Breaking News - Oil Spill in China

Filed in archive International Press on July 22, 2010

© marinephotobank

Though the spill in the Gulf of Mexico has made most of the headlines in international news lately, as thousands lose thier jobs, livelihood, and source of food, we are not alone. It as though mother nature has staged an attack on our world and it's continous use of fossil fuels despite the availablility of renewable sources of energy, that have been around for decades.

China has now seen it's biggest oil spill ever. After the explosion of two pipelines near Dalian, in Liaoning province 1,500 tons of oil have spilled into the Yellow Sea. Volunteers are working around the clock to remove the oil from the beaches with primitive methods including sticks, chopsticks, and even their bare hands.

Despite the efforts of volunteers, this are which has an economy very similar to that of the Gulf Coast of the US is experiencing huge problems as a result of the spill. The beach which would normally have about 80,000 tourists at this time of year is now empty. Many areas of the Yellow Sea have been shut down for fishing and according to Greenpeace 10,000 shellfish farms have been affected.

I guess this is bad news for all of the US folks who were unphased by the Gulf Spill as they continued to stock their freezer with imported foreign seafood.