Discussion on:

Just how much oil is spilling into the Gulf?

I am heartbroken by all the valuable oil that is being lost, in addition to the environmental destruction. So I call upon BP to put together an ad hoc arrangement whereby oil would be collected as soon as it bubbles to the surface, taken aboard a tanker, and then transported to any good refinery where it would be processed into useful products.

We would gain in two ways: Getting this messy goo away from beaches and mother nature's creatures, and also using this oil for something useful instead of seeing it go to waste.

The oceans are VAST. The volume of water unimaginable. Natural processes will break down this very thin oil much faster than we might think ... even if it takes a year to stop the flow I doubt serious long-term damage will take place. Even now, after many weeks, hardly a tiny fraction of it reaches the shore 50 miles away. Possibly Obama is using this to have a finger to point ... in order to draw attention away from other matters. As the world's biggest oil consumer [USA] the pronouncements come across as a little self righteous. The oil companies are on the bleeding-edge of recovery-technologies ... straining to feed the oil hungry economies we all live in. We should not be so shocked that this has happened ... rather that it does not happen more frequently.

To address remarks of "Ingrateful"...

This affects much more than any of us can even fathom. So far as the ocean being "vast", that is an accurate description. The oceans however are all CONNECTED so what starts in one area flows and can ultimately affect everything. The disappearance of a single group of organisms ca nhave a majot impact on a primary food source for a great number of people along with their livelihoods. To dismiss this as a "pronouncement" to the advantage of any particular group is foolish to say the least.

AlexKovnat,

The oil is coming out of a break in the pipe 5,000 feet below the surface of the ocean. Exactly where it will come to the surface is not easily predictable and it moves around. Furthermore, as the oil rises through the water column it gets fractionated and much of it remains underwater with only the lighter components rising to the surface. It's probably not practical to skim more than 10% or 20% off the surface at best.

Intergrateful,

Serious long term damage has already taken place in the marsh lands of Louisiana. While the oceans may be VAST the Gulf of Mexico is relatively small and self contained. That is where most of the damage will occur. 20 years after the Exxon-Valdez spill Prince William Sound is still a long way from fully recovered.

It is funny so many comments seem to try to divert the blame away from BP and the governments by using the argument that the poor oil companies are just working so hard to fill our need.

If that argument made sense then we should not be so hard on all the crack dealers out there. They have to break the law to serve the insatiable needs of users.

Like if the market, the consumer caused this issue. if the environmental impact of extracting and using all this oil was not deliberately hidden, then we as the consumer might be able to make better decisions. Remember cigarettes?

Don't mix things up. Greed is at the base of this issue. Always using the minimal amount of safety for the maximum profit.

Hopefully this research can be useful to cleanup the mess.

The other argument that drives me up the wall is the one saying "well there is already hydrocarbons "naturally" occurring so don't worry so much about the impact"

so how much of those "naturally" occurring hydrocarbons come from leaks, spills and the exhaust of boats, ships, planes, cars and all the other machines that consume oils? How much is really natural? Do we have some clue?

Is that an excuse to pollute it? There's already enough plastic in the ocean to circle the earth nearly 300 times. So should the oil spill be OK just because it shrinks the ocean? I'm amazed at your answer. Do you work for BP?????

@AlexKovnat

first of all the oil won't be lost... thats what the absorbant boons ar for, they litterally just haul them out, wring them out, and ship out the oil.. btw thanks for your concern about the ocean in thast area which is being killed off which barring mass extinction doesn't really have precedence.


@Integrateful

the ocean is vast yes... but oil is EXTREMELY durable; hard to break down. in nature it takes SEVERAL DECADES... leaving it to nature for for the ignorant... and unfortunately BP's shoddy idea aren't much better... even MUCH smaller spills have taken 40-50 YEARS and still persist to be a problem... in nature oil isn't supposed to EVER be in water, aside from mass extinction possibly and even that would be MUCH less oil in the same area and over MILLIONS of years... its our desperataion for for cheap energy dirty energy for the almighty dollar that put in in the water... we SHOULD be almost entirely green powered plus nuclear (including fusion) corporate greed (the inevitable outcome of capitalist based economies) dictates otherwise... and they don't give a damn about any of use and even less about the ocean, after all the ocean can't buy oil... the russians proposed about 3 weeks ago how to fix this, and they done it before, however BP doesn't have the means, and america doesn't have the will (or they too proud to take advice from russians)

and as for "Even now, after many weeks, hardly a tiny fraction of it reaches the shore 50 miles away"... I REALLY HOPE, you live near the south east coast where this is happening... because hurrican season is comming... and while that will progressively clean the oil out of the ocean it will create problemn obviously you can't imagine... for instance how many time have hurricane flood water been on fire?, thats now a very real reality.... luckily i live in canada and as such am not effected other aside from the economic consequences of this that will reach into canada and the media reports constantly pointing it out the oil spill (as they should be).

as for your comment about obama he is also to blame for the continuence of this spill, he could order a tactical nuke be dropped and detontated on top and completely and PERMENANTLY seal the leak... but then BP would lose a well... and america (mr.capaitalism) just can't have that that would be too socialist/communist (LMAO)... i say every country should do what venezuela did (nationalize the oil companies), esspecially since governments are far more capable of handling the inevitable catasthropes, which happen more than people know.

and yes the oil companies are on the "bleeding edge" of oil recovery technology... because they want the oil to sell for their own gain at the expense of the people and in this case a few small states worth of the ocean, but they have not intrest in any real solution, as a real solution means they lose the well entirely, whereas this way they can keep extracting it even at the expense of the ocean (and maybe even drive oil price back to the "good ole days" of above $138 a barrel; its just over half that now... and again the US hasn't got the political will to step in in fix it as they should have in the very first week.

Planetresource.net has a Eco friendly solution to clean up the tragedy British Petroleum has created, please watch the video animation:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=60bdQQQ3iVw and pass this along to as many people as you know.

One person can still make a difference in this world, is that simple interactions have a rippling effect. Each time this gets pass along, the hope in cleaning our planet is passed on.

@Daryl420
"btw thanks for your concern about the ocean in thast area which is being killed off which barring mass extinction doesn't really have precedence."
Yes, because we're seeing thousands upon thousands of fish floating around, and dolphins and sharks and whales, and EVERYTHING. Oh wait, we have ZERO evidence of THAT. :P Present to me the evidence, and I'll believe it, make wild unfounded claims, and I'll laugh at you.

"(the inevitable outcome of capitalist based economies)"
lol! Oh yes, the all evil capitalism! HA! It only made American the Greatest Nation on Earth. And we see that everyone is rushing out of American and going to socialist based societies to get away from it... oh wait, it's the OTHER way around.

"the russians proposed about 3 weeks ago how to fix this"
You failed to mention whatever it was they suggested. Which also makes your claims of it solving the problem, unfounded.

"for instance how many time have hurricane flood water been on fire"
Because we all KNOW that's going to happen. :P Yeah, right. Also you have NO evidence of this even being a possibility.

"luckily i live in canada"
Further proof that you have no idea what you're talking about...

"he could order a tactical nuke"
Yes, great idea, why don't we just drop a giant BOMB on the whole thing, that will REALLY contain everything, oh wait, bombs have a way of usually making messes MUCH bigger. And LOTS of unintended results.

"esspecially since governments are far more capable of handling the inevitable catasthropes, which happen more than people know."
ROTFLOL! Yes, we've seen this sooo many times, they always get it all solved and cleaned up in record time, oh they are on top of it!

"and again the US hasn't got the political will to step in in fix it as they should have in the very first week."
Hilarious last little comment there, ahh wow.