzezinski]

29. Let me see the K=T Impact led to the wide spread extinction

of all dominant species and about 80%, if not more, of life on earth...

You are kidding me right? You think this is an ELE of that size?

[HarveyDarkey]

3. Can't be, the earth is only 6.000 years old

[cherokeeprogressive]

4. Check and see if you can find what happened in the gulf 65 million years ago. n/t

[ladjf]

5. You are referring to the giant meteor that struck in the Northern

Yucatan. It is believed that about 90% of the species were wiped out. The current disaster could actually be more lethal than that.

[cherokeeprogressive]

8. It won't. If it does, I'll donate $100 to DU in your name. n/t

[ladjf]

10. If the hole leaks for another six months, what would be your

estimate of the percentage of sea life lost?

[cherokeeprogressive]

15. I have no way of answering that question.

I don't think many, if any, do. How many shrimp are there? How many oysters? Will they all die, or just some? How many tarpon in the Gulf of Mexico?

I'm just going to have to go on record and say my hunch is that way way less than 90% of sea life (I'm assuming that you're talking about in the gulf and not sea life in general) will be adversely affected by this spill, even if it goes on for six months.

No intention of being snarky, I'm just not ready to go to that level of statement. The current coming into the gulf will eventually rinse most of the oil that doesn't dissipate out of the gulf itself.

[ladjf]

17. I don't actually believe that the loss of Gulf sea life will come anywhere

close to 90%. With a six month spill, it could reach maybe as high as 15 ot 20%.

What I was really trying to point out was how easy it was for just a handful of people,for no good reason, to create such havoc. I was trying to issue a warning. If people think the 21" leak in the Gulf is bad, wait until a nuke plant has a serious melt down, worse than Chernobyl.

[Posteritatis]

26. Rather less than the complete sterilization of the region that impact caused

Maybe if this leak continues for five or six decades it'll compete with that.

[Lost4words]

20. I'll be a witness to that, and I never forget! nt

[cherokeeprogressive]

22. Bookmark it. I'm good for it LOL. n/t

[Lost4words]

21. ops dupe!

[LeftyMom]

12. No, no it couldn't.

It's serious as hell, but a bit less serious than a giant fucking meteor slamming into the earth. So whether that's ignorance or hyperbole talking, kindly tone it down.

[ladjf]

19. Well, if it turned out to be the second worst in the 300 million years

that still seems to be worth commenting about.

[Phoonzang]

6. I think an 8 mile asteroid beats this oil leak by far. nt

[ladjf]

9. Yours is a logical statement.

However, I was thinking in terms of the spill continuing for five or six more months. In that case,
the death percentage could go higher than the 90% thought to be caused by the meteor strike.

From a shear geological standpoint, the meteor hit was one of the most destructive events ever. It changed the climate for years and killed about 90% of species worldwide.

That was an astronomical event. The oil spill is a stupid act of a handful of people. Further,the
hole is only 21" wide and could be stopped quickly by some capable engineers.

[Phoonzang]

14. Indeed. I do wonder how they have the technology to drill a mile deep but

can't fix a broken pipe. But, I'm not an engineer...

[David Zephyr]

11. Well, the Gulf of Mexico did have a little problem 65 million years ago.

Still, your point is spot on and I don't think any of us can grasp the damage this spill has unleashed. Words fail.

K&R for your O.P.

[ladjf]

16. The meteor hit was an astronomical event. The current spill was

caused by the callous greed of a handful of people. The current disaster might rank a mere second
place in the Gulf's 300 million year history.

That fact that a tiny group of thugs were able to cause such havoc in such a brief among of time
and by the discharge of a single 21" hole should be enough to alert the rest of the human race to how easy it would be to wipe out a lot more than the sea life in the Gulf of Mexico.

[Hempathy]

13. I would guess that decades of agricultural runoff are responsible for more sealife deaths than this.

There were already giant dead zones in the gulf.

[Name removed]

37. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Posteritatis]

38. Well, that was certainly a polite and reasoned response. (nt)

[Quantess]

40. Yeah, sorry. Maybe it's "time for peace"? (no text)

[Chulanowa]

18. I'm afraid you're incorrect

As others have pointed out, there was that huge asteroid that probably killed a hell of a lot. But even more tragic to the gulf and the Caribbean sea was the rise of the Panama Isthmus. This cut off the cold nutrient-rich water that flowed up the west coast of South America and into the Atlantic through the strait that used to exist. Bot hte caribbean abd Gulf became nutrient and oxygen-starved for a few hundred years until currents realigned.

Also, the gulf is big. No, it's really, really big.

BP has fucked the coastal waters of the southern US. But the gulf itself isn't in any existential crisis. All you're doing is ggiving yourself an excuse to be apathetic and defeatist.

[Codeine]

27. Nature is more resilient than much of DU gives it credit for.

The Gulf will take a hit from this, but it will survive, and it will recover -- more quickly than most imagine. It survived the '79 gusher, and it will muddle through this one as well.

None of this is to say that the last executive of Transocean shouldn't be strangled with the entrails of the last BP executive, of course.

[Name removed]

39. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Odin2005]

24. Never heard of the K-T Impact I take it?

:eyes:

[Quantess]

30. Everything is just fine and dandy, then,

according to the other posts on this thread.

What a steaming pantload! :thumbsdown:

[Codeine]

31. The notion that there may be something other than

the two extremes of the Gulf being wiped of most of it's life and "fine and dandy" should be evident.

[Posteritatis]

32. Anyone who has to be told that's vaccinated against basic logic, unfortunately. (nt)

[William Z. Foster]

35. don't worry folks

It isn't that bad. It has happened before. No big deal. Everything is under control, and all will be fine.

You people who are (upset, whining, being alarmists, being negative, being unrealistic, being impractical, pouting, wishing Palin were president, hurting Obama, agreeing with freepers) need to (face facts, accept reality, come up with practical solutions) and STFU.

[Codeine]

36. You kicked that straw dude's ASS!

You're like a warrior and shit!

[Voluntary1]

41. Our agricultural polices have been killing the life in Gulf

for years.

[Karenina]

42. See: Losing Louisiana

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQcPOQXc9vE