Red Tides plague Gulf Beaches Last Plague #2 is about red tides and fish-kills that are to kill all of the creatures in the sea. The Apocalypse doesn’t say which seas, but for years now red tides and fish- kills have been plaguing the Gulf of Mexico.
The worst areas are Florida’s gulf coast and the mouth of the Mississippi from Louisiana to Georgia, plagued by fish-kills almost year-round, and especially in the hot summer months. Both are caused by fertilizer run-off, scientists say, coupled with warming seas.
Late last summer, during a heat wave, a red tide appeared at the mouth of the Brazos river and extended from Galveston’s west beach to the Sargent area, for the first time in memory. The cause is believed to be hot weather coupled with a drought, and not helping anything are five dams on the Brazos River which withhold the cool fresh water that coastal waters need.
Occasionally, red tides form at the mouth of the Colorado river in the hot summer months, and largely because of the 15 dams and diversions on the river, a huge number.
Solution: We need to stop man-made global warming including fast- warming seas by converting to cleaner energy, and also control fertilizer run-off – and in many cases, blow up some detrimental dams.
Americanrivers.org managed to demolish 29 offending dams last year, making just a small dent in the estimated 30,000 dams in the United States. As a direct benefit for their efforts, endangered Salmon (and other species) are making a miraculous comeback.
– Barry Midyet
Postscript: The seas where plague 2 is the worst are China's seas, which has the world's biggest dam and the world's most polluted river deltas (that red tides feed on). China's seas may be the first to succumb to this plague, but the Gulf of Mexico may be next if nothing is done about it.
