Offshore Oil Rig Explodes

Oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico off Louisiana’s coast explodes many injured, missing

Seventeen crew workers seriously injured, 3 of them critically, 15 others missing

The explosion occurred on Deepwater Horizon, an offshore oil-drilling platform 66km (41 miles) southeast of Venice, Louisiana, at about 10 p.m. (ET) Tuesday, the US Coast Guard said.

‘State of the art,’ semisubmersible Deepwater Horizon Oil Rig on Fire, April 20, 2010 at approximately 10:00 p.m. central time. Photo: Scott Lloyd/United States Coast Guard.

The fire was “large and intense,” and the rig was still burning Wednesday morning, according to various reports. “It’s burning pretty good and there’s no estimate on when the fire will be put out,” a coast Guard officer said.

The rig owners, Transocean, said the rig has been on lease to BP Exploration & Production since September 2007.

No news concerning the extent of oil pollution that would most probably have occurred as a result of fire was available as of posting.

Deepwater Horizon Location Map. No information was made available concerning the extent of probable oil pollution, which may have been caused by the massive fire on the oil platform, as of posting. Base Map: Google Earth. Click image to enlarge.

The Deepwater Horizon before the explosion

News Release: Transocean Ltd. Reports Fire on Semisubmersible Drilling Rig Deepwater Horizon

ZUG, SWITZERLAND, Apr 21, 2010 (MARKETWIRE via COMTEX) –Transocean Ltd. (NYSE: RIG) (SIX: RIGN) today reported a fire onboard its semisubmersible drilling rig Deepwater Horizon. The incident occurred April 20, 2010 at approximately 10:00 p.m. central time in the United States Gulf of Mexico. The rig was located approximately 41 miles offshore Louisiana on Mississippi Canyon block 252.

Transocean’s Emergency and Family Response Teams are working with the U.S. Coast Guard and lease operator BP Exploration & Production, Inc. to care for all rig personnel and search for missing rig personnel. A substantial majority of the 126 member crew is safe but some crew members remain unaccounted for at this time. Injured personnel are receiving medical treatment as necessary. The names and hometowns of injured persons are being withheld until family members can be notified.

Transocean is the world’s largest offshore drilling contractor and the leading provider of drilling management services worldwide. With a fleet of 140 mobile offshore drilling units plus three ultra-deepwater units under construction, the company’s fleet is considered one of the most modern and versatile in the world due to its emphasis on technically demanding segments of the offshore drilling business. Its worldwide fleet is more than twice the size of the next-largest competitor. The company owns or operates a contract drilling fleet of 46 High-Specification Floaters (Ultra-Deepwater, Deepwater and Harsh-Environment semisubmersibles and drillships), 26 Midwater Floaters, 10 High-Specification Jackups, 55 Standard Jackups and other assets utilized in the support of offshore drilling activities worldwide.  SOURCE: Transocean Ltd.

Related Links:

• Disasters Caused by Oil and gas Drilling, Oil Spills, Leaks, Land, Water and Air Pollution
• Want a Mandate to Kill Life on the Planet?
• Chevron-BP Pipeline leaks Oil into Louisiana Wildlife Refuge
• Oil Refinery Explodes in Washington State
• Obama: A Serious Self-Hater

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Eyjafjallajökull Eruption – UPDATE 21 April

Eyjafjallajökull Rumbling, Churning out Magma

Eyjafjallajökull has entered a Strombolian-like phase of explosive of  activity, producing magma splatters, but less ash and smoke than the previous days.The plume, however, is till rising to a height of about 3,500m.

The magma in Eyjafjallajökull cauldron seems to be more viscous  than in its neighboring Fimmvörðuháls fissure,  the Icelandic  Met Office reported, adding that the interaction of magma with ice and melt water had decreased.

Icelandic Met Office:  Update on activity
Eruption in Eyjafjallajökull, Iceland
Current events
Deflation – 20 April 2010 13:30 [22:30UTC]

Latest available results from GPS stations around Eyjafjallajökull showed deflation associated with the eruption. This suggested that the volume of eruptive material which has been ejected already, relieves pressure off the volcano.

No movements associated with the Katla volcano are presently observed. END

Thórólfsfelli (Þórólfsfelli) View

Hvolsvelli View

Valahnúk View

Latest webcam images of Eyjafjallajökull show the volcano is still petty much active. Frames frozen at 08:42UTC on April 21, 2010. Click images to enlarge.

There is no sign of lava flow as yet, but the situation could change rapidly.

“It seems that the ice cauldrons over the eruption site have coalesced to form a larger cauldron. In spite of magma splatters, no lava flow has been detected yet.”

“Heavy sound blasts have been heard and found near Eyjafjallajökull, especially south and east of the mountain. The viscosity of the magma from Eyjafjallajökull is higher than on Fimmvörðuháls and this enhances the explosive sound effect which can be heard over long distances.” it said.

Nearly all of the European airports have now reopened, however, the travel chaos with an unprecedented backlog of about 100,000 flight cancellations continues. The 6-day flight ban has cost the airlines more than one billion dollars. The actual cost to the unsustainable economies of Europe may be even larger.

