Gulf of Mexico: One Barrel Away from Collapse

New Setback in Containing Gulf Oil Spill

BP, has encountered problems with the containment dome while trying to place it on the ruptured wellhead.

BP’s Exploration and Production CEO, Doug Suttles, said the 98-ton steel-and-concrete dome developed a problem [they hadn’t thought about,] forcing the technicians to remove the box as gas hydrates, ice-like crystals, began accumulating inside it clogging its opening.

Gas hydrates are formed when gas and water mix at low temperature and under high pressure on the sea floor. [The ruptured wellhead is located about 1.5km (5,000) feet under water.]

“I wouldn’t say it has failed yet,” said Doug Suttles. “What I would say is what we attempted to do last night didn’t work.”

Meanwhile, the damaged well continues to spew a minimum of 5,000 barrels, possibly up to 25,000 barrels, of crude oil  into the Gulf each and every day.

What If the Oil Leak Goes On?

The question many are asking is, what if the spill goes on for any length of time?

FIRE-Earth and EDRO Moderators believe the devastation would be apocalyptic in scale.  Below is a brief summary of multiple disasters that you should expect:

Water Quality

The quality of seawater in the Gulf of Mexico would deteriorate rapidly. It would become the most polluted water body in the world in a very short time.  The Gulf would become a dead zone, permanently.

Food Production

Most of the marine creatures in the Gulf of Mexico will perish. Any species that might evade death, would be too contaminated for human or animal consumption.

Air Quality

The air quality in the region would worsen dramatically, turning the Gulf states into one of the most polluted regions in the world.

Temperatures

The average temperatures in the region would rise rapidly by 3ºC to as much as 8ºC depending on a number of additional factors.

Life Expectancy

Many people would perish as a result of the pollution caused by the oil leak. Many babies would be born with severe respiratory depression or other serious deformities.

Regional Collapse

Collapse of the Gulf states will begin, as most of the population move away from the Gulf heading in all directions. Civil conflict would erupt.

Collapse of the U.S., Canada and Mexico

The collapse of Gulf states, and other areas on the Atlantic and Pacific coasts, would result in large numbers of people moving north and into Canada, with others moving southwest and into Mexico. The next phase in the regional collapse of NAFTA countries, an irreversible downward spiral, would follow.

The Time Scale

Your world could disappear as fast as a flash of lightning!

Recent News Releases:

Tar balls found on Dauphin Island beach. Shoreline assessment teams recovered tar balls Saturday from the beach on Dauphin Island, Ala. The tar balls, ranging in size from dimes to golf balls, were recovered and sent to a lab for further analysis. Deepwater Horizon Response

Press Release: Stop Flights Over Wildlife Refuge. Due to heightened interest in the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, media aircraft have been conducting low flights and landings on Breton National Wildlife Refuge’s Chandeleur Islands. These flights and landings threaten the very birds that the media are covering and that the public is concerned about.  Federal regulation prohibits flights and landings that disturb wildlife on refuges.

Trajectory Forecast – Mississippi Canyon 252
NOAA/NOS/OR&R  Estimate for: 0600 CDT, Tuesday, 5/11/10
Date Prepared: 1200 CDT, Saturday, 5/08/10

This forecast is based on the NWS spot forecast from Saturday, May 8 AM. Currents were obtained from the NOAA Gulf of Mexico, West Florida Shelf/USF, Texas  A&M/TGLO, NAVO/NRL models, and HFR measurements. The model was initialized from satellite imagery, analysis provided by NOAA/NESDIS obtained Saturday morning, and Saturday AM overflight observations. The leading edge may contain tarballs that are not readily observable from the imagery (hence not included in the model initialization). NOAA is a U.S. Govt agency and its image and news products are NOT copyrighted. Click image to enlarge.

Oil Leak Forecast

On May 1, 2010, Fire-Earth forecast at least 10 more major oil spills worldwide between May 2010 and December 2011, with the probability of 5 of those events occurring in and around America.

Oil Slick in Gulf of Mexico

Click image to enlarge. Eighteen days after the Deepwater Horizon accident, an oil slick lingered in the Gulf of Mexico, off the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. MODIS on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this natural-color image on May 8, 2010. Oil is discernible in two areas—a serpentine slick near the Mississippi Delta, and a large round slick south of the Mississippi-Alabama border. Image and caption: NASA E/O. [Edited by Fire-Earth for brevity.] Download large image (823 KB, JPEG).

Florida Class Action Filed in BP Oil Spill Disaster

Gulf Actions Spill Counsel (GASP), a national team of attorneys, allege multiple failures by BP, Halliburton and other Defendants in their lawsuit filed Friday.  Similar lawsuits are planned for Texas, Alabama and Mississippi, as the devastation from the oil rig disaster continues to grow.

“Oil continues to flow into the gulf, and with it an environmental nightmare,” said Dr. Howard, who most recently played a leading role in coordinating a national team of more than 40 law firms in the Toyota sudden acceleration lawsuits. “This unmitigated horror threatens to destroy one of the most beautiful marine, coastal and estuarine environments in the world.”

Castro Angle

Fidel Castro, Former Cuban leader, called the ecological disaster caused by the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico a testament to how powerless the governments are against the multinational corporations.

“The ecological disaster which occurred in the Gulf of Mexico shows how little governments can do against those who control financial capital,” Castro said in his article published by Cuban media. “The hateful tyranny imposed on the world.”

Castro said the US and European and multinationals are the powers “who decide the fate of peoples [through] the economy in our globalized world.”

Although President Obama is not responsible for the “current threats to the survival of the human being imposed on the world by imperialism, [he] ignores reality and cannot or does not want to deal with real issues. He lives in a dream world,” Castro said.

Related Links:

• Gulf of Mexico Oil Disaster: Satellite Photo – Update May 8

• GoM Oil Disaster – UPDATE May 7
• Gulf Oil Disaster: Why Obama Was Slighted
• Obama: A Serious Self-Hater
• BP Won’t Pay – Oil Spill Update May 5
• Why BP Didn’t Care – Oil Spill Update May 4

• Obama’s energy security falls around his ankles
• Exxon Mobile Court Orders Only Fraction of Damages
• Oil Disasters [Index Page]

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