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The Gulf Oil Spill - One Year Later

20 Apr 2011 18:08 #1 by ScienceChic
The Gulf Oil Spill - One Year Later was created by ScienceChic
Today is the anniversary of the Horizon Gulf Oil Spill.

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http://www.scientificamerican.com/artic ... ecosystems
How Did the BP Oil Spill Affect Gulf Coast Wildlife? [Slide Show]
One year later, there are more questions than answers about the impact of the oil spill from BP's Macondo well on wildlife and ecosystems
By David Biello | April 20, 2011

A massive scientific effort is ongoing to precisely quantify the environmental damage caused by the oil spill—whether measured in oily sediments or missing generations of sealife. This is both part of the Natural Resource Damage Assessment http://www.darrp.noaa.gov/about/nrda.html to determine what and how much BP will have to pay as well as an undertaking to understand a unique oil spill: one that happened more than 1,500 meters beneath the sea's surface, spewed roughly 5 million barrels of oil before it was plugged.

What is clear, however, is that the approximately 5 million barrels of Lousiana sweet crude that spewed into the Gulf of Mexico was toxic—a toxicity exacerbated by the use of 1.8 million gallons of dispersant both in the deep sea and at the surface. The oil itself sports an array of so-called polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons—benzene, toluene and the like, which are known to cause cancer. At the same time, they are compounds that fish and other organisms are efficient at ensuring that it doesn't end up in their tissue.

In addition, BP's Macondo well oil itself smothered birds; more than 8,000 such birds representing 102 different species were collected—2,263 of them already dead—by government workers. Of course, this is likely just a fraction of the birds impacted since an oil-coated bird at sea sinks. The Center for Biological Diversity estimates that the oil spill killed or harmed approximately 82,000 birds as well as more than 6,000 sea turtles and 25,000 marine mammals, such as various species of dolphins.

And, unfortunately, the oil that did reach the coast—nearly 700 kilometers of marshland and 235 kilometers of beach was oiled, according to the government's Shoreline Cleanup Assessment Teams—"is very persistent once it gets up in the marsh grass," Miles says. http://www.epa.gov/oem/content/fss/fss09/scat.htm


Slideshow: http://www.scientificamerican.com/slide ... ecosystems
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther

The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill

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20 Apr 2011 18:10 #2 by Martin Ent Inc
Replied by Martin Ent Inc on topic The Gulf Oil Spill - One Year Later
And BP is still drilling out there.

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20 Apr 2011 22:55 #3 by Moonchild
Replied by Moonchild on topic The Gulf Oil Spill - One Year Later
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2011/04 ... tsions.php
4. Has the BP spill taught us how to prevent further spills?
Guess how many laws have been made to crack down on the sort of reckless drilling and operating procedures that lead to this mess? If you guessed zero, you're right. Not a single major law or amendment has been passed to prevent this kind of disaster from occurring again. Sure, Obama reorganized the ridiculously corrupt Minerals and Management Services, but even top officials say they don't have the resources necessary to properly hold the oil industry to task.

Meanwhile oil companies are vying to drill in the Gulf again, and politicians are pushing for expanded offshore entitlements. So, out of all the tricky questions that the Gulf spill has left in its wake, this one may, as of now, have the clearest answer -- no, no it has not. In fact, you could argue that the BP spill has taught America as absolutely little as a major oil disaster possibly could.

Stories from the Gulf - it's heartbreaking to know looking at these pictures that it won't return to the way it was before the spill for a long time.
http://planetgreen.discovery.com/videos ... m-the-gulf

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21 Apr 2011 06:11 #4 by FredHayek
Replied by FredHayek on topic The Gulf Oil Spill - One Year Later
And if we don't drill, the Cubans and Mexicans will instead. And I am betting they have even worse standards.
Thomas Sowell: There are no solutions, just trade-offs.

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21 Apr 2011 07:46 #5 by Rick
Replied by Rick on topic The Gulf Oil Spill - One Year Later
You're right SS109, as fuel prices rise, there will be more drilling by everyone else but us. We alone will save the planet by bankrupting ourselves with dreams of windmills and solar panels.
The left is angry because they are now being judged by the content of their character and not by the color of their skin.

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21 Apr 2011 10:17 #6 by ScienceChic
Replied by ScienceChic on topic The Gulf Oil Spill - One Year Later
Live chat today at 1pm. You can submit questions prior to the event if you are interested.

http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2 ... =shortener
Live Chat: The Gulf Oil Spill--One Year Later
by Lauren Schenkman on 13 April 2011

Join us for a live chat on at 3 p.m. EST on Thursday, 21 April. Experts will be online to answer your questions, and Science's Lauren Schenkman will moderate. You can leave your questions in the comment box below before the chat starts.



