Download or read book Novel Insights into the Circulation Biogeochemistry and Ecosystem Function of the Gulf of Mexico A Perspective from Mexican Waters in Support of Oil Spill Preparedness written by Maria Josefina Olascoaga and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2023-12-11 with total page 259 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico (GoM), and given the increased activities of the offshore oil industry, an international multidisciplinary consortium - the CIGOM Consortium - was funded by Mexico's Energy Secretariat (SENER) and its National Council for Science and Technology (CONACyT). Spanning 2015-2022, CIGOM's goals were to establish an environmental baseline to characterize the southern GOM’s natural variability and contribute to the understanding of ecosystem function, use cutting-edge technologies to observe the ocean, couple physical circulation and biogeochemical models to gain understating of oceanographic processes, generate oil spill scenarios using model ensembles and statistical techniques and conducting vulnerability assessments. Over 300 researchers participated in the CIGOM consortium's efforts.
Download or read book An Ecosystem Services Approach to Assessing the Impacts of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2014-01-20 with total page 247 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As the Gulf of Mexico recovers from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, natural resource managers face the challenge of understanding the impacts of the spill and setting priorities for restoration work. The full value of losses resulting from the spill cannot be captured, however, without consideration of changes in ecosystem services-the benefits delivered to society through natural processes. An Ecosystem Services Approach to Assessing the Impacts of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico discusses the benefits and challenges associated with using an ecosystem services approach to damage assessment, describing potential impacts of response technologies, exploring the role of resilience, and offering suggestions for areas of future research. This report illustrates how this approach might be applied to coastal wetlands, fisheries, marine mammals, and the deep sea-each of which provide key ecosystem services in the Gulf-and identifies substantial differences among these case studies. The report also discusses the suite of technologies used in the spill response, including burning, skimming, and chemical dispersants, and their possible long-term impacts on ecosystem services.
Download or read book Gulf of Mexico Origin Waters and Biota written by Thomas S. Bianchi and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2019-10-03 with total page 697 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The fifth volume in the Harte Research Institute’s landmark scientific series on the Gulf of Mexico provides the first comprehensive study that covers the major core subjects of chemical oceanography in the Gulf. It synthesizes a tremendous amount of established research, together with the most recent information emerging from studies conducted during and after the Macondo Well oil spill that resulted from the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform. Situated within the boundaries of a changing semi-tropical region, the Gulf of Mexico is a particularly important body to its bordering countries—the United States, Mexico, and Cuba—and directly influences the economies of these nations through shipping, oil and gas extraction, mineral mining, fisheries, and myriad ecosystem services and recreational opportunities. The changing chemistry of the Gulf also has wide-ranging effects on weather patterns as many of the hurricanes that reach land in the US and Mexico pass through this ocean basin. We are already seeing some of the consequences of climate change, including, to name one example, the increased frequency of harmful algal blooms, the cause of which is still unknown in most cases. This book brings together a team of expert chemical oceanographers from the US and Mexico to provide a foundational understanding of the complex chemistry of North America’s only marginal sea. Gulf of Mexico Origin, Waters, and Biota: Volume 5, Chemical Oceanography serves as an important reference for understanding the basic science, management, and economic issues facing the Gulf of Mexico while pointing out key topics in critical need of additional research.
Download or read book Habitats and Biota of the Gulf of Mexico Before the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill written by C. Herb Ward and published by Springer. This book was released on 2017-06-26 with total page 868 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This book is open access under a CC BY-NC 2.5 license. The Gulf of Mexico is an open and dynamic marine ecosystem rich in natural resources but heavily impacted by human activities, including agricultural, industrial, commercial and coastal development. The Gulf of Mexico has been continuously exposed to petroleum hydrocarbons for millions of years from natural oil and gas seeps on the sea floor, and more recently from oil drilling and production activities located in the water near and far from shore. Major accidental oil spills in the Gulf are infrequent; two of the most significant include the Ixtoc I blowout in the Bay of Campeche in 1979 and the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in 2010. Unfortunately, baseline assessments of the status of habitats and biota in the Gulf of Mexico before these spills either were not available, or the data had not been systematically compiled in a way that would help scientists assess the potential short-term and long-term effects of such events. This 2-volume series compiles and summarizes thousands of data sets showing the status of habitats and biota in the Gulf of Mexico before the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Volume 1 covers: water and sediment quality and contaminants in the Gulf; natural oil and gas seeps in the Gulf of Mexico; coastal habitats, including flora and fauna and coastal geology; offshore benthos and plankton, with an analysis of current knowledge on energy capture and energy flows in the Gulf; and shellfish and finfish resources that provide the basis for commercial and recreational fisheries.
