day 1: 1,000 barrels of oil a day.
(oh wait, that was wrong, sorry, didn't carry the one).
day 1: 5,000 barrels of oil a day.
(ummm...scientists all over the world have different calculations? oh, well how much oil IS gushing into the Gulf of Mexico?)
day 1: 1-4 million gallons of oil every day.
(Yay! We finally got our facts straight!)
Ian MacDonald, a biological oceanographer at Florida State University, said he believed, after studying NASA data, that about one million gallons a day were leeching into the sea, and that the volume discharged has already well exceeded the 11 million gallons of the 1989 Exxon Valdez disaster, widely regarded as the world's worst marine pollution incident. By high estimates, every 3 days is another Exxon Valdez in the Gulf of Mexico.
The well that BP had just about finished before it exploded was what is called a "deep oil" well. While it is true that the floating oil rig was almost a mile above the drill head, the oil that they tapped was yet another 30,000 feet (over 5 miles) under the ocean floor. Yes, that's aptly named "deep oil"! The deposit of oil they were tapping into has been described as the second largest oil deposit ever -- anywhere -- even when one considers Saudi Arabia, the Russian discoveries and Iraq. This oil deposit has been estimated to have the potential to yield 500,000 barrels of oil per day for from 10 to 15 years!
Of course BP came to the rescue with a chemical dispersant that breaks up the oil into the water. I am simply astonished by this. The chemical being used (Corexit 9500) is 10 times more toxic than the oil itself--it has to be to even begin to break down the stingy petroleum molecules. But of course, this only broke up the gigantic lakes of oil into gigantic ponds of oil, clouds that stretch 10-20 miles, hovering at about 2,000 feet above the ocean's floor. This is literally a floating cloud of death to all life because it has zero oxygen content. And guess what, even fish need oxygen to breathe! Seriously, what do you think is going to happen when the water mixed with Corexit 9500 evaporates & rains down on our shores?
Let's not mention that it's the greatest hurricane season in decades which extends from June 1st to November 30th. Can you imagine a hurricane of oil hitting the coast? Any hurricane that enters the Gulf of Mexico will disperse the surface oil to parts unknown. There is no predicting which coastlines could be coated with crude oil. Any Gulf hurricane will impede and stall cleanup efforts as well as vastly expanding the geographic footprint of the spill. Cleanup cost could multiply exponentially.
Parts of Alaska is STILL cleaning up from the Exxon Valdez disaster, can you imagine what kind of impact this will have?
Let's certainly not mention how this will effect the economy. The ripple effect of this debacle will emanate around the world for years. Entire industries will likely go bankrupt. There will literally be no end to the lawsuits which will surely follow, and the sky rocketing prices of insurance.
And why on earth would we even suggest that inhabitants along the coast will have to evacuate? We are the U.S. of A. after all! Uncle Sam has got you! What's that Katrina? You talkin' shmack over there in the corner about our land of the free? Don't forget when THAT evacuation occurred. Everything was gridlocked for hours upon hours. A mass exodus on this scale will make every major highway a parking lot, even if it is done in phases.
But evacuation will have to declared sooner rather than later, because of the toxic approaching fumes & threat of hurricanes. Move over Mad Max, welcome to the Oil-apocalypse.
Why am I even ranting about this? I feel compelled to tell you all to PRAY! This situation is no joke. I believe many agencies (media & governmental) are actually playing this catastrophe down (as to not cause wide-spread panic) while they prepare their backup plan.
Which by the way, could be nuclear. Believe it or not, a controlled nuclear explosion is not off the table. Barack Obama has sent five nuclear experts to tackle BP's Gulf of Mexico oil leak. Mr Obama, standing with Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, center, and Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano, left, delivers remarks in the Rose Garden of the White House in Washington following his closed meeting with his Cabinet and other senior administration officials on the ongoing effort to stop the BP oil spill. The five-man team -- which includes a man who helped develop the first hydrogen bomb in the 1950s -- is the brainchild of Steven Chu, President Obama's Energy Secretary.
The President has charged the men with finding solutions to stop the flow of oil. But no one can be absolutely certain if this would work in searing the tear shut on the ocean floor bed.
Wake up saints! It is time to pray! I encourage all of you to research this yourself & seek the Lord's direction on what you personally need to do about it all.
For some, it's time to EVACUATE!