A collection of articles on the science of the spill:
http://news.sciencemag.org/oilspill/
28 February 2011 | ScienceInsider
NIH Begins Study of Oil Spill's Impact on Residents
by Sara Reardon

4 February 2011 | ScienceInsider
Embattled Author and Critics Agree: Gulf Recovery Assessment 'Not Based on Data'
by Eli Kintisch

11 January 2011 | ScienceInsider
Oil Spill Commission Calls for Larger Role for Science
by Richard A. Kerr

6 January 2011 | ScienceInsider
Oil Spill Commission Roundup: 'A Failure of Management'
by Eli Kintisch

17 December 2010 | ScienceInsider
Politics Buried Science in Louisiana Sand Berms, Oil Commission Finds
by Erik Stokstad

22 November 2010 | ScienceInsider
How BP Clashed and Cooperated With Scientists
by Eli Kintisch

17 November 2010 | ScienceInsider
Update: Expert Report Deplores Poor Decisions Leading to Gulf Oil Spill
by Richard A. Kerr

17 November 2010 | ScienceInsider
NRC: Gulf Spill Resulted From 'Insufficient Consideration of Risk'
by Richard A. Kerr

16 November 2010 | ScienceNOW
Listening for Oil Spills
by Kim Krieger

6 October 2010 | ScienceInsider
Government Slipped Up on Oil Spill Estimates, Says Panel
by Richard A. Kerr

6 October 2010 | ScienceInsider
Oil Spill Panel Says EPA, NOAA Weren't Ready to Deploy Dispersants
by Erik Stokstad

5 October 2010 | ScienceInsider
Gulf Coast Restoration Task Force Gets Under Way
by Erik Stokstad

30 September 2010 | ScienceInsider
BP Releases Long-Awaited Plan for $500 Million for Gulf Research
by Lauren Schenkman

2 September 2010 | ScienceNOW
A New Tool for Tracking Oil Spills
by Phil Berardelli

24 August 2010 | ScienceInsider
Bits of Good News From the Gulf
by Robert F. Service

24 August 2010 | ScienceNOW
Bacteria Are Gobbling Gulf Oil
by Kristen Minogue

19 August 2010 | ScienceNOW
Report Paints New Picture of Gulf Oil
by Richard A. Kerr

10 August 2010 | ScienceInsider
Huge Area for Fishing Reopened as Seafood Threat Lessens
by Eli Kintisch

5 August 2010 | ScienceInsider
Federal Scientists: Guarded Optimism on Oil Spill
by Eli Kintisch

4 August 2010 | ScienceInsider
Mother Nature Having Her Way With Gulf Oil
by Richard A. Kerr

2 August 2010 | ScienceInsider
Five Ways Oil Drops Could Still Be Deadly to Gulf
by Eli Kintisch

23 July 2010 | ScienceInsider
Qualified Good News on Subsea Dispersed Oil Plumes: Continued Low Oil Concentrations, No Dead Zones
"Now, more than ever, the illusions of division threaten our very existence. We all know the truth: more connects us than separates us. But in times of crisis the wise build bridges, while the foolish build barriers. We must find a way to look after one another as if we were one single tribe.” -King T'Challa, Black Panther

The truth is incontrovertible. Malice may attack it. ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is. ~Winston Churchill

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21 Apr 2011 11:36 #7 by kresspin
Replied by kresspin on topic The Gulf Oil Spill - One Year Later
As gulf residents cope with the catastrophe that began 1 year ago, BP just scored a $10 billion dollar tax windfall by writing their cleanup and restoration costs off their 2010 taxes. As our government implements massive budget cuts, BP shouldn't be writing off its destruction of our Gulf.

http://act.credoaction.com/campaign/nob ... 2011_BP_a1

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21 Apr 2011 11:52 #8 by Wicked
Replied by Wicked on topic The Gulf Oil Spill - One Year Later
That's f***** up.

http://www.grist.org/oil/2011-04-20-one ... s-no-safer
By Rep Ed markey
Yet Republicans in Congress and the oil companies are still pushing for more drilling with less safety. This is the sort of willful ignorance and speed-over-safety mentality that led to the BP spill in the first place.

Moving on their "Oil Above All" agenda, Republicans passed a trio of bills in the Natural Resources Committee last week, and they are expected to head to the House floor for a vote in just a few weeks. Those bills would reduce safety review, say drilling permits are deemed as "approved" after 60 days, regardless of concerns, and open up vast new areas to drilling and use old, shoddy, cookie-cutter environmental review as justification for the new exploration activities.
We'll hold this line until Hell freezes over --Then we'll hold it on ice skates.-Anonymous picket sign

Couldn’t, wouldn’t, mustn’t, shouldn’t – these are the laments of the spineless. –Bette Davis

Feminist. We Just Call Out Bulls**t Where We See It.

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21 Apr 2011 11:55 #9 by kresspin
Replied by kresspin on topic The Gulf Oil Spill - One Year Later
What's more important, the perception that Republicans are doing something to lower gas prices or the health of oceans?

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21 Apr 2011 11:56 #10 by FredHayek
Replied by FredHayek on topic The Gulf Oil Spill - One Year Later
Actually while the damage was bad, it wasn't nearly as bad as the press blew it up to be. In fact when you consider the hype, the press might have done more to scare off gulf marine life customers than actual damage to fishing stocks. And that same press helped to scare away the normal tourists. There were so many beaches that never received any oil but the public still were scared off by the media.

And for all the NIMBY's, the safety record isn't that bad! Trust me, the oil companies don't like seeing saleable product spilling into the gulf.
Thomas Sowell: There are no solutions, just trade-offs.

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