Greta Thunberg Issues Warning After Mexico's Underwater Gas Leak Disaster

Greta Thunberg is one of many people shocked by what happened in the Gulf of Mexico over the weekend.

The Atlantic Ocean was literally on fire (pause for a moment and think about water being on fire) off the coast of Yucatan for more than five hours.

Bright orange flames jumped out of the water and resembled molten lava. It was dubbed an 'eye of fire' on social media due to the blaze's circular shape, as it raged a short distance from an oil rig owned by Mexico's state-owned oil company Pemex.

The world watched in horror as firefighters battled to contain the blaze, however many are worried about what this means for the future.

Swedish climate activist Greta Thunberg criticised world leaders for not doing more to prevent incidents like this one.

She wrote on Twitter: "Meanwhile the people in power call themselves 'climate leaders' as they open up new oilfields, pipelines and coal power plants - granting new oil licenses exploring future oil drilling sites. This is the world they are leaving for us."

Angel Carrizales, head of Mexico's oil safety regulator ASEA, explained the incident 'did not generate any spill' however he couldn't explain what was burning on the water's surface.

Ku Maloob Zaap is Pemex's biggest crude oil producer, accounting for more than 40 per cent of its nearly 1.7 million barrels of daily output. At the time of the incident, the development was understood to be producing around 726,000 barrels of oil per day.

A Pemex incident report said: "The turbomachinery of Ku Maloob Zaap's active production facilities were affected by an electrical storm and heavy rains."

Company workers used nitrogen to control the fire, the report added.

The company said it would further investigate the cause of the fire. It is unclear how much environmental damage was caused by the gas leak and oceanic fireball.

Miyoko Sakashita, oceans programme director for the Center for Biological Diversity, wrote: "The frightening footage of the Gulf of Mexico is showing the world that offshore drilling is dirty and dangerous.

"These horrific accidents will continue to harm the Gulf if we don't end offshore drilling once and for all."

Topics: Greta Thunberg, News, Mexico

Stewart Perrie

Stewart Perrie is a Trending Journalist at LADbible. His first job was as a newsreader and journalist at the award winning Sydney radio station, Macquarie Radio. He was solely responsible for the content broadcast on multiple stations across Australia when the MH17, Germanwings and AirAsia disasters unfolded. Stewart has covered the conflict in Syria for LADbible, interviewing a doctor on the front line, and has contributed to the hugely successful UOKM8 campaign.

@stewartperrie