Another day, another oil spill, when will we learn?

Oct. 5 on Astrolabe Reef, 14 miles from Tauranga Harbour on New Zealand's North Island

Another ship crashed on October 5th this time atop the Astrolabe Reef 14 miles off the cost of Tauranga Harbour on New Zealand's North Island. Luckily this is a cargo ship and not an oil tanker but the impact on the environment and New Zealand's coast line can already be felt as local volunteers start the laborious and costly cleanup.

Here is the scoop:
- 11 of 1,368 containers on board contain hazardous substances and may very likely end up in the ocean
- it is still not clear why the ship crashed into the well-charted reef in calm weather
- so far light oiling of pristine Tauranga beaches has been observed
- the oiling of the beaches is expected to increase as more oil washes ashore in the coming days
- initial estimates suggest that 200-300 metric tons of heavy fuel oil have spilled so far
- this is New Zealand's biggest maritime environmental disaster to date
- officials believe the ship has 1,700 metric tons of oil and 200 metric tons of diesel on board
- the ship has developed a huge crack in the hull and is in the process of breaking up
- the full environmental impact is still unknown
- 200 oiled birds had been found dead
- 41 oiled birds were treated at the wildlife emergency center
- locals have witnessed dead fish washing ashore
- captain could face a fine of up to 10,000 New Zealand dollars ($7,800 US) and 12 months in prison
- the captain's name has not been disclosed for fear of personal retaliation
- the ship belongs to Greece-based Costamare Inc.

[Yahoo News]

Perhaps Global Warming is not just a myth!

Huge chunk of the Petermann Glacier broke off of Greenland in 2010 and have mostly melted away while stunning scientists by the shear size of the event. The chunk of ice that melted was 4 times the size of Manhattan. Apparently nothing of this scale has ever happened in Greenland as far back as the recorded history. Scientists are worried that another chunk 2 times the size of Manhattan is going to be next. Scientists estimate that Greenland's ice sheet is melting at a staggering rate of 400 billion tons per year. And in the 10 year span between 2000 and 2010 nearly 600 square miles of ice have melted.

So when should we start worrying? Who knows, but sooner might be better then later or before it is too late. With this much fresh water getting dumped into the oceans who knows when we might hit the critical desalinization point or what it will do to the ocean currents and consequently our weather. Check out the movie The Day After Tomorrow to find out what happens next.

[Yahoo News]