The Catastrophe In- Waiting

The incidents like the Gulf of Mexico oil spill are bound to have severe disastrous effects on the environment in the years to come.




On April 30, 2010, US President Barack Obama released a statement barely seven days after an explosion in the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig one mile below the Gulf of Mexico, which triggered off a massive oil spill into the Gulf. The oil spill soon began to affect the shores of the coasts of US states of Louisiana, Mississippi.

The Deepwater Horizon, which was considered as one of the most technologically advanced drilling platforms in the world, became a victim of an explosion on April 20.The explosion gave rise to one of the greatest oil spills in the American history. The drill had already drilled a well in the sea floor and was working in one of the last stages of the operation, and was building a cement casing to reinforce the well. The oil spill was estimated to be below 5,000 barrels a day by the US Government officials on 28 April .However, barely a month later the government scientists came up with estimation of between 12,000 and 25,000 barrels a day of oil into the sea.

Apart from economy, the oil spill has had drastic effects on wildlife and the environment. The worst affected from this spill has been the US state of Louisiana. The $4.2 billion seafood industry of the state, which accounts for about 40 per cent of the US seafood supply, has been severely affected by the spill. The state is the second biggest seafood harvester and is also the leading provider of shrimps, oysters, crabs and crawfish. Moreover, the US government has declared a “fishery disaster” in the seafood producing states of Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama. Oil, some of it in thick sheets has begun to come on the shores of Louisiana wildlife reserves. The oil sleek has started threatening hundreds of species of fish, birds and other wildlife along the Gulf Coast.

The incidents like this are bound to have severe effects on the ecosystem and marine life of our planet. The spill might trigger off environmental disasters due to petroleum toxicity and environmental disasters. As the oil spill in large amounts are a potent threat to underwater flora and fauna. The immediate effects of oil contamination are toxicity of fish and other food species. However, in case of the Mexico oil spill, the marine life has been affected as the shellfish face a bigger threat as they need surface air to breathe and in this process they might ingest the toxic oil. Similarly, those birds and animals which prey on the shellfish are also in a bigger risk of being poisoned.

Whatever the reasons might be, the ultimate bottom-line is that the incident will have a long-lasting effect on our ecosystem.

Globalization:The Pros

Globalization in simple words , can be rightly defined as the exchange of ideas, goods or services beyond any geographical constraint. Wikipedia, a world renowned search engine defines it as,” a process by which regional economies, societies and cultures have become integrated through a global network of communication, transportation and trade.”Both the definitions clearly state that the aim of globalization is to bring the whole world under a single roof, hence termed as a “global village”.

When we talk about the benefits which have come along with globalization, the first thing which strikes our mind is the concept of “free trade”. In simple words, Free Trade as its name suggests, refers to the exchange of monetary trade between traders without any geographical constraints. Free Trade is facilitated by the help of a trade treaty known as Free Trade Agreements(FTA), which have helped in reducing or completely removing tariffs on trade. According to the World Trade Organization, more than 200 FTAs are in force at present. Some of the most popular FTAs are Asia Pacific Trade Agreement(APTA),North American Free Trade Agreement(NAFTA), South Asia Free Trade Agreement(SAFTA) etc.

Another positive impact of globalization has been in the field of media. In the early 90’s, there was an unprecedented boom in the field of media. Previously, the leading media organizations of that era were confined to the boundaries of the countries in which they were operating.But with the globalization creeping in, these media giants began to cross their borders and look towards expanding their area of operations on an international level. Many leading global media giants like News Corp., Warner Bros. Entertainment, and NBC Universal are a classic example of the globalization in the field of media.

When we talk of culture, globalization has indeed revolutionized this seven letter word.With the advent of the technology, globalization has helped to bring together people on a common platform to share their views on a common subject. The internet, which is the brainchild of this era, has connected people across the seas and reduced the communication gap between two or more individuals living maybe thousands of kilometers away from each other. Through the marvels of technology, say mobile phones, internet, cinema and television we are now globally more connected than we were ever before.



Globalization has indeed revolutionized the way we see the world. It is absolutely necessary that we should strive unitedly to make this world a better place to live in.