gulf
Padmapukur, Banglasdesh. © Jonas Bendiksen/Magnum Photos, 2009.
“Humanity is intimately tied to the world we live in, and every societal action and technological advance has an effect on the earth,” reads one of the plaques in the current Unintended Journeys exhibit at the Natural History Museum in Washington, D.C.
The temporary exhibit, which runs until Aug. 13, is a powerful photographic portrait of the catastrophic effects environmental disasters are having on millions of people around the world.
The exhibit focuses on five different countries that have recently experienced or continue to experience severe weather conditions that have caused displacement, migration, intense hardship, and death for inhabitants. The disasters covered are the Hurricane in the Gulf, the Earthquake in Haiti, the Tsunami in Japan, Flooding in Bangladesh, and Desertification in East Africa.
One year after the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill, life has not returned to normal in the Gulf.
It is hard to imagine that it's been six months since the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
I arrived in the faith-based advocacy community in Washington, D.C. fresh out of divinity school.
Editor's note: "Voices From the Gulf" is a series of posts from people experiencing first-hand the devastating effects of the worst oil spill in American history. Check back often for more stories each week.
Watch the video below of CNN's coverage of Jim Wallis and other faith leaders as they tour the Gulf Coast on a trip sponsored by the Sierra Club. (For live updates, follow @jimwallis on Twitter.)
The captain was the first to smell it. He told us that the ocean didn't used to smell this way. Then, we all smelled it.