Being in Florida, everyone is aware of the approaching oil slick to our coastline. The location of where and time line of when is purely up to mother nature at this point. A professor at the University of Florida is worried about the east coast of Florida more than the west.
Media reports said Y. Peter Sheng, coastal and oceanographic engineer at UF, believes the six-day ocean current models released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reveal that the slick "could get caught in what's called the 'Loop Current' 35 miles south of the slick, which flows through the Florida Straits and becomes the Gulf Stream."
According to Sheng, Florida's west coast from Big Bend to Cedar Key could be spared while eastern coastal beaches are threatened.
Obvious impact to fisheries is already being felt in some gulf coast areas as fishing has been shut down and local seafood has ceased coming in. At a minimum the result to Floridians could be the same...possibly for an extended period. The economic cost could be staggering. The Gulf economy is ~ $2.2 Trillion. 83% of all US shrimp come from the gulf...56% of all oysters. Tourism is of course a huge aspect...
The impact to Florida and Floridians is as of yet unknown. Job losses? Increase costs (seafood is a given), increase in other prices are possible if shipping lanes are diverted or cut off. Frankly. folks..this is one crisis I hadn't planned for....and I need to ponder the possibilities more.
On a side note the financial markets are reacting badly to the debt crisis in Europe...I surprised no one has realized how bad it is here...
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