Who’s protecting those valiant humans who are trying to protect us from the Gulf oil spill? Granted, the flora and fauna in the ocean have been the first to get smacked by this miserable environmental disaster. But the humans, particularly those whose occupation is either being part of the response and clean up effort, or close enough to the scene to be wiped out by the spill, deserve attention too. That’s one goal of the bloggers over at the Pump Handle (http://scienceblogs.com/thepumphandle/), cleverly named to honor John Snow’s unpopular insistence on taking the handle off of a public well pump during an 1850’s epidemic of cholera in London in order to finally cut off the infection’s source. So is learning from past mistakes, such as the long term health issues experienced by those in New York who worked on the World Trade Center site.
The blog is managed by Celeste Monforton and Liz Borkowski, both public health professionals in the Department of Environmental Health at George Washington University with academic research interests in occupational health issues (full disclosure: I'm predisposed to like Celeste, whose family rents our beach house every summer). Both are both are frequent critics of OSHA, and indeed most of the blog content doesn’t hesitate to mix information on problems with strong opinions about root causes and culprits.
The blog’s postings continue to cover a variety of topics, but a number of recent entries, mostly from Liz as well as guest blogger Elizabeth Grossman, have centered on the health problems now cropping up among oil spill responders. OSHA’s outdated standards and dubious air sampling data come in for clear criticism. Ms. Grossman explores the relationship between workers’ respiratory and gastrointestinal symptoms (some serious enough for hospitalization), and breathing oil-saturated air or being in proximity to controlled oil burns. Eileen Senn, an experienced industrial hygienist, makes a good case is made for distributing respirators to workers universally, contrasting her analysis with disturbing quotes from official and corporate sources about reasons for not doing so.
The longer term impact on residents’ mental health, particularly given folks in the area have already been beaten up by Katrina, has also gotten good discussion, with plenty of mention about the lack of mental health professionals being on the scene to date. This is the only place I have seen any mention of another sad factor: over a third of Louisiana’s commercial fishermen in the region are Vietnamese, many recent immigrants that send money to families still back in Vietnam and now on the front lines of stress. Overall, the Pump Handle gets kudos for drawing attention to these occupational and public health issues.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
A picture of the Gulf from above really can be worth those 1000 words
The truism about pictures versus words is amply illustrated by SkyTruth’s running blog, which provides ongoing wide-angle illustrations of the Gulf Oil Spill. Founded in 2001 by John Amos, a geologist experienced in satellite image processing, image analysis, and digital mapping techniques, SkyTruth (http://www.skytruth.org/index.htm) is now a small non-profit organization interested in applying that technology to environmental issues. Its goal is to shine a bright, and visual, light on the state of the earth. SkyTruth started a blog in 2007 (http://blog.skytruth.org/), but was the effort was relatively sleepy; posts averaged less than 2 per month, on mostly random subjects but occasionally including notes about oil leaks from offshore platforms.
As it happens, Mr. Amos provided expert testimony to the U.S. Senate’s United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in November 2009, focusing on the risks of offshore drilling illustrated by a blowout at a platform off the coast ofAustralia
Nonetheless, SkyTruth has been credited with being at the forefront of those questioning, and eventually disproving, the low-ball official estimates of the volume of oil gushing out of the ocean floor. Also a worthwhile resource, in mid-May SkyTruth joined with the Ocean Conservancy and the Surfrider Foundation to host an interesting interactive and comprehensive web site, the Gulf Oil Spill Tracker (http://oilspill.skytruth.org/main), as a repository of reports from the public about oil sightings and locations.
As it happens, Mr. Amos provided expert testimony to the U.S. Senate’s United States Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources in November 2009, focusing on the risks of offshore drilling illustrated by a blowout at a platform off the coast of
Nonetheless, SkyTruth has been credited with being at the forefront of those questioning, and eventually disproving, the low-ball official estimates of the volume of oil gushing out of the ocean floor. Also a worthwhile resource, in mid-May SkyTruth joined with the Ocean Conservancy and the Surfrider Foundation to host an interesting interactive and comprehensive web site, the Gulf Oil Spill Tracker (http://oilspill.skytruth.org/main), as a repository of reports from the public about oil sightings and locations.
The Thrill of Scientific Victory in the Middle of a Defeated Gulf
Marshalling the resources for scientific studies of an event like the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico, which blew up on April 20, 2010, is usually daunting and time consuming. A credible effort requires, at a minimum, expert personpower, equipment, supplies, and buckets of money. But the unprecedented draw of such a unique opportunity got a fast response from the of Southern Mississippi Gulf Coast Research Lab. By the end of April, the University assembled a team drawn from experts across its many departments involved in ocean, marine life, and geophysical studies, got funding from NOAA, and put the Research Vessel Pelican on the water to take sediment samples and begin measuring the movement and physical state of the released oil. Dr. Vernon Asper, a professor in the Department of Marine Science at USM and trained marine geology at the University of Hawaii and Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, became the voyage’s designated blogger.
