The Mississippi Delta and Oil: Ecosystem Services and Human Health

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Recommended: Oil drilling effects on environment

Growing up near the Chesapeake Bay, I was bombarded with guest speakers since elementary school about protecting the environment. I knew what an ecosystem was by fifth grade, and in seventh grade our class went on a class trip to Smith Island and Port Isabel in the Chesapeake Bay for more intensive education about how humans are connected to ecosystems. Water and ecosystems are important to public health all over the globe, as water touches all of our lives. And when this water is contaminated by oil, many global health issues are caused, but these problems to health may be worth the profits gained from oil.

This is especially obvious within the context of the lower Mississippi Delta, where for many Louisianans; oilrigs provide them with jobs. Humans are dependent on oil as one of Earth’s limited resources, and it is central to our way of life: transportation, heating fuel, electric generation, common materials, and even plays a role in making our food (Catherine Gautier). The economic profits of oil are many; new technologies and innovations with oil as a key contributor are making for a prosperous future.

Each time we use oil, even if we recycle, there will be a part lost for good. As such, hoping that the free market has the ability to allocate a nonrenewable resource over time efficiently (Stephen F. Williams) does not solve our oil problems now or in the future. A lack of oil, or energy, in a region commonly leads to poverty and fear (Gautier). This dependency on petroleum, or crude oil, could be damaging if the Earth runs out of this resource.

Besides the accidental spillage affecting severe damage to the environment and then causing harm to humans, there are direct impacts on human health from oil. Problems suc...

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... William Keck. "Environmental Health in Public Health." Principles of public health practice. Albany: Delmar Publishers, 1997. 584-588. Print.

AWF. "Louisiana River Control." America's WETLAND: Resource Center. America's Wetland Foundation, n.d. Web. 16 Nov. 2011. .

Williams, Jeff. "Louisiana Coastal Wetlands: A Resource at Risk." Marine and Coastal Geology Program. United States Geological Survey, 3 Nov. 1995. Web. 14 Nov. 2011. .

Marshall, Bob. "LAST CHANCE: The fight to save a disappearing coast." New Orleans, LA Local News, Breaking News, Sports & Weather - NOLA.com. The Times-Picayune, 4 Mar. 2007. Web. 15 Nov. 2011. .

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