Download or read book Opportunities for the Gulf Research Program Monitoring Ecosystem Restoration and Deep Water Environments written by Gulf Research Program and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2015-03-26 with total page 52 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Environmental monitoring in the Gulf of Mexico poses extensive challenges and significant opportunities. Multiple jurisdictions manage this biogeographically and culturally diverse region, whose monitoring programs tend to be project-specific by design and funding. As a result, these programs form more of a monitoring patchwork then a network. At the same time, the Gulf monitoring community faces a unique opportunity to organize and think differently about monitoring - including how best to allocate and manage the resources for this large marine ecosystem and its communities - as a result of the infusion of resources for environmental restoration and related activities after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Opportunities for the Gulf Research Program: Monitoring Ecosystem Restoration and Deep Water Environments summarizes a Gulf Research Program workshop held on September 3-4, 2014 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The workshop gathered about 40 participants from the energy industry, state and federal government, academia, and nongovernmental organizations to examine two broad issues that were seen as time-sensitive opportunities in light of significant investments in the Gulf for restoration and accelerating development of energy resources in the deep Gulf: monitoring ecosystem restoration and deep water environments. As participants explored potential opportunities for the Program to consider, they noted the essential role that communication and outreach play in successful monitoring, and the importance of applying an ecosystem service approach to monitoring, forging partnerships among stakeholders, and supporting efforts to organize and manage monitoring data.
Download or read book Gulf of Mexico Origin Waters and Biota written by James C. Cato and published by Texas A&M University Press. This book was released on 2008-12-07 with total page 144 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The many economic factors affecting sustainability of the Gulf of Mexico region are perhaps as important as the waves on its shores and its abundant marine life. This second volume in Gulf of Mexico Origin, Waters, and Biota (a multivolumed work edited by John W. Tunnell Jr., Darryl L. Felder, and Sylvia A. Earle) assesses the Gulf of Mexico as a single economic region. The book provides information and baseline data useful for assessing the goals of economic and environmental sustainability in the Gulf. In five chapters, economists, political scientists, and ecologists from Florida, California, Louisiana, Texas, Maine, and Mexico cover topics such as: the idea of the Gulf as a transnational community; the quantitative value of its productivity; a summary of the industries dependent on the Gulf, including shipping, tourism, oil and gas mining, fisheries, recreation, and real estate; the human uses and activities that affect coastal economies; and the economic trends evident in Mexico's drive toward coastal development. This first-of-its-kind reference work will be useful to scientists, economists, industry leaders, and policy makers whose work requires an understanding of the economic issues involved in science, business, trade, exploration, development, and commerce in the Gulf of Mexico.
Download or read book Effective Monitoring to Evaluate Ecological Restoration in the Gulf of Mexico written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2017-02-16 with total page 220 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gulf Coast communities and natural resources suffered extensive direct and indirect damage as a result of the largest accidental oil spill in US history, referred to as the Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill. Notably, natural resources affected by this major spill include wetlands, coastal beaches and barrier islands, coastal and marine wildlife, seagrass beds, oyster reefs, commercial fisheries, deep benthos, and coral reefs, among other habitats and species. Losses include an estimated 20% reduction in commercial fishery landings across the Gulf of Mexico and damage to as much as 1,100 linear miles of coastal salt marsh wetlands. This historic spill is being followed by a restoration effort unparalleled in complexity and magnitude in U.S. history. Legal settlements in the wake of DWH led to the establishment of a set of programs tasked with administering and supporting DWH-related restoration in the Gulf of Mexico. In order to ensure that restoration goals are met and money is well spent, restoration monitoring and evaluation should be an integral part of those programs. However, evaluations of past restoration efforts have shown that monitoring is often inadequate or even absent. Effective Monitoring to Evaluate Ecological Restoration in the Gulf of Mexico identifies best practices for monitoring and evaluating restoration activities to improve the performance of restoration programs and increase the effectiveness and longevity of restoration projects. This report provides general guidance for restoration monitoring, assessment, and synthesis that can be applied to most ecological restoration supported by these major programs given their similarities in restoration goals. It also offers specific guidance for a subset of habitats and taxa to be restored in the Gulf including oyster reefs, tidal wetlands, and seagrass habitats, as well as a variety of birds, sea turtles, and marine mammals.
