A "drop in the ocean": what 70 thousand barrels of oil a day looks like in real-time

Oil is gushing from BP's Deepwater Horizon well at an estimated rate of 70 thousand barrels a day (May 2010). This film shows what that rate of flow looks like. It is discussed in more detail here:
http://adamnieman.posterous.com/bps-deepwater-horizon-oil-animation

Tony Hayward, the Chief Executive Officer of BP said, "The Gulf of Mexico is a very big ocean... The volume of oil and dispersant we are putting into it is tiny in relation to the total water volume."

Cubic metre for cubic metre, he's right, but it's an odd point to make about a hydrophobic substance like oil. Oil affects areas, not volumes. The visualisation of oil is discussed in more detail in this blog post: http://bit.ly/aN39g6

Credits:
A Carbon Visuals film
Animation: Adam Nieman
Sound: Ben Lavington Martin

http://www.carbonquilt.org

Category:

Nonprofits & Activism

Tags:

• Deepwater Horizon
• BP
• Carbon Quilt
• Oil Slick
• Gulf Oil Spill
• Oil Spill
• gusher

[LostIndividuality]

@AoifeStair

Okay, First: Toxic Raaaiiin (Lol just had to say it XD)

Secondly: Shhhh! You'll scare the Hummers and their drivers away =S

[AoifeStair]

Okay. First off, Oil doesn't evaporate. If it did, we'd have toxic rain. Smart person ._.

Secondly, The preserves that the government set up in the U.S. are gonna be gone because the world is round, therefore, it's like a water balloon, Every time you poke a hole in it, more water comes out. and keeps coming out till there is no more. Oil can't be produced like a snap. It takes millions of years.

[CitrusGrower12]

The Gulf of Mexico was food producing waters. They used Corexit to atomize the oil in food producing waters without remorse.

[LocalDogRescue]

@newton2013 Hear hear! I'm afraid Xproletariatx like so many others are a little naive about the long-term effects of toxic contamination.

[newton2013]

@Xproletariatx According to Who?

According to the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill Trustee Council as of 2010, Entire species of animals were wiped out, alot of fish and wildlife still have not recovered, There are fisheries that never recovered due to the fact that the fish have not recovered. Tourism has never returned to what it was either.

Oh, and they see alot of animals getting sick now that never even saw heavy oil, so Yeah, their doin' Ok. There genes aren't. but whatever...

[Xproletariatx]

@newton2013 But have you heard anything recently about the ecological ramifications that might still exist in the area where the Exxon Valdez spill occurred? It seems as if everything is OK over there. Animals were rescued and the waters are doing just fine. It's not even that much oil in the Gulf. Most of it is on the surface being collected by boats and ships, its evaporating into the air, and the dispersant is breaking it up. It'll go away. Stop worrying people.

[newton2013]

@Xproletariatx Exxon Valdez was never totally cleaned up, you are aware of that aren't you? Over 20 years ago, and there is still oil there. This will be around for quite some time, quite indeed our lifetimes.

[Xproletariatx]

@daemong0d Eventually all of the oil will be cleaned up and animals will repopulate those waters. It's not the end of the world geez. Oil spills happen all the time. You think this is bad? The Iraqis dropped 480 million gallons of oil into the sea during the first Gulf War. This is baby shit compared to that.

[daemong0d]

@Xproletariatx Wrong, they have found plumes underwater some that extend 4000 ft deep. One of them is ten miles long and a mile wide. Seriously, you should think about what you say. It's being called an environmental catastrophe now by the CEO of BP, so yeah, not so bad at all. Geez, some people.

[potluckyone]

This whole mess is disturbing. BP has poisoned the gulf forever. Who knows what the long term effects of 2 million barrels in the gulf would be., marine life, beaches and marshes, who knows it might even affect the weather.. and its not done yet.. Im pissed off.. How many barrels of chemicals has BP put into the gulf to "disperse the oil" ?? we are fuc%$@d thanks BP :) we love you