No "chocolate rain" likely, says Dr. Jeff Masters, WUnderground blogger

[moriah]

But the reality of what might happen is bad enough as it is. This article has been updated on June 4th, so if someone might have posted it when it first came out it might be worth a reread.

What would a hurricane do to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill?

Posted by: JeffMasters, 1:57 PM GMT on May 26, 2010, updated June 4th, 3:02 PM GMT

Hurricane season is upon us next week, and the Deepwater Horizon blowout is still spewing a geyser of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. With this year's hurricane season likely to be a severe one, with much above average numbers of hurricanes and intense hurricanes, we have the unwholesome prospect of a hurricane churning through the largest accidental oil spill in history.

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Shores that are already fouled by oil will probably benefit from a hurricane, but the oil cleaned off of those shores then becomes someone else's problem. The strong winds and powerful ocean currents that a hurricane's winds drive will bring oil to large stretches of coast that otherwise would not have gotten oil. This is my chief concern regarding a hurricane moving through the Deepwater Horizon oil spill.

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One of the more unnerving prospects to consider if a hurricane hits the oil spill is what the hurricane's storm surge might do with the oil/dispersant mixture. The foul mix would ride inland on top of the surge, potentially fouling residential areas and hundreds of square miles of sensitive ecosystems with the toxic stew. The impacts of the oil and dispersant on vegetation may be too low to cause significant damage, since the hurricane would dilute the mixture with a large amount of sea water, and wash much of the toxic brew off the vegetation with heavy rain.


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Hurricanes evaporate huge amounts of water from the ocean and convert it to rain. In general, we do not need to worry about oil dissolving into the rain, since the oil and water don't mix. Furthermore, about 50-70% of the oil that is going to evaporate from the spill does so in the first 12 hours that the oil reaches the surface, so the volatile oil compounds that could potentially get dissolved into rain water won't be around.

[Phoonzang]

1. Well someone will be disappointed

[moriah]

2. I loved South Park's take on the Internet Celebrity thing....

http://www.southparkstudios.com/clips/165196/