Gulf Of Mexico PB Oil Spill Devastation

New research reported in March 2012 has found what scientists call a "graveyard of corals" directly linked to the PB oil spill of 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico.

This article is a discussion of how an oil spill of this magnitude can affect the environment.

Oil is pumped out of porous sedimentary rock. The rock remains and sea water fills the pores, either by nature or intentionally to help with the pumping.

There have been no large-scale collapses after pumping oil because the sedimentary matrix will continue to support itself. Minor drops of the surface might occur however. This is what happened near Tuscon from over-pumping their aquifer.

The main issue continues to be the effect on the environment and on life on Earth. It may not be noticeable in our lifetime. But we may not even be aware of the effects of the oil spill on living organisms that cause unknown evolutionary changes over longer time periods.

What we see on the surface is not the full picture. Latest deep-sea analysis reported on March 27th 2012, has determined major negative affects to the undersea life.

Undersea coral deaths have been directly related to the 2010 BP oil spill. A decade of research in the Gulf had not found coral dying as it is now.

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A January 2011 report by the Natural Resource Damage Assessment (NRDA), a federal agency assessing damages caused by the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill in the Gulf Of Mexico Oil Spill Devastation in April of 2010, indicates that 83 miles of shoreline is still heavily or moderately oiled.

They are using hundreds of research transmitters to monitor affects on various species such as whale sharks, bluefin tuna and sperm whales.

There was so much damage caused mainly because it took so long to stop the leak.

Why did it take so long to cap and stop the BP oil leak when we had the technology that was proven back in 1991 to stop it fast? The delay has caused tremendous negative changes to the Earth because of the enormous oil spill.

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Sadam Hussain ordered the Iraqi army to blow up the oil fields in the Persian Gulf in retaliation to the air strikes by the U.S. in the Gulf War of 1991. The air strikes were in response to Sadam’s invasion of Kuwait.

The destruction of the oil fields caused pipelines to be ruptured and storage tanks exploded. The resulting fires spewed millions of barrels of oil into the air that settled into huge lakes of oil on the deserts of Kuwait. The fires caused clouds of smoke that darkened the skies by blocking out the sun.

The U.S. found the right resources in 1991 to put out the fires and cap hundreds of the oil wells in Kuwait. This was done in such as rapid manner that it avoided any further damage to the environment. But it took way too long to stop the 2010 BP oil leak.

The BP oil blowout in the Gulf of Mexico was different since it was underwater, probably making it more problematic.

The fires that started with the oil spill were releasing endless amounts of Hydrogen Sulfide, Benzyne and Methylene Chloride into the ocean, which eventually becomes airborne and affects all of our environment.

As of January 2011 there are still tarballs on the sand of beaches loaded with toxic chemicals.

When the warmer weather arrives the tarballs melt and dissove into the water again. There are concerns that when the tarballs disolve back into the water it may cause a human health risk.

Watch the following Pensacola Beach documentary of the oil spill as of January 2011.

How long does it take to stop oil well fires?

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It was predicted that it would take five years to stop all the fires and cap hundreds of oil wells in Kuwait after the 1991 Gulf War. It actually took only eight months because the U.S. had the right resources as discussed in this video at the right.

With the additional technology that had been developed in the past 20 years, I am wondering why it had taken so long to do the same thing with just a single PB well in the Gulf of Mexico.

Devastation to Life

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The 2010 BP disaster is ending life as we know it on Earth. It’s killing off the underwater sea world too.

Researchers from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) are finding dying coral many miles from the BP wellhead. Many already dead.

More obvious to us is the devastation affecting pelicans, dolphins, whales, turtles, birds and fish. This includes octopus, lobsters, shrimp, squid, marine worms, and other smaller species that are all part of thee food chain. And think about the fact that plankton and other small organisms that feed the larger species are dying.

The destruction to the Plankton can have a totally devastating affect on the ability for human life and all life on the surface of the Earth to continue. This is because most of the oxygen on Earth is produced by photosynthetic plankton in the ocean (Source: New World Encyclopedia).

The fact that the BP oil leak was underwater was probably the reason why it had been impossible to stop the leak in a reasonable amount of time. Poor visibility in the water and debris agitated and blowing around from the seafloor can hinder the ability to see what they are doing. Cameras on the robotic equipment don’t help any in this mess.

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Estimates reported in May 2010 indicated the amount of oil leaking every day was 70,000 gallons a day. In June it was up to 210,000 gallons per day. As long as that oil was spewing out at such as great force it was eroding the pipe leading to the break. So as that pipe was eroding, it’s walls were getting thinner and thinner. That meant the opening within the pipe was widening and allowing even more oil to spew out. The concern was that eventually it would get to the point were there was no pipe left and the oil would gush uncontrollably direct from the underground reserves.

If that would have happened, there are all sorts of predictions of the outcome. I do have to think that something is going to have to replace all that oil that is leaking out. The ocean floor could suddenly collapse and the ocean water will rush into the cavity left when the pressure equalizes, causing a tsunami. Or the platonic plates might shift and cause more earthquakes than we have been experiencing.

Luckily BP was able to eventually cap the spewing oil. But the damage has yet to be determined. There are still many side effects that we will be learning about, such as massive changes to our present weather system. Changes to the weather can change the migration of birds and other animals. Dying plant-life under the ocean can cause a lose of oxygen, thereby resulting in a loss of animal life as well.

We have no idea how those changes may effect other things about our way of life, or even our ability for survival. The outcome can be so serious that it will change our planet as we know it.

Copyright © 2010 Glenn Stok