The oil spill that occurred 45 days ago is still going on and scientists and environmentalists are each time more worried about the long-term effects on wildlife, besides Admiral statements on important steps being reached yesterday.

Pelicans cannot fly, fishes cannot breathe, habitats are destroyed and several species of animals from the Gulf of Mexico are in danger of extinction, such as turtles, whale, some birds, and the sturgeon, according to the Biological Diversity Center. The organization also urged the environmental protection agency (EPA) to protect the deep-sea blue tuna.

The livelihoods of six and a half billion people are sustained by ecosystems including almost two million known species. The welfare of Humankind is completely dependent on this web.  According to the UN's 3rd Global Biodiversity Outlook (published in May, 2010), 130 species become extinct each day. That's over 1,000 times higher than the natural extinction rate. Estimations show accelerating species extinctions and loss of habitat throughout the 21 st century and the oil spill in Gulf of Mexico is contributing to this process, but, until the moment, nothing assures that this form of exploitation is reaching an end. Alarmed at this assault on nature, the United Nations has declared 2010 the International Year of Biodiversity.  

Meanwhile, NY Times today’s edition affirms that “technicians successfully snipped a key riser pipe on Thursday in their effort to contain the oil spewing into the Gulf of Mexico from a stricken undersea well. They prepared to cap the severed pipe later in the day with a dome that they hoped would allow them to funnel the oil to tankers on the surface”.

An image from a live BP video feed showed a containment cap being lowered over the riser after robots successfully made a clean cut in the pipe from which oil is gushing in the Gulf of Mexico on Thursday, but the results of the new answer for the nation’s worst environmental disaster are still under evaluation and it is said by specialists that “using a shear, rather than a finer diamond-laced wire saw, as the slicing instrument resulted in a jagged cut, meaning that the containment cap will fit less snugly”. One thing is sure: the caused damaged is impossible to recover and we should think in the permanent danger of these platforms in the future.