If the rate of flow in the gulf of Mexico is 90,000 barrels a day, then we’ve had ourselves an Exxon Valdez every three days. Recent estimates, put the rate of flow between 50,000 and 150,000 barrels a day (BPD). In EVUs (Exxon Valdez Units), this is between .2 and .6 EVUs per day. That…
Well, a standard barrel of oil is about 42 US gallons. And a gallon is about 4 litres. I say this because I, for one, don’t convert between these units often enough to always understand the reports I hear. The Exxon Valdez catastrophe dumped about 11 million gallons of oil (or roughly 262 thousand barrels,…
I am a huge fan of science. I even believe in objectivity. Not absolute objectivity, mind you. But I believe in kinds and degrees of objectivity – dimensions of objectivity, if you will. For example, if someone makes a claim to knowing something, and another person is able to reproduce this something in the lab…
Turns out the Gulf of Mexico is the breeding ground for North Atlantic Tuna. Carl Safina has argues that the dispersant that BP is using to disperse the oil is part of the problem. The dispersant they’re using is actually banned in Europe. He argues that the dispersant is part of a pattern of cover…
I am amazed by the range of estimates. The Exxon Valdez was 10.8 million gallons. So based on the Wereley average1, we’re looking at about one of those every three or four days. Forever? For the record, it’s not a spill. Spill tracker Thanks to Hugh Stimson for this: http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2010/05/01/us/20100501-oil-spill-tracker.html ↩
