I'm not one to actually pay attention to the world's events. Well, maybe that was in the past, when I didn't really know how to care on such a large scale. Be gentle on the young - they aren't capable of actually understanding the magnitude of certain events at times.
I was 14 when 9/11 happened. I didn't get it. It all seemed like a crazy fuss for two buildings falling down.
I was 18 when Hurricane Katrina occured. I didn't understand how it was any worse than other hurricanes. Why people were so concerned.
I'm 22 now, and am *devastated* by the Gulf oil spill. Reading the articles on the massive impact this is having/will have on the birds, fish, dolphins, whales, shrimp, crabs - on all life in these waters - it's heartbreaking. One of the articles mentioned that the oil slick prevents the water from staying oxygenated, which compels the fish to rise to the surface of the water, seeking oxygen. When they reach the oil, their gills will become covered and they will die. I don't know about you, but I can see the fish in my mind as they swim to the surface. I can see them dying. And this will be happening to thousands of animals.
One of the articles seemed to focus on how the fishing industry will be affected, how they will lose so much money through this disaster. But enough about money for God's sake! Millions of animals are dying! They are not being erased like penciled in numbers on a sheet of notebook paper, they are dying individual, excruciating deaths.
Food chain interruptions, damage to reproductive systems, majorly affecting the mating/breeding/nesting season - this is really bad. And it is not just a spill. It is an ongoing oil leak (if you can even call it a leak) that may last for months. It is a nasty feeling to actually understand what is going on here - the birds, fish, turtles, whales, shellfish - individual beings - they are dying horrible, terrible deaths. Because of us.
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You are so young! I felt old by the time 911 happened. I thought it was a movie, when I turned on the TV, after someone called to tell me to turn it on, that I needed to see.
ReplyDeleteWhen Katrina hit, I was not that surprised and wondered why people would not prepare one bit for a major hurricane, or leave, when it was suggested or ordered. But then, nobody would leave this little town, if ordered to, because they would know looters and theives would take everything.
Oil spills are bad. I used to spend summers working in Seward, Alaska. Then came the Exxon Valdez oil spill. I wasn't up there then, but my old friends who did live up there, told me of the devastation. Oil spills are terrible.