Posted on 06/11/2015 12:07:50 PM PDT by smokingfrog
COLLEGE STATION - Record rainfall totals in many parts of Texas the past few weeks means a record amount of freshwater pouring into the Gulf of Mexico – as high as 10 times the normal rate – and that could lead to huge problems for marine life and commercial fishermen very soon, warns a Texas A&M University oceanographer.
Steve DiMarco, professor of oceanography, says the huge rainfall amounts in the last month mean that such rivers as the Brazos, Trinity, Colorado and others currently are carrying record amounts of water flowing southward to the Gulf, similar to a situation that occurred in 2007 when rivers carried 10 to 20 times the normal seasonal rate of discharge into the Gulf.
“When this happens, the coastal waters become stratified, meaning that the lighter freshwater will stay at the surface and cap the saltier, and heavier, ocean water beneath,” he explains. “Because the salt water is isolated from the atmosphere, oxygen levels in that water will begin to drop.
“That is exactly what is going on right now and in the weeks to come, and when this happens, it almost always means many marine organisms, particularly those that live near and at the ocean bottom, can’t get enough oxygen and they can get sick and die.”
In a “dead zone,” technically called hypoxia, marine life for thousands of square miles become distressed and fish kills can occur. Dead zones have been happening in the Gulf for decades off the Texas-Louisiana coastline, but the record amounts of rain this year could mean a sort of dead zone within a dead zone, DiMarco says.
(Excerpt) Read more at kbtx.com ...
OK everybody get yer Super Rubio Speedboats and get out there and churn the water!
Why don't you doom-and-gloomers at least get together and get your lies straight?
And the Exxon Valdez. Don't forget that. And Three Mile Island. And acid rain. And the Second Ice Age. And ... a thousand other doomsday environmental scenarios that have never materialized because they were nothing more than the overheated night terrors of a flock of Chicken Littles.
It is a disaster of Biblical proportions isn’t it? Just dreadful. It has also never rained has it?
What will happen next? I’ll bet spring will be followed by a HOT summer as well. What will we do?
Now wait a doggone minute, there! When did they change the shapes of Colorado, Utah, and Arizona? That’s not the way they used to look.
I thought that wetlands was supposed to be the savior of all waterways. What’s up wit dat?
You are probably right. Ask this genius what makes the panhandle beaches so crystalline white.
True enough! ;>))
They have the right to speak out but not about a questionable idea that fresh water in the Gulf will be a tragic event. My GOD, think of all the rivers that flow into the Gulf carrying rain and flood water, draining MOST OF THE US East of the Rockies, into the Gulf. These birds want gummint money throwed at dem sos dey can keep up da ly’in! (Florida speak).
That would be NO!
Cut no BS artist any slack!
like is t he texas flood measured in acre feet greater then Katrina and the followup hurricane flood measured in acre feet?
Yes, but it’s a different river than the Colorado that runs thru the Grand Canyon.
Yes, it is only a matter of time until the Mississippi river changes course. The most likely course is through Morgan City. New Orleans will be the big loser.
Yes, it is only a matter of time until the Mississippi river changes course. The most likely course is through Morgan City. New Orleans will be the big loser.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.