Monday, November 16, 2009

Part 1: Oil is bad for the Earth (not just because of global warming)

Part 1 of a three-part blog series.

Oil is bad for the Earth. Oil exploitation in the Sudan (not a place where there's a lot of it, as far as I know) is messing up one of the world's great wilderness wetlands:

Sudan's White Nile marshes threatened by oil pollution

The pollution caused by the oil industry is also threatening the Sudd tropical wetlands, which cover an area of 30,000 kilometres (11,500 square miles).

The swamps, flood plains and grasslands support a rich animal diversity including hundreds of thousands of migratory birds and are inhabited by the Nuer, one of southern Sudan's two main tribes.

More than two decades of north-south civil conflict had incidentally protected the site through isolation but the intensification of oil activities since the 2005 peace deal is now a threat.

In 2006, the Sudd wetlands were certified of international importance under the Ramsar convention.


Map shows where it is:


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