Update-21: Gulf oil spill effects to reach Arctic and Europe, via cnn
Post date: May 18, 2010 1:54:55 PM
Update May-21
Gulf oil spill effects to reach Arctic and Europe, expert says, cnn.com
Update-May-19
Gulf oil entered loop current to the Florida Key, ESA Satellite image, source: news.bbc.co.uk
Oil from Deepwater Horizon
captured in the Gulf loop current
heading from the keys to Miami ?
Meanwhile, astronauts and cosmonauts aboard the International
Space Station have said they could see the oil spill while passing over the Gulf of Mexico.
"It looks very scary," Russian cosmonaut Oleg Kotov told reporters via a video link.
Oil spill to see from ISS space station
"We have visible proof that at least oil from the surface...
has reached the current," said Dr Bertrand Chapron.
Doug Suttles BP, chief operating officer, 1 month after
( not present: Mr. Lamar McKay, BP American president )
May-18 Florida Keys Tar Balls found from Gulf oil spill loop current ? The coast guard lab says no
Florida Keys Tar Balls found
Scientists Look for Signs That Spill Is Spreading
On Tuesday, the Coast Guard said it was analyzing 20 tar balls that washed up Monday on the shores of Key West, at Fort Zachary Taylor State Park, but they were not certain the tar had come from the well spewing oil after the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded and sank last month. source: http://www.nytimes.com
Tourism statements ???
Chuanmin Hu, an oceanographer at the University of South Florida, cautioned that “the likelihood that the tar ball comes from this oil spill is small.”. He explained that the tar balls do not travel at the water’s surface, and that it could take longer for the tar to travel underwater.
Earth Scan Laboratory at Louisiana State University. “So far, it looks like the oil is continuing to be dragged around the cyclone, but eventually it’s going to be mixed in with the loop current and make its way south to Florida.” Dr. Hu said that the amount of oil entering the cyclone had increased sharply in the past few days.
“I see a huge oil plume being dragged in that direction,” he said. “It’s like a river.”
Dr. Hu estimated that oil that entered the current could reach the Florida Keys in roughly two weeks.