Oil Spill on Track to Reach Atlantic No Later Than October

[G_j]

Source: Wired Science News

Oil Spill on Track to Reach Atlantic No Later Than October
By Alexandra Witze, Science News
June 17, 2010 |



Read More http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/06/oil-spill-in-atlantic-by-october/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29#ixzz0rAiJaJMR


BOULDER, Colorado — Oil gushing from the Deepwater Horizon site in the Gulf of Mexico will reach the Atlantic Ocean within six months, says oceanographer Synte Peacock. Exactly when is all down to an eddy that broke off of the infamous Loop Current southwest of Florida on June 12.

Peacock, of the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, Colorado, usually studies how the ocean’s water absorbs atmospheric gases. But after the Deepwater Horizon platform exploded April 20, she realized her computer models could be used to follow where the oil gushing from the seafloor might end up.

Her simulations, announced in a press release June 3, made headlines worldwide. No surprise: The simulations suggested that, once the oil became caught up in the Loop Current, it would be funneled into the Atlantic within weeks.

Talking with reporters at NCAR on June 14, Peacock explained how some news outlets misrepresented her work by glossing over a few major caveats. Most important, the work simulated the movement of dye (not viscous oil) injected in the upper layers of the ocean (not the deep seafloor) for a total of two months (not the ongoing no-end-in-sight disaster).



Read more: http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/06/oil-spill-in-atlantic-by-october/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29

[BrklynLiberal]

1. Best possible scenario is still bad news...

[WCGreen]

2. Great, now Britian will be able to enjoy the fruits of BP's mistakes...

[burnsei sensei]

3. I'll send BP a thank you card

written in black ink, of course.

[babylonsister]

4. I just hope she's wrong. I'm not confident though. nt

[Stinky The Clown]

11. Some have been saying this for a while, only to be rudely dismissed

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x8553108

[AsahinaKimi]

5. Looking at the maps of

The Earth's currents, it looks like the UK might be the first to see oil on their shores.


I am sure all of Europe will be looking forward to BP's little Ooppsie on their shores. :sarcasm:

[nc4bo]

6. I guess they won't be able to say Americans are a selfish lot. nt.

[inna]

7. dude, Schadenfreude is oh so completely uncalled for and misdirected here

it's not even funny

:(

[AsahinaKimi]

8. Sorry.

Gomen Nasai!

[inna]

9. No problem at all! :hug:

:hug:

As far as I'm concerned, we're all in this together... People vs. Mega-Corporations/Monopoly Capital.

[AsahinaKimi]

10. Huggu!!

Sankyouuuuuuuu! I agree.

[DFW]

12. Nihongo wakarimasu ka?

Nihonjin desu ka?

[AsahinaKimi]

16. Hai wakarimasu.

Nikkei to Kankoujin no Amerikajin desu. Sanfuranshisuko de umaremashita. Sukoshi nihongo o hanashimasu.

[DFW]

18. Boku no nihongo-wa anata no nihongo yori dame desu.

Boku-wa amerikajin desu. Firujinya de umaremashita.

(Never before tried to write "Virginia" in the Roman alphabet using accepted Japanese transliteration!)

[AsahinaKimi]

20. Seeing that

Singer, Van Tomiko is called "Ban Chan" maybe its spelled Birujimya .
(sounds like the Japanese word for Beer~Biru)

[DFW]

13. I posted a (gloomy) thread about this a month ago

Mostly speculative: if the oil gets into the North Atlantic, it affects fishing stocks which feed a LOT of nations.
Russian and Chinese megatrawlers are all over the place, competing with boats from North America and Europe, trying
to feed an increasing population while depleting the ocean of fish by taking them faster than they can replenish
themselves. The whole ecology of the Atlantic could be affected, and there could be serious armed confrontations
to protect trawlers that can find stock of untainted fish. Iceland would need a navy ten times the size of its
population to protect its ocean perch.

Ibsen's "Enemy of the People" could become reality as fishermen and conglomerates faced with economic ruin try to
pass off tainted fish as edible at the market. Testing agencies can be bribed and corrupted to certify fish as safe
to eat when the opposite is the case. Whole Caribbean nations, whose only source of food was fish in native waters
could be forced to eat weeds or starve.

This is all a worst-case scenario, of course, but I don't see a lot of news so far that gives me reason to doubt
that all the evil crap I just posted won't come to pass in one form or another.

[Nihil]

14. It's there already ...

> Ibsen's "Enemy of the People" could become reality as fishermen and
> conglomerates faced with economic ruin try to pass off tainted fish
> as edible at the market.

Reports earlier in the week of a fishing vessel intercepted inside the
toxic zone that had already caught & processed many thousands of pounds
of white shrimp there and was on the way back to sell it ... yum, yum ...

That particular load was dumped back in the Gulf (dead, of course) but,
as the captain was let off with a warning, he (and his friends) have
probably done a few more trips by now (not to mention the ones done before
the ill-fated trip).

Eat up children!

[Alhena]

15. Isn't the middle of the Atlantic the best possible place for it?

I mean of course it's still awful, but even a spill as big as this one will be very diluted in the middle of the Atlantic ocean.

[1Hippiechick]

17. Other links you may find interesting: SkyTruth satellite images updated

http://www.flickr.com/photos/skytruth/sets/72157623909364472/detail/

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
The Mississippi Flyway is the largest flyway in North America. About 40% of all North American migrating waterfowl and shorebirds use this route. When the birds get to the marsh lands of Louisiana they rest and refuel for the trip across the gulf to Mexico. How will the birds make it without this important last place to grab a bite to eat and, rest? Will they have the energy to cross the Gulf? It's not just Ducks and,Geese it is song birds too.

http://www.birdnature.com/flyways.html

[Uncle Joe]

19. I wish they would quit labeling the loop current as "infamous" this is the second time I've seen

that misplaced adjective in regards to the current.

The loop current is part of the natural oceanic climate cycle, and neutral as a conveyor belt.

The Gulf Oil Gusher, aka; GOG is infamous.

Kicked and recommended.

Thanks for the thread, G_j.