Download or read book Understanding and Predicting the Gulf of Mexico Loop Current written by National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2018-05-23 with total page 117 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of the most significant, energetic, yet not well understood, oceanographic features in the Americas is the Gulf of Mexico Loop Current System (LCS), consisting of the Loop Current (LC) and the Loop Current Eddies (LCEs) it sheds. Understanding the dynamics of the LCS is fundamental to understanding the Gulf of Mexico's full oceanographic system, and vice versa. Hurricane intensity, offshore safety, harmful algal blooms, oil spill response, the entire Gulf food chain, shallow water nutrient supply, the fishing industry, tourism, and the Gulf Coast economy are all affected by the position, strength, and structure of the LC and associated eddies. This report recommends a strategy for addressing the key gaps in general understanding of LCS processes, in order to instigate a significant improvement in predicting LC/LCE position, evolving structure, extent, and speed, which will increase overall understanding of Gulf of Mexico circulation and to promote safe oil and gas operations and disaster response in the Gulf of Mexico. This strategy includes advice on how to design a long-term observational campaign and complementary data assimilation and numerical modeling efforts.
Download or read book Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill written by M. Lynne Corn and published by DIANE Publishing. This book was released on 2010-11 with total page 24 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The explosion of the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010, and the resulting oil spill began a cascade of effects on the coastal areas of the Gulf and on the wealth of species that inhabit those areas. These wetlands, like those elsewhere, have value for water quality, flood control, shoreline protection, and recreation. Contents of this report: (1) Introduction; (2) Why Are Wetlands Important?; (3) Coastal Wetlands and Assets in the Gulf of Mexico; (4) Oil Spills: Impacts on Wetland Habitats and Animals; (5) Weather and Storms; (6) Mitigation and Cleanup of Wetlands; (7) Oil Spill Response; (8) Cleanup and Recovery Issues; (9) Conclusion. Charts and tables.
Download or read book A Century of Ecosystem Science written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2002-07-29 with total page 108 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report provides guidance to the Gulf Ecosystem Monitoring (GEM) program to help ensure that it is based on a a science plan that is robust, far-reaching, and scientifically sound. The report commends the Trustee Council for its foresight in setting aside funds to create a trust fund to provide long-term research support; it notes that the GEM program offers an unparalleled opportunity to increase understanding of how large marine ecosystems function and change over time. The report outlines elements of a sound long-term science plan, including conceptual foundation, scope and geographic focus, organizational structure, community involvement, data and information management, and synthesis, modeling, and evaluation.
Download or read book Approaches for Ecosystem Services Valuation for the Gulf of Mexico After the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2012-02-17 with total page 162 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: On April 20, 2010, the Deepwater Horizon platform drilling the Macondo well in Mississippi Canyon Block 252 (DWH) exploded, killing 11 workers and injuring another 17. The DWH oil spill resulted in nearly 5 million barrels (approximately 200 million gallons) of crude oil spilling into the Gulf of Mexico (GoM). The full impacts of the spill on the GoM and the people who live and work there are unknown but expected to be considerable, and will be expressed over years to decades. In the short term, up to 80,000 square miles of the U.S. Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) were closed to fishing, resulting in loss of food, jobs and recreation. The DWH oil spill immediately triggered a process under the U.S. Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA) to determine the extent and severity of the "injury" (defined as an observable or measurable adverse change in a natural resource or impairment of a natural resource service) to the public trust, known as the Natural Resources Damage Assessment (NRDA). The assessment, undertaken by the trustees (designated technical experts who act on behalf of the public and who are tasked with assessing the nature and extent of site-related contamination and impacts), requires: (1) quantifying the extent of damage; (2) developing, implementing, and monitoring restoration plans; and (3) seeking compensation for the costs of assessment and restoration from those deemed responsible for the injury. This interim report provides options for expanding the current effort to include the analysis of ecosystem services to help address the unprecedented scale of this spill in U.S. waters and the challenges it presents to those charged with undertaking the damage assessment.
Download or read book Research Priorities for Assessing Health Effects from the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2010-11-12 with total page 29 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: It is as yet uncertain how the Gulf of Mexico oil spill will affect the health of clean-up workers and volunteers, residents, and visitors in the Gulf. The IOM recommends that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services focus on researching psychological and behavioral health, exposure information to oil and dispersants, seafood safety, communication methods for health studies, and methods for conducting research in order to better understand and mitigate the effects on human health for this oil spill and for future disasters.