Eldgosið í Fimmvörðuhálsi var undanfari eldgossins í Eyjafjallajökli. Árni Sæberg. Source: MBL-Island. Image may be subject to copyright.

A Silver Lining to the Ash Cloud?

University students in Britain have estimated the amount of carbon dioxide released by  Eyjafjallajökull Eruption  at 150,000 metric tons per day. The figure compares with 510,000 tons of CO2 per day emitted as a result of the planes flying normally over Europe. Their estimates seem to imply a ‘saving’ of 360,000 tons of CO2 per day as a result of the flight restriction over Europe. Source:  Reuters report.

ASTER on NASA’s Terra satellite acquired the above image at 1:50 p.m. local time on April 19. The image shows both the eruption plume and the heat signature of lava at the volcano’s summit and at nearby Fimmvörduháls fissure. Source: NASA. Click image to enlarge.

Latest Videos

• EyjafjallajökullEruption video by Ómar Ragnarsson [Latest available video]

Related Links

• How many are up there polluting our skies?
• Eyjafjallajökull Eruption: Flight Ban Lifted
• Eyjafjallajökull Eruption Links Page
• “Thank God men cannot as yet fly and lay waste the sky as well as the earth!”

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Who’s Afraid of Volcanic Ash Clouds?

Thar: Another Encroaching Desert

Pall of Dust Covers Pakistan-India Border Region

The nearest volcanoes from the Thar Desert on the Pakistan-India Border Region are about 1,000km away. And there aren’t nearly as many of them as in  Iceland. The area won’t receive a significant amount of the volcanic ash from Eyjafjallajökull Eruption,  but there would be plenty of sand and dust to compensate for the airborne particles.

The photo like image taken by MODIS on NASA’s Aqua satellite shows a large dust storm over the Thar Desert on the border between India and Pakistan April 20, 2010. Source: NASA. Click image to enlarge.

Related Links:

• China Sandstorm – Satellite Image
• Second Sandstorm Blasts Beijing
• Humongous Dust Storm Sweeps Africa
• More Dust Storms Plague Arabian Peninsula
• Image of the Day: Sandstorm in Saudi Desert

• S. Arabia Nets Climate Change Q3 Dividends
• 2010 Disasters
• First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Australia: Uranium Dust Threat Real?
• And dust to dust …

• Disaster Calendar 2010
• Drought and Deluge
• The First Wave of World’s Collapsing Cities
• Index of Human Impact on Nature (HIoN) March 2008
• 2010: The Year of Disasters

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El Niño Update [21 April 2010]

ENSO Cycle: Recent Evolution, Current Status and Predictions

El Niño Weekly UPDATE prepared by Climate Prediction Center / NCEP –  19 April 2010

The latest weekly SST departures are:

• Niño 4   ~  0.8ºC
• Niño 3.4  ~  0.8ºC
• Niño 3 ~ 0.8ºC
• Niño 1+2 ~ 1.1ºC

El Niño Map. [SOURCE: NOAA/ Climate Prediction Center / NCEP]

Summary

• El Niño is present across the equatorial Pacific Ocean.
• Sea surface temperatures (SST) are more than 1.0ºC above-average across muchof the central and eastern equatorial Pacific.
• Based on current observations and dynamical model forecasts, El Niño is expected to continue through the Northern Hemisphere spring 2010 and transition to ENSO-neutral conditions by Northern Hemisphere summer 2010.

Related Links:

• Your Worst Fears About El Niño

• Climate Locked into ‘Unending’ El Niño?
• What Florida Might Look Like in 2014
• SE Australia Toasted Brown
• UK Flooding
• Speaking of El Niño, OLR Anomalies in Australia
• El Niño Update [16 Nov 2009]
• Recognizing El Niño
• El Niño and La Niña: Tracing the Dance of Ocean and Atmosphere
• TAO Diagrams
• El Niño Forecasts

El Niño Updates – Previous 5 Issues:

• El Niño Update [5 April 2010]
• El Niño Update [29 March 2010]
• El Niño Update [22 March 2010]
• El Niño Update [15 March 2010]
• El Niño Update [8 March 2010]

• El Niño [Main Page, Links to Weekly Updates Archive]

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Eyjafjallajökull Eruption: Flight Ban Lifted

How Prepared Are YOU for a Major Disaster?

Eyjafjallajokull volcano is producing more lava, ash plume smaller:  Icelandic Scientists

Eyjafjallajökull Activity Easing for Now: Europe’s skies are open, but there are too many stranded passengers to deal with

Here’s a summary of what’s happening in Europe right now:

Flight bans are lifted in Europe after nearly a week of restrictions caused by volcanic ash clouds drifting from Eyjafjallajökull glacial volcano.

Since last Thursday, April 15, some 100,000 flights from and to European destinations were canceled, stranding an estimated 18 million passengers worldwide, most of them in Europe. The cancellations came into effect a day after Eyjafjallajökull erupted, ejecting massive plumes of ash into the air, which drifted towards UK and rest of Europe.

