So... how about that oil spill?

[Red Dragon]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

Government is supporting oil companies and oil companies are being pricks.

Also in the news, anti-gay senators are actually gay and the sky is blue.

[Rodak]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

[MRevelle83]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100715/...gulf_oil_spill

[The Toecutter]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20100715/...gulf_oil_spill

It's about damn ****ing timem the leak was stopped...


...and assuming BP isn't once again lying, they stopped it about 2 months too late to save the Gulf. Wait until the health problems due to breathing VOCs, Corexit vapor, and the like begin to show themselves in tens of thousands(maybe millions) of people, and that won't even be the worst of it.

This is an encouraging development at least...

[Mcardy]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

Yeah, that Corexit **** is wack.

I also hope this is the end of this disaster, but I can't really trust BP anymore after the complete incompetence they've displayed in the first 382327 failed attempts to stop it.

[IamPinhead]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

Knowing the catastrophic failures that BP has put forth, I would not be surprised if there was simply no more oil left in the well to spill.

[American Hero]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

I wonder where all that spilled oil is going.

[Shard]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

To a beach near you~

The current has landed tar balls on every state that shares a border with the gulf and its expected that residue from the spill will work its way up the eastern seaboard in the coming months.

There are massive plumes of oil on the surface, and beneath, that's in the process of being broken down by algae. The algae use up oxygen in the water as they break down the oil, leading to massive "dead zones" that are uninhabitable by marine life.

[Denmo]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

On a side note, Louisiana is not new to the idea of being surrounded by a dead zone.

Also, assuming the nitrogen and other toxins stop flowing into the water, dead zones are reversible. The Black Sea is one example. But, in our case, it's also assuming that everything in that oil will eventually decompose....

and of course, this will take decades if not centuries to fully recover.

[The Toecutter]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

On a side note, Louisiana is not new to the idea of being surrounded by a dead zone.

Also, assuming the nitrogen and other toxins stop flowing into the water, dead zones are reversible. The Black Sea is one example. But, in our case, it's also assuming that everything in that oil will eventually decompose....

and of course, this will take decades if not centuries to fully recover.

These new 'dead zones' will be littered with oil and corexit; they are entirely different in their effects compared to the fertilizer/nitrogen runoff dead zones that the Gulf is used to. The oil/corexit slurry kills everything it touches, and give it a few months, and the weather will cause it to cover the northern half of the GOM, with a thinner layer spread along the eastern seaboard.

If you kill the phytoplankton in the area of impact, the entire food chain that subsists on it dies. Just the oil/corexit at the surface is sufficient to do this, nevermind the gigantic clouds of it below the surface that are killing everything else.

The Eastern seaboard, once contaminated, may recover to its normal state over a decade or so(depending on how much of the slurry is transported there by the ocean currents), but not the Gulf.

Prince William Sound has not recovered to anything near 'normal', and it's two decades later with far fewer toxins released per square mile of area affected. People are still developing various forms of illness due to exposure to the minority of toxins that were spared the cleaning. To this day, you can find water and sand polluted with oil/tar from that disaster without having to put effort into searching. The fisheries have not recovered to their initial state, or anything close to it, withsome populations having been permanently destroyed.

An Exxon Valdez every 3-4 days has been leaking into the GOM, for almost 3 months straight. Barring an unprecedented technological breakthrough applied to correct this mess(and said breakthru succeeding) or 'divine intervention', the Gulf will not return to anything resembling 'normal' on any human timeframe.

***edit***

Knowing the catastrophic failures that BP has put forth, I would not be surprised if there was simply no more oil left in the well to spill.

According to Matt Simmons, there is enough oil within that well that, if leaking at 100,000 barrels per day, would continue spewing oil for 2.5 years. This is also slightly more than 1 day's worth of world oil consumption, so not a whole lot...

[ChaosKnightXD]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

Not out of the woods yet by a long shot but it's nice to see some progress being made.

I'm also glad that people probably won't end up dying from the Earth farting if this cap really does work. And by farting I mean giant methane bubble.

[The Toecutter]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

Not out of the woods yet by a long shot but it's nice to see some progress being made.

I'm also glad that people probably won't end up dying from the Earth farting if this cap really does work. And by farting I mean giant methane bubble.

The methane bubble is an extremely unlikely scenario, but not an implausible one. IMO, it never was any real worry.

There have been such methane bubbles in the Earth's past, some of which have contributed to mass extinction events. They are more rare than supervolcanoes.

[ChaosKnightXD]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

Yeah I knew people were exaggerating about the methane bubble a bit but it was still bothersome. The devastation that would cause along with the climate change is no reason not to be a little worried.

[jacquel]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

On the bright side marine scientists are going to have a lot of stuff they can research for a really really long time.

And maybe, just maybe, this could start the cultural change needed for people to take non-expendable energy sources seriously....

But I DOUBT IT

[Shard]

Re: So... how about that oil spill?

Speaking as someone who works with marine scientists on a daily basis, I can tell you they had no shortage of work beforehand.

The questions are will they have any funding to do their research, and if so, will their findings be buried under PR bull**** when they're released?