Florida's future

[Keanumoreira]

So, we've all heard of the oil spill off of Florida that is devestating marine life and beyond. For decades, Florida has been the state that has flourished because of its beautifull beaches and sunny weather. But with oil on the horizon, how will tourism, Florida's ultimate life support, react to the changing enviorment?

[Vagrant0]

They'll be fine... It's Cuba and the Caribbean that'll be royally screwed by all this. It's not all tax dollars there, it's a matter of being able to fish in order to eat. If nature has taught us anything, it's that it can bounce back from the brink of destruction as soon as conditions allow. It won't ever be the same, but it won't be completely gone. Edited June 21, 2010 by Vagrant0

[SpellAndShield]

I have never understood the fascination with Florida to begin with; why are people so attracted to it? Boggles the mind....

[Coous]

Well here in my town we got these sea cows that are apparently rare,and we aren't too far from Orlando so I've seen many others from different states and countries come here.and despite the spill still tons of tourists off to see the manatees here.Florida will be fine as nice as it is to come here during the summer,it really sucks to live here like bad so never come to stay imo.

 

Stardusk people come to here because part of the state is actually beautiful,and there's a lot of attractions like Disney etc.

[ginnyfizz]

As Vagrant0 has pointed out, nature and tourism will recover. In Britain we have had oil spills off Cornwall and the Isles of Scilly, which are dependent on tourism and important sites for rare wildlife, and it recovered. Off the Shetlands too, another important site for wildlife and very hardy tourists.

[Keanumoreira]

I agree that tourism will recover, but if it really takes fifteen years to clean this up, we're going to see a decline of some sort.

[bben46]

As usual, the news media is making this out to be much worse than it really is. Nature will recover, probably much faster than these armchair experts in the media claim. The news always goes with the 'expert' who has the most sensational prediction. Yes this is a major environmental catastrophe. But similar oil spills in other places have shown that it really does recover, no matter what the news says is going to happen. So if tourism drops off, blame the news and take a cheap vacation in Florida.

 

BTW, I don't think the 2Billion that BP has promised will come close to covering all of the economic hardships they caused in the gulf. I read this morning about a topless club in New Orleans where the dancers had filed for compensation from BP because their regular customers, the fishermen, were not making enough money to pay them for dances. This shows that some of the hardships are not exactly obvious.

[Chaosblade02]

Nature has its own way of removing the oil from the water, and I believe this is happening right now with microbes eating on the oil and in turn is lowering the oxygen levels in the water, which is driving fish and other animals into areas people used to rarely or never see them. So given enough time as long as the oil leak is plugged, nature will balance itself back out. Oil leaks also happen naturally, so nature has its own way to solve these problems.

 

Also the beaches on the Atlantic side of Florida are still clean, not as warm or as clear as gulf waters, but still nice beaches.

[Sinophile]

I have never understood the fascination with Florida to begin with; why are people so attracted to it? Boggles the mind....

Prior to the 1930s, Florida was almost unlivable. However, the invention of the air conditioner had changed that. Florida has the clearest ocean water in the nation, as well as the whitest sand. I've been to Beaches in Texas and California.

[Thor.]

Well here's some hope full news for you, there testing a tanker that will scoop up oil from the ocean.

 

http://www.theweathernetwork.com/news/storm_watch_stories3&stormfile=super_skimmer_begins_testing_04_07_2010?ref=ccbox_weather_bottom_title