The Surf Check

An oil platform leaks oil off the coast of Santa Barbra, Calf., January, 2009. The platform off the Kimberley coast of Northwest Australian continues to leak oil this week.

courtesy Wiki Commons

An oil platform off the coast of North Western Australia continues to leak 400 barrels of oil a day into the Indian Ocean. PTTEP Australia, the Thai Company that owns the oil platform recently tried for the third time to repair the leak. Again, they were unsuccessful. According to The Australian the leak is located 2.6 km (1.6 miles) below the seafloor, and it’s proving very difficult to fix.

The third attempt to fix the leak comes in the ninth week of the spill. This week the Surfrider Foundation refereed to the spill as on an “Exxon Valdez Scale.” And, VOA News reports that, “Indonesian fishermen say the [oil] slick has killed of thousands of fish and is causing illness among villagers who have eaten tainted seafood.” While there is speculation that dolphins, turtles, and whales have potentially been effected by the spill the real ocean damage is not yet known.

The costs associated with the clean-up are also climbing. WA Today of Australia reports that The Australian Maritime Safety Authority has already spent $5.3 million (Australian) spent on the clean-up. And of that only $3.8 million has been repaid by PTTEP Australia.

As pressure on PTTEP Australia magnifies, people are calling on the Australian Government to get involved before more oil spills out. The Australian reports that Chris Smyth, ocean advocate for the Australian Conservation Foundation, said it’s a case of “three strikes you’re out” and it is time for the government to intervene. “Intervention by the federal government and the broader petroleum industry is urgently needed after the company has failed in its third attempt to seal the leak.”

Meanwhile, the Thai company, PTTEP Australia, responsible for the leak has remained silent on the issue. No information regarding the leak has been published on it’s website. At this time no public statements have been issued, but ironically it does have  a message regarding its corporate responsibility on its website. “’From Natural Treasure to Intellectual Wisdom and Environmental Conservation’, we [PTTEP Australia]

have long invested in the community development…whilst preserving environment and culture.” and “PTTEP is a national petroleum exploration and production company dedicating to provide a sustainable petroleum[sic]”

A satellite image taken by NASA’s Earth Observer shows dust being blown off the coast of Australia, into the Pacific.

In a impressive act of global homeostatic-poetry, recent dust storms in Australia (set off by climactic changes) could produce some mitigating effects on global warming. Bloomburg.com reports that last week Sidney and other parts of Australia were consumed in massive yellow and orange clouds of dust.

Scientist Craig Strong, a coordinator for DustWatch, a research and monitoring agency, explained to Bloomburg Press that the dust was blown up by gail force winds ripping through the Australian Outback. It was then blown to the Eastern Coast and eventually onto open ocean. These arid topsoils are rich in iron, and when that iron settles offshore it will provide nutrients for sea life.

“It’s been pretty well established that if iron is available, then it will lead to phytoplankton blooms,” Heiko Daniel, lecturer in agronomy and soil science at the University of New England, said to Bloomburg. “And they take up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.”

When viewed from a greater perspective it could be said that this is perhaps a great balancing act on the part of the planet. In a statement NOAA, The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, stated that, “Changes in the amount of atmospheric dust in Eastern Australia are associated with local wind variations that the researchers related to changes in the behavior of the Pacific climate system.”

Climactic changes primarily have a negative effect on people and the land on which they live. Dust storms can cause respiratory problems for some, and the winds blow away valuable topsoils from agricultural operations. However, some experts, such as Brett Stevenson of Market Check, are sighting the winds as a “net positive” for the region, as they have brought much needed rain.

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An Encyclopedia Britannica illustration shows how algae blooms will feed other, larger fish.

A similar benefit for the ocean may also exists. Once the dust begin to settle over the ocean it will sponsor huge growths in sea life. As this Encyclopedia Britannica illustration dictates, first algae blooms (from the iron) feed large number of zooplankton. Zooplankton then become food for larger and larger fish. Also, the massive algae bloom will have to consumes carbon dioxide to complete photosynthesis. Scientists speculate that this large amount of carbon dioxide being removed from the planet may actually slow global warming, according to Heiko Daniel.

So if carbon dioxide is decreased in our atmosphere it could slow global warming. Which could in tun stabilize earth’s sub climates. The same sub climates that turned up the massive amounts of dust in the first place.