Scale of disruption to the flights over Europe April 21, 2010. Image sourced from BBC World News, and may be subject to copyright. See Fire-Earth Fair Use Notice for details. Click image to enlarge.

From “NO Tolerance” to “Tolerance” in a few threats

The UK Met Office, which is the North-west European Volcanic Ash Advisory Center with responsibility for issuing the Volcanic Ash Advisories for volcanoes erupting in that area, had previously said that it would support decision-making by the UK’s National Air Traffic Service (NATS), the country’s Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) and other aviation authorities.

“It is for the aviation industry and regulator to set thresholds for safe ash ingestion. Currently, world-wide advice from ICAO is based on engine and airframe manufacturers stating that aircraft should not be exposed to any volcanic ash.” It said in a statement.

So the Airports and airlines went knocking angrily on the plane manufacturers doors:

“The major barrier to resuming flight has been understanding tolerance levels of aircraft to ash,” the CAA said in a statement

“Manufacturers have now agreed increased tolerance levels in low ash density areas.”

“Transport Secretary Lord Adonis, who made the initial announcement, denied the decision to reopen airspace was the result of pressure from the airline industry.” BBC reported.

“The issue at stake here has been the assessment of the safety authorities as to what is the safe way in which planes can fly when there is a presence of ash.” He said.

“The fact which has changed in the last week is we have had a volcanic eruption and having to assess safe levels of ash content in the atmosphere within which planes can fly has been an urgent issue which the safety authorities have had to deal with.”

The fact that some of the airplanes may fall out of the sky in 3 months time, without anyone revealing what exactly caused the crash(s) is entirely irrelevant to his Lordship’s falsity.

“This solution has been reached as a result of the close working between the government, the Civil Aviation Authority, airlines and the manufacturers, and will allow the thousands of UK citizens stranded abroad to return home to their families.” The UK Prime Minister Gordon Brown said. [The safety of passengers has never been a paramount issue.]

“We will of course continue to monitor the situation closely; as we have said throughout safety is our primary concern,” he added. [You mean when when a BA plane crashes? More likely, you’d probably help cover up what caused it, if that happened.]

DO NOT FLY PLANES THAT HAVE BEEN EXPOSED TO VOLCANIC ASH!

How Prepared Are YOU for a Major Disaster? More on this later.

Related Links:

• EyjafjallajökullEruption video by Ómar Ragnarsson [Latest available video]
• “Thank God men cannot as yet fly and lay waste the sky as well as the earth!”
• How many are up there polluting our skies?
• Eyjafjallajökull Eruption Links Page

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Google reveals fraction of govt censorship requests

What about Google’s ‘insider’ censorship?

Most (99.99%) of Internet censorship is carried out by Google on its own accord and for monetary gains!

Google reveals a tiny fraction of government data requests and censorship

Note: The above image incorporates the Google logo, which is a trade mark of that disgraceful corporation.

Google has released some details of how often it surrenders user data to various governments or censors information on their behalf.

Google’s list:

1. Brazil  government (3,663 data requests)
2. United States (3,580)
3. The UK (1,166)
4. India (1,061)

This partial revelation follows Google’s move to pull its search engine out of China over disagreement with the Chinese government concerning the mechanics (not the principles) of online censorship issues.

Google refused to provide statistics on the extent of its censorship in China, calling them “state secrets.”

Google says it also removed content on behalf of various governments as follows (July and December 2009):

• Brazil (291)
• Germany (188)
• India (142)
• US (123)

“Google’s numbers are not nearly as transparent as they could be,” said Tom Krazit of CNET.com.

“The tool doesn’t break out the data for the number of times Google complied or refused requests for information on individuals. It does say how often—in general—it complies with takedown requests, but does not provide specifics.”

The “tool” [more like bit] is available at www.google.com/governmentrequests

So, what’s the issue? Isn’t Google coming clean with its censorship data?

Far from it. What Google has been doing can be classified as a variation of “insider dealing” concerning the dissemination of information. Google’s suppression of critical information is financially motivated. The company’s practice of censorship is meant to assist and protect its partners and clients.

Most (99.99%) of Internet censorship is carried out by Google on its own accord and for monetary gains!

Who are Google’s partners? The multinationals, national corporations, and even smaller companies, AS WELL AS government agencies like NASA,USGS, NOAA and others in the U.S. [also many organizations in other countries] in which Google has a direct financial stake.

Google has but one motto: “Take Their Money!”

If any information posted on the Internet conflicts in the slightest way with Google’s ability to maximize its global financial interests, that information is suppressed in a number of ways including by filtering, hiding, burying and ultimately removing from Internet.

How do we know this?

Fire-Earth closely monitors the traffic to blog posts, and notes large anomalies with the entries criticizing Google, its partners and clients. Those posts  invariably become “invisible.” See also:  Google’s Top 10 List of ‘Holy Cows’ and California Earthquake Forecast – Update 4.

Another recommended Google logo.

Related Links:

• California Earthquake Forecast – Update 4
• Google’s Top 10 List of ‘Holy Cows’
• Google Information Terrorism: A Conspiracy Against the People!
• Google lands in brown goo again!
• Google China Censorship

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