Monsoon Season Strikes Sri Lanka

3 days of torrential rain, strong winds and lightening herald start of  monsoon season in SW Sri Lanka

The storms have claimed at least one life and injured many others, affecting about 20,000 people throughout the country.

Sri Lanka is struck by two monsoons each year: The southwest monsoon season, which has just started lasts until September, while the northeast monsoon normally starts in October lasting through January, a report said.

“Officials at the landslide unit of the National Building Research Organization urged residents in certain parts of Colombo to be on guard about possible landslides. Although landslides are more common in the mountainous regions of Sri Lanka than in areas around Colombo, officials said poorly-built structures, particularly at higher elevations, could become dangerous during heavy rain.”

Related Links:

• Deadly Rainstorms, Landslides Strike Central China
• Violent Storms Kill at least 65 in S China
• 2010 Likely the Most Disastrous Year on Record: FEWW
• 2010: Year One of Human-Enhanced Disasters
• 2010 Disasters
• 2010 Disaster Calendar [May]
• Landslides

.

Serial No 1,732. Starting April 2010, each entry on this blog has a unique serial number. If any of the numbers are missing, it may mean that the corresponding entry has been blocked by Google/the authorities in your country. Please drop us a line if you detect any anomaly/missing number(s).

Gulf Oil Disaster Like Apollo 13 Explosion: BP CEO

BP CEO Speaks Again!

‘Significant Changes’ Needed in Deepwater Drilling

“I don’t believe it should [result in a ban], in the same way as Apollo 13 did not stop the space program nor have serious airline accidents from time to time stopped people flying.” Mr Hayward told BBC.

Oil debris are seen attached to oyster shells on Raccoon Island shoreline, Louisiana, May 12, 2010.  U.S. Navy photo

What Mr Howard didn’t say was that the explosion aboard Apollo 13 was a minor explosion, which was in no way comparable to the BP oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico.

He now concedes  that deep water drilling is a very risky business, however.

“I think undoubtedly that this will be a transforming event for exploration and production activities in the deep water of the world, in particular the deep water of the United States,” he said.

Cozy Relationship

Meanwhile President Barrack Obama has declared that  the epoch of  “cozy relationship” between oil firms and US regulators is over.

“For too long, for a decade or more, there’s been a cozy relationship between the oil companies and the federal agency that permits them to drill,” Obama said.

“That cannot and will not happen anymore,” Obama added.

Well now. Let’s see. If what he says is true, that just leaves only a few more dozens of “cozy relationships” with the regulators/lawmakers: The banking and finance industry, auto  industry, pharmaceuticals, nuke power, military-industrial, airlines …

Environmental group suing U.S. Govt over oil permits

The Center for Biological Diversity, an environmental group, has filed a notice of intent to sue Ken Salazar the U.S. Interior Secretary, and the Interior Department’s Minerals Management Service (MMS) for failing to get the necessary environmental permits, required by two environmental laws, the Marine Mammal Protection Act, and the Endangered Species Act, before approving offshore oil operations.

Since Salazar took office in 2009, his office has approved at least 3 lease sales, more than a total of 400 seismic surveys and drilling operations without applying for the necessary environmental permits designed to protect endangered marine species, the group says.

“The Department of the Interior and the Minerals Management Service are creating a lawless zone in the Gulf of Mexico when it comes to these environmental laws. The oil companies really get to call the shots.” Miyoko Sakashita, the center’s oceans director told reporters.

“The Marine Mammal Protection Act and Endangered Species Act prohibit private entities, such as oil companies, as well as federal agencies, such as the Minerals Management Service — the branch of the Interior Department responsible for managing offshore oil activities — from killing, harming, or harassing marine mammals, unless they have received authorizations and take measures to minimize the impacts of their activities. The Endangered Species Act protects species such as the sperm whale, which is listed as endangered, while the Marine Mammal Protection Act applies to all marine mammals, such as the bottlenose dolphin and the Florida manatee.” The group said in their notice.

Lawsuit to Challenge Salazar’s Wholesale Disregard of Marine Mammal Protection Laws in Gulf of Mexico: 400-plus Oil Projects Illegally Approved by Salazar Without Permits to Harm Endangered Whales

Ongoing Risk of Deepwater Drilling

The fact remains however that there are at least 77 drilling rigs and commercially producing oil platforms operating in deep waters of Gulf of Mexico, and many more are slated to go on line.

Also, Fire-Earth Moderators forecast the probability of another major oil disaster in the Gulf of Mexico between now and December 2011 at greater than 90 percent. SEE: https://feww.wordpress.com/2010/05/01/fire-earth-forecasts-10-major-oil-spills-to-end-2011/

Related Links:

• Gulf of Mexico Oil Disaster – Oil Leak Estimate
• Gulf of Mexico: A Waiting Disaster
• Fire-Earth Forecasts 10 Major Oil Spills to End 2011
• Gulf Oil Spill Disaster – Expecting Different Results

• http://edro.wordpress.com/collapsing-cities/
• http://edro.wordpress.com/energy-dinosaurs/

.