Download or read book Deep Pelagic Ecosystem Dynamics in a Highly Impacted Water Column The Gulf of Mexico After Deepwater Horizon written by Tracey T. Sutton and published by Frontiers Media SA. This book was released on 2021-05-03 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Assessing the Effects of the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill on Human Health written by Institute of Medicine and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2010-09-01 with total page 201 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From the origin of the leak, to the amount of oil released into the environment, to the spill's duration, the 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill poses unique challenges to human health. The risks associated with extensive, prolonged use of dispersants, with oil fumes, and with particulate matter from controlled burns are also uncertain. There have been concerns about the extent to which hazards, such as physical and chemical exposures and social and economic disruptions, will impact the overall health of people who live and work near the area of the oil spill. Although studies of previous oil spills provide some basis for identifying and mitigating the human health effects of these exposures, the existing data are insufficient to fully understand and predict the overall impact of hazards from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on the health of workers, volunteers, residents, visitors, and special populations. Assessing the Effects of the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill on Human Health identifies populations at increased risks for adverse health effects and explores effective communication strategies to convey health information to these at-risk populations. The book also discusses the need for appropriate surveillance systems to monitor the spill's potential short- and long-term health effects on affected communities and individuals. Assessing the Effects of the Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill on Human Health is a useful resource that can help policy makers, public health officials, academics, community advocates, scientists, and members of the public collaborate to create a monitoring and surveillance system that results in "actionable" information and that identifies emerging health risks in specific populations.
Download or read book Long term Ecological Change in the Northern Gulf of Alaska written by R.B. Spies and published by Elsevier. This book was released on 2006-12-12 with total page 609 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This comprehensive text is a major synthesis on ecological change in the Gulf of Alaska. It encompasses the structural and annual changes, forces of change, long-ecological changes in the atmosphere and ocean, plankton, fish, birds and mammals, and the effects of the 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill. With 5 major sections, Long-term Ecological Change in the Northern Gulf of Alaska first describes the physical features, the atmosphere and physical oceanography, the annual production cycle, the forage base for higher animals and trophic transfer, and the adaptations for survival in this changing environment for 9 portal species. Then, the major forces of change are introduced: climate, geophysics, fisheries and harvesting, species interactions, disease and contaminants. Next, the long-term records of change in physical factors and biological populations are presented, as well as the potential reasons for the biological changes. Following is the history of the Exxon Valdez oil spill and its long-term effects. And, finally, the emergent properties of the ecosystem are discussed and an attempt is made to weigh the importance of the major forcing factors in terms of their temporal and spatial scales of influence. * Examines important data on long-term change in the ecosystem and the forcing factors that are responsible for it * Provides an account of the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill with emphasis on the long-term effects * Describes the effects of climate change, geophysical change, species interactions, harvesting, disease, the 1989 oil spill, and marine contaminants on key populations of marine organisms
Download or read book Impacts of Oil Spill Disasters on Marine Habitats and Fisheries in North America written by J. Brian Alford and published by CRC Press. This book was released on 2014-10-29 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: At an increasingly global scale, aquatic scientists are heavily entrenched in understanding the fate of marine ecosystems in the face of human-altered environments. Oil spill disasters, especially large-scale ones like the 2010 Deepwater Horizon tragedy, have left uncertain and indelible marks on marine ecosystems. Impacts of Oil Spill Disasters on Marine Habitats and Fisheries in North America contains independent scientific findings and critical reviews from experts researching the impacts of the Exxon Valdez, Ixtoc I, and Deepwater Horizon oil spills on coastal fishery resources. Comprised of three sections, this seminal work: Details the physiological effects of oil-derived compounds on fishes, presenting results from field and laboratory investigations Addresses the science of assessing the impacts of oil spills and oil response measures on coastal habitats, with an emphasis on salt-marsh ecosystems in the Gulf of Mexico Explores the quantified and potential impacts of oil spills on population and community dynamics of commercial and recreational fishery species Provides newly released results from the 25-year recovery of marine mammals, birds, and fishes following the Exxon Valdez spill Chapters discuss new techniques for collecting and processing blood samples for toxicity testing, new aerial radar techniques for detecting unseen oil on marshes, consequences of oil prevention measures (such as diverting fresh water to estuaries or building sand berms to stop oil) on coastal fishery resources, and non-traditional methods for assessing the herring stock in Prince William Sound, Alaska, USA following the Exxon Valdez disaster.
Download or read book The Oil Spill Recovery Institute written by National Research Council and published by National Academies Press. This book was released on 2003-03-17 with total page 180 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: As a result of the 1989 Exxon Valdez Oil Spill in Prince William Sound, Congress passed the Oil Pollution Act of 1990 (OPA 90), and within that legislation, the Oil Spill Recovery Institute (OSRI) was born. This report assesses the strength and weaknesses of this research program, with emphasis on whether the activities supported to date address the OSRI mission, whether the processes used are sound, and whether the research and technology development projects are of high quality
