Posted on 08/02/2010 8:00:28 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
The New York Times devoted a big chunk of its front page one day last week to noting that much of the spilled BP Deepwater Horizon oil has "dissipated."
Most of it, in fact.
And to scant noticeable ill-effect -- at least so far -- relative to the apocalyptic rhetoric attending weeks of televised video footage that showed oil rushing from the ocean floor.
It's not clear how much oil actually spilled; Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute expert Dr. Judy McDowell estimates that between 96 million and 184 million gallons made its way into the Gulf before the leak was capped two weeks ago.
That's a lot, right?
Well, maybe not.
Even at the high range, the leakage represents less than 20 percent of the capacity of the Central Park Reservoir -- some 1 billion gallons.
And the Gulf of Mexico is considerably larger than the reservoir: It holds some 643 quadrillion gallons of water, according to the federal Environmental Protection Agency -- or 4.43 billion gallons of water for each gallon of escaped oil.
"The oil spill is definitely blown out of proportion," said McDowell last week, with a laugh, day after returning to Woods Hole from the Gulf Coast.
Because the oil entered the water a mile beneath the surface, she said, it will separate and dissipate on the way up.
Which tends to explain the Times' inability to find much oil last week.
And why maybe nobody ever will -- unless perhaps if a huge hurricane churns up the Gulf this summer and pulls plumes of oil to the surface.
But even then, according to McDowell, the worst that can be expected is merely light "oiling" of surface and some beaches. The volume of escaped oil versus the volume of the Gulf itself will determine that outcome.
(Excerpt) Read more at nypost.com ...
Again, Deepwater Horizon isn't the same thing.
But modern civilization depends on the extraction and exploitation of petroleum -- an inherently dangerous undertaking.
Accidents are going to happen.
The alternative?
The lights go out around the world.
By now, environmental "catastrophes" should be old hat and automatically taken with a hefty dose of salt pending actual facts, not speculation by fifteen-minute media "experts" and wild guesses by political hacks.
Barack the great can sweep his lack of responce, on purpose at the time, to create a larger crisis, under the rug before the elections.
Probably also explains why the oil-caused death toll in that “near extermination of the dolphin population” turned out to be three.
This story, as with many of them lately, uses figures for estimated flow without adjusting them for the fact that close to a quarter of that “flow” was captured and processed before it could spill into the gulf.
Well, I’m glad to hear it, actually. I hope this means the shrimpers and fishermen and other working folks who’ve been in limbo down in the Gulf will be able to go back to earning their living soon.
My opinion on Obama’s utter lack of competence in dealing with this matter remains unchanged, of course. It could have been a quart bottle of 10W-30 that spilled in the gulf and I think he still would have managed to screw things up.
What to do, what to do?
Where did all the oil go?
The dispersants sank it.
Spotters would radio in when they found an area of oil. A boat to skim the top would head in that direction. A plane would then radio to clear the area and would then spray the area with dispersants. When the boat would arrive, the oil on the surface would be gone. It became sort of a big joke to those on the boats.
The dispersants took the oil to the bottom. Those telling us that the disperants are 100% safe don’t know. BP is already buying off all the marine biologists along the coast. They won’t be testifying against BP. That’s for sure.
I live along the coast and I know a few marine biologists. They will tell you that we’d been better off never using the dispersants. I know people involved with EPA testing of dispersants and I don’t have much confidence in EPA.
Before you know it, BP and all the other spinners will have us convinced that the oil and dispersants were good for us. They’ll have us believing that pelicans and crabs actually enjoy the flavoring of the dispersants.
It’s going to take years before we know the full impact of the oil and the dispersants setting at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.
It’s going to take years before we know the full impact of the oil and the dispersants setting at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico.
Exactly right. Thanks for some clarity on this.
It’s going to take years before we know the full impact of the oil and the dispersants setting at the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico
Aint that the truth. These people declaring victory at this stage are out in left field.
Here’s the latest number...
nearly 5 million barrels of oil have leaked into the Gulf ...BARRELS !
And they claim they can’t find oil...you believe it?
Me neither.
It’s a miracle! The 0bamassiah went to the wedding feast of Clinton and turned oil into water!
Obama really botched this one. He had everyone whipped into a frenzy enough to attempt a shut down of drilling in the gulf. Had it not been for a brave judge, Obama would have crippled our oil production. Now that the spill is known to be only a tiny fraction of the disaster the “experts” claimed it was, a crisis fix laden with communist goodies is out of reach now. Obama’s handlers are not going to be happy.
Multi-millionaire media lying again.
How do you know much of it hasn’t just evaporated and the rest was simply washed away by the currents and waves? the ocean is an immense and powerful system.
Pray for America
Like Rush said today: It’s sitting right next to the 3.5 million jobs OBozo “saved”.
vaudine
This article and some of your comments are idiotic. Disspersants are the real environmental disaster, and nature has not “devised strategies” for dealing with them. They do not eat or dissolve or make oil go away. The disspersants send the oil to the bottom, where it is hidden from sight. It is a bandaid by poison, and if anyone thinks having all that crude sent to the bottom is a good thing, they are stupid. The effects will be generational and just because tar balls stop washing up on beaches, does not mean tens of generations of sea-food/life will not be ruined at the worst, and mutated at best. Just a few thoughts before bragging about how the oil is “gone”.
The dispersant has a half-life of about 15 days. And it’s not particularly toxic — it’s an ingredient in laundry detergent or crying out loud. Furthermore, it does make the oil go away, by breaking the oil down into smaller droplets that have greater surface area, which makes it easier for chemical decomposition and oil eating bacteria to dispose of it. Nature is going to make quick work of the oil, and the Greatest Environmental Catastrophe in American History will turn out to be one big dud.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.