Monitering the Gulf Oil Spill: Worst Case Scenarios

[RascalPuff]

Tony Hayward ousted from spill response; well partner blasts `reckless’ BP decisions

Hurricane Alex vs. the Gulf oil spill

The Atlantic Hurricane season is off to a roaring start with Hurricane Alex bearing down on the Gulf coast of Texas. Notice the first named hurricane of the Atlantic season has hit the Gulf - it’s going to be a long hurricane season down there. Weather and coastal watchers are already reporting that the storm has pushed oil from the BP’s blown out well onto the shores of Mississippi, Florida and Lousiana.

Hurricane Alex spanned the Gulf of Mexico, from the Yucatán Peninsula to the Louisiana coast, on June 29, 2010. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite captured this natural-color image the same day. (NASA photo)
The storm has forced skimmer vessels and other surface boats involved in the spill response back to shore, because of rough seas.
The photo below shows distribution of the oil slick in the Gulf region of the barrier islands of eastern Mississippi.

This high-resolution image shows Petit Bois Island (top right) and the eastern end of Horn Island (top left) on June 26. In general, oil-covered waters are silvery and cleaner waters are blue-gray. This pattern is especially consistent farther from the islands.
Google map of the area represented above.

View Larger Map
Additional Gulf oil spill headlines today:
US accepts international assistance for Gulf spill
Senate chairman starts probe of Transocean’s taxes
This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 30th, 2010 at 3:37 pm and is filed under NASA, hurricane season, pollution, oil spill, Transocean, tropical storm, BP, conservation, ocean, coast, gulf oil leak, general. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.


COMMENTS (1) »

1. JIMMY BUFFETT CONCERT CHANGED TO JULY `11
   Jimmy Buffett opened a hotel on Pensacola Beach . The opening of Jimmy Buffett’s 162 room , 50 million dollar Margaritaville Hotel was this week! It is also a rumor that BP PLC is paying for part of his free concert . Is Buffett acting in everyones best interest having a concert on the 4th of July weekend ? Now changed to July 11 ! How about the health risks from PAH in oil on the beaches …..
   Going to any beach with oil on it is like chewing razor blades! The oil is loaded with polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) . The introduction of chemical dispersants increases the amount of carcinogens in the oil. The federal government should be passing out Material Safety Data Sheets (MSDS) . They are designed to provide both workers and emergency personnel or people on the beach picking up or walking on tar balls with the proper procedures for handling hazardous material. The oil is a toxic material.
   Comment by Bill Carson - June 30, 2010 @ 4:06 pm

[Meem]

Well, not too much to say really ... after reading this snip.

In fact the spill is now the largest accidental oil leak ever, surpassed in size only by the deliberate release of crude by Iraqi troops during the 1991

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20100702...nmentpollution

[labelwench]

In the course of the evolution of our species, we have been challenged by nature at every step of the way, yet I suspect a future examination of the 'Records of the Rocks' will reveal mankind to be the greatest challenge ever known to nature by our ability to effectively change great tracts of habitat, both by design and by misfortune, as with the Gulf Oil Well disaster.

Meanwhile, our dependency on the double-edge sword known as 'Oil', has drilling companies lobbying against any legislation that might halt, even temporarily, their ability to continue with underwater drilling, with this disaster nowhere near under control, and the future repercussions completely unknown, as we have no models for the scope of this disaster.

One interesting observation I might make, would be that the clean-up attempt is affording an employment opportunity for a great many people, at the same time that it is wiping out the economic livelihood of many others. This is one devil of a 'make-work project' for those who may be inclined to wonder about events that lead up to the present situation.

Are we really a species with such suicidal disregard for the consequences of our actions upon the future viability of life and diversity upon this planet?

"Now that the oil is here in Mississippi the animals are running and there is nowhere to go," Solangi said.

"The problem we all face now is how to rebuild nature. People have the Red Cross and such to rebuild their lives after a disaster but dolphins, whales, turtles and everything in the Gulf have nothing but their own habitat, which is now in jeopardy."

http://af.reuters.com/article/energy...BrandChannel=0

[labelwench]

Many people would be surprised to learn of some of the products that we use everyday that are made from oil. A partial list includes the following:

Products made from oil
Ammonia
Antifreeze
Antiseptics
Art supplies
Artificial limbs
Aspirin
Astroturf
Awnings
Bandages
Cleaning products
Candles
Carpets
Caulking
Clothing
Crayons
Creams
Cosmetics
Cutlery
Dentures
Dice
Dyes
Electronics
Film
Fishing line
Floor wax
Foam
Glasses
Glue
Glycerin
Guitar strings
Heart valves
Helmets
Ink
Insulation
Lubricants
Medicine
Nail polish
Nylon
Paint
Paint brushes
Panty hose
Petroleum jelly
Plastics
Records
Refrigerant
Roofing
Shampoo
Shaving cream
Shoes
Shower curtains
Skis
Soap
Solvents
Sports equipment
Tires
Toys
Trash bags
Umbrellas
Upholstery
Vitamin capsules

http://green.yahoo.com/blog/daily_gr...-from-oil.html

For those who occasionally use the everyday product known as Aspirin, we no longer derive this commodity from willow bark.

http://www.chemheritage.org/Educatio...asp/asp150.htm

[labelwench]

'Good planets are rare indeed'........

I couldn't agree more.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ATT_r...eature=related

Steve Forbert Good Planets Are Hard To Find Hamilton October 08

Good planets are hard to find,
Temp'rate zones and tropic climes,
True currents in thriving seas,
Winds blowin' through breathing trees,
Strong ozone and safe sunshine,
Good planets are hard to find.