Serial No 1,731. Starting April 2010, each entry on this blog has a unique serial number. If any of the numbers are missing, it may mean that the corresponding entry has been blocked by Google/the authorities in your country. Please drop us a line if you detect any anomaly/missing number(s).

Gulf of Mexico Oil Disaster – Oil Leak Estimate

How Much Oil is Leaking?

The short answer: LOTS!

Gulf of Mexico Oil Disaster. A freeze frame of the oil leak video supplied by the BP showing only one of at least two separate oil leaks. Image may be subject to copyright.

As to whether the leak is closer to 5,000 barrels per day (bpd) or 25,000 bpd, here’s an estimate we prepared earlier:

• Diameter of the ruptured pipe seen gushing oil on BP video: 53cm (21 inches)
• Cross-sectional area of the pipe: 2,233cm²
• Fire-Earth estimate of oil and gas flow:  50cm/sec [Simplified model of crude leak calculates the flow rate as the height of a cylinder filled every second.]
• Volume of crude oil and natural gases released: 111,672cm³s^-1
  
• Number of seconds in each day: 86, 400 sec
  
• Crude oil escaping from the pipe as a percentage of all materials: 90 percent [Fire-Earth estimate]
• Volume of oil escaping into GOM: 8 million liters per day (rounded down to nearest million)
  • Amount of oil escaped: 2 million U.S. Gallons per day (rounded down to nearest million), or 50,000bpd
  • Escaped oil calculated at a generous margin of error of 50 percent:  25,000bpd

NOTES:

1. According to earlier reports  at least two separate leaks remain on seafloor the second of which is not shown on the BP video.
2. A reader who claimed to be an oil industry insider contacted one of the blog Moderators saying diameter of the drill pipe that enters top of the well is 6 inches (15cm). That means the oil flows nearly 4 times faster in the drill pipe than it does in the 21-inch riser-pipe.  It does NOT affect Fire-Earth estimate significantly.

Next Major Oil Disaster?

Probability of another major disaster occurring in the U.S. Gulf of Mexico between now and December 2011 : >90 percent [Fire-Earth Forecast]

For additional details see Gulf of Mexico: A Waiting Disaster and https://feww.wordpress.com/2010/05/01/fire-earth-forecasts-10-major-oil-spills-to-end-2011/

Related Links:

• Gulf of Mexico: A Waiting Disaster
• Oil Disasters [Index Page includes links to other oil spills, news and information]

.

Serial No 1,730. Starting April 2010, each entry on this blog has a unique serial number. If any of the numbers are missing, it may mean that the corresponding entry has been blocked by Google/the authorities in your country. Please drop us a line if you detect any anomaly/missing number(s).

Eyjafjallajökull Eruption – MISR Satellite Image

Images of the 2nd Round of Eruption at Eyjafjallajökull Volcano

Eyjafjallajökull Volcano produced its second major ash plume of 2010 on May 7.  The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) aboard NASA’s Terra satellite collected data on ash height when it passed just east of the Eyjafjallajökull Volcano mid-morning on May 7.

MISR has nine different cameras, each viewing the scene below from a difference angle nearly simultaneously. By combining all these images using a hyper-stereo technique, scientists can calculate the height of the ash plume.

The above image is a natural-color, nadir (downwards-looking) view of the scene. The top image is the stereo-derived plume height. Each pixel in the image shows an area 1.1 kilometers (0.68 miles) wide. The vertical accuracy is about 0.5km.

Much of the plume resides between 4 and 6 kilometers above the ocean surface (orange and red color in the right image), but the ash descends to near 3 kilometers yellow-green) far downwind.  Images and caption: NASA/MISR [edited for brevity.]

Status Report – 15 May 2010 (3:55UTC)

The Icelandic Met Office (IMO) reported plume reaching a height of about 7 km (24,000 ft) drifting in a  southwesterly direction. Ashfall was detected in the capital Reykjavík.

At least  50 lightning strikes were recorded during the previous 24 hours. No major changes in the activity were reported. There’s no sign the eruption could end anytime soon.

For details of status report by IMO and others click here.

LATEST NEWS FROM ICELAND:

Volcanic ash from Eyjafjallajokull eruption has forced the authorities to shut down the intentional airport at Reykjavík, the country’s main airport, authorities say.

UK Airspace

Parts of the UK’s airspace may close on Sunday as volcanic ash clouds continue to drift south of Iceland, the UK Department for Transport said, BBC reported.

Last week, about a dozen airports in southern Europe were forced to close and many flights were re-routed to avoid the risk from the Icelandic ash clouds.

Related Links:

• Eyjafjallajökull Volcano: Unending Eruption
• 2010 Year of Super Volcanoes?
• Eyjafjallajökull Eruption UPDATE – Latest MODIS Image
• Eyjafjallajökull Eruption – Latest Satellite Image
• Eyjafjallajökull Eruption Links Page [This page contains a comprehensive index of links to resources on Eyjafjallajökull including additional satellite images.]

.

Serial No 1,729. Starting April 2010, each entry on this blog has a unique serial number. If any of the numbers are missing, it may mean that the corresponding entry has been blocked by Google/the authorities in your country. Please drop us a line if you detect any anomaly/missing number(s).