Good planets are in demand,
Clean beaches and sparkling sand,
Land masses with room to spare,
Jet streams and perfect air,
High forests and low wetlands,
Good planets are in demand.

And the mind don't know
If the heart can't see;
Let the blind man go
To his destiny...

Good planets are rare indeed,
Rain fallin' on crops and seed,
Big rivers and good topsoil,
Fuel sources from cane to oil,
Green gardens of all we need,
Good planets are rare indeed.

And the mind don't know
If the heart can't see;
Let the blind man go
To his destiny...

Good planets are scarce and few,
Earthworms and caribou,
Strong food chains and tasty meals,
Textiles and plants that heal,
Iron mountains and skies of blue,
Good planets are scarce and few

[timeparticle]

Abiotic Oil Migration...

The theory of abyssal non-biotic petroleum origin recognizes that petroleum is a primordial material of deep origin which has been erupted into the crust of the Earth. According to the theory of the abyssal non-biotic petroleum origin, developed during the last 50 years in Russia and Ukraine, hydrocarbon compounds are generated in the mantle of the Earth.

This is a theory of how such oil has formed deep within our earth.

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=...26tbs%3Disch:1

A purpose of abiotic oil migration could be that large amounts of oil are used by our planetary movements to lubricate and cushion deep pressure activity, as well as, stabilize planetary rotations from wobbling. A sudden unbalance of this deep oil in a specific area could cause uneven movements from gravitational and rotational centrifugal forces.
Large earthquakes could come from such an event, among other contractions from deep oil migration displacements.

Methane gas is escaping as fast as oil is. An "accidental" or purposeful explosive devise at the Gulf site could cause a chain reaction event from deep pockets of nearby methane gas. This explosion would make any massive nuclear detonation that we know of look tiny in comparison....

Worst case scenarios...

[timeparticle]

This is a good video of a photographer and a pilot flying over the Gulf. Dolphins and a Sperm Whale caught in oil....

http://bpoilslick.blogspot.com/2010/...in-bp-oil.html

[labelwench]

One of the fellows on night crew had seen this video and was speaking to the fact that there has been a 'no-fly' zone posted around and over the area of the spill, so the fellows who acquired this footage did so at considerable risk to themselves and I'm wondering if the authorities will go after them for daring to go public with such footage, which is not at all the 'white-washed' version we have been seeing on the news reports, or at least I haven't managed to catch such details when I have been viewing. We only get CBC where I live and I realize that there are numerous media covering the event, so perhaps just my limited exposure to the coverage, to try and keep perspective on these matters.

The sheer scale of the area affected and the images of the impacts on the sea mammals, whom we know to be intelligent species, and without recourse in the face of such habitat destruction, is most sobering.

Nature must be having second thoughts about giving rise to mankind, when the capacity of our single species to disrupt a fragile balance is examined. There is none but ourselves to blame for the fates which will follow in due time.

Though I am not religious, the Garden Of Eden story, seems quite appropriate and relevant.

We were not 'cast out'.

We trashed the place, just as we are doing now.

[RascalPuff]

Dear LW:
The most responsible persons and institutions will psycho-spin the public sector in to blaming itself as much as possible.

Erstwhile the petroleum industry and its captains are - by far - in the lead for responsibility on this ongoing 'incident'. The usual usurpers. They're responsible for the ongoing 'non-wars' in the MiddleEast and the extant hydrocarbons in the ecocycle. They're responsible for 9/11/01. They're at least partially responsible for global warming. Motivated, as usual, by amoral avidity for gain - foregrounding the immediate reward at the immediate moment, forsaking potential consequences and posterity is after all, their historically engraved modus operandi.

I don't think you or I or any of our immediate peers and fellow world travelers trashed the place, LW: I think 'they' did. There is a 'they' - one of the principal methods for identifying themselves is their denial that there is a 'they'. Viz, that's one of several methods they have of identifying themselves. Denial. Prevarication. Intrigue. Neurolinguistic programming. Blaming the victim(s). Double talk. Behavior modification. Media monopolization. Transposition of contexts. Censorship. Operant conditioning. By far, the majority of the world's population is only slightly more culpable than the marine life that is being murdered in the Gulf as we speak.

Taking responsibility is one thing, L.W., whereas, blaming what you are not responsible for, on yourself and your peers is an altogether different consideration. The industry that is reponsible for this has been suppressing energy alternatives for nigh on to a century now. Witness the depletion of electrical street cars and public transportation in nearly every major city in the United States, for example, since the advent of alternatives to internal combustion. Google 'Stanley Steamer' for a circumspection of what isn't happening and has gone undeveloped for a century and more. Wind energy resources, methods of storing and deploying electrical and solar energy... All forsaken for addicting the world to toxic nuclear power and politically and ecologically moribund power. You didn't do it, L.W. Neither did your peers, nor Truly Yours. 'They' did - and are doing - it, and they're not coming: they're here, entrenched very deeply (in more ways than one), and: they refuse to cease and desist, while making plans for more of the same in (what remains of) the future...

Best regards,
- Kai

[labelwench]

You are correct, in that I am not responsible for the Gulf disaster directly.

Yet, in my choice of lifestyle, I take full advantage of the opportunities available to me through hard work, and everywhere I look, I am also part of the problem, even though I select the most environmentally friendly options from the options available, and go without many common luxuries, by choice.

I shoulder only my part of the social responsibility, being neither a victim or a pillager, yet caught on the edge of the sword called petroleum, as it washes through all of our lives, even as it now covers so much of the ocean.

Like the sea mammals, we may soon be asking, "Where can we go?"