That cruise lasted 10 days, and Dr. Asper returned to sea on a second week-long trip at the end of May on the R/V Tommy Munro sponsored by NSF and included a consortium of scientists, notably Dr. Samantha Joye (arguably, the most well-known of those scientists blogging about the oil spill; see http://gulfblog.uga.edu/). Dr. Asper’s observations of the scene at this “Ground Zero,” descriptions of the work, and comments on the results make for a great read. He provides readable if somewhat technical descriptions of the equipment used and the sampling strategies, along with capturing a bit of the flavor of the voyage itself and the people involved. Embedded along with the blog text are great pictures, a video, and a series of audio blog posts from his colleague, Dr. Jim Franks, a researcher in the Department of Fisheries Research and Development.
But what really makes this blog stand out is its sense of gee-whiz excitement about the thrills of being in the middle of real-time scientific discoveries. Many of the samples and data collected will be analyzed back on dry land for years. But in the blog, Dr. Asper’s informal but engaging writing poses the scientific questions being asked right now, captures first reactions to the data, spits out hypotheses, and tosses around options to test the hypotheses. Ultimately, he describes not one but two Eureka moments (“One of the best days in my science career ever”), realizing that their early ideas about the oil forming deep underwater plumes, and the nature of the aggregates that form the plumes, are the right interpretations and real discoveries (which BP dismissed, until public release of some data forced them to concede the points). Along the line, he also enjoys interviews with Katie Couric, a Good Morning America team, and New York Times reporters. The only down side is that the blog does not have options for comments or display of hits received, so it’s not possible to gauge the level of interest it has received. And the entries end on June 1, with the return of the R/V Tommy Munro to port, with no further updates as of June 25. It’s well worth looking for future installments. Check it out at http://www.usm.edu/oilspill/blogs.php.
That cruise lasted 10 days, and Dr. Asper returned to sea on a second week-long trip at the end of May on the R/V Tommy Munro sponsored by NSF and included a consortium of scientists, notably Dr. Samantha Joye (arguably, the most well-known of those scientists blogging about the oil spill; see http://gulfblog.uga.edu/). Dr. Asper’s observations of the scene at this “Ground Zero,” descriptions of the work, and comments on the results make for a great read. He provides readable if somewhat technical descriptions of the equipment used and the sampling strategies, along with capturing a bit of the flavor of the voyage itself and the people involved. Embedded along with the blog text are great pictures, a video, and a series of audio blog posts from his colleague, Dr. Jim Franks, a researcher in the Department of Fisheries Research and Development.
But what really makes this blog stand out is its sense of gee-whiz excitement about the thrills of being in the middle of real-time scientific discoveries. Many of the samples and data collected will be analyzed back on dry land for years. But in the blog, Dr. Asper’s informal but engaging writing poses the scientific questions being asked right now, captures first reactions to the data, spits out hypotheses, and tosses around options to test the hypotheses. Ultimately, he describes not one but two Eureka moments (“One of the best days in my science career ever”), realizing that their early ideas about the oil forming deep underwater plumes, and the nature of the aggregates that form the plumes, are the right interpretations and real discoveries (which BP dismissed, until public release of some data forced them to concede the points). Along the line, he also enjoys interviews with Katie Couric, a Good Morning America team, and New York Times reporters. The only down side is that the blog does not have options for comments or display of hits received, so it’s not possible to gauge the level of interest it has received. And the entries end on June 1, with the return of the R/V Tommy Munro to port, with no further updates as of June 25. It’s well worth looking for future installments. Check it out at http://www.usm.edu/oilspill/blogs.php.
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Deep Sea News Conveys Deep Sadness
Deep Sea News-I hit marine science blog pay dirt! http://deepseanews.com/
Thanks to Southern Fried Scientists, a trio of graduate students who have aggregated an outstanding list of credible oil spill blogs and twitter sites found at http://www.southernfriedscience.com/ I found Deep Sea News.
Hosted by Craig McClain National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, the blog is a finalist in the "Funniest Blog" category for the 2010 Research Blogging Awards given by Seed Media Group. But these awards were made in February before the spill. I doubt that Deep Sea News would be entered in the same category next year.
McClain, or Dr. M as he is identified, launched his blog with the intent to post abstracts of recently published papers. But as he began to add more news, Dr. M realized that his blog could be a channel to deliver deep-sea science to the public. Today’s post offers a link to Scientific American’s story on the “mass murder” (blogger’s characterization) of sea cucumbers near the oil leak site. There are two photos, one aerial in which you can see an expanse of water dotted with floaters and another close up of the sea cucumber. Thousands of these sea-bottom feeding creatures died and floated to the surface of the Gulf. The team of researchers who reported this huge fish kill was actually in the Gulf to measure methane levels, estimate the size of the spill and come up with ways to remove the methane from the water. The Deep Sea News blog cited this story as another of the “ecological disaster manifesting itself.”
The next post for June 22, proclaims that is has been “64 magical days and 160 million gallons (or so) since the Deepwater Horizon smack down,” and then follows with a long list of links to the most arresting stories to “make you feel nauseous.” Reading these recent posts written by scientists who know all too well what is being lost, you are exposed to their feelings as well as their knowledge. They don’t need to express their feelings in sensational terms, the facts they choose to highlight and explain along with random sarcasm convey their discouragement.
Thanks to Southern Fried Scientists, a trio of graduate students who have aggregated an outstanding list of credible oil spill blogs and twitter sites found at http://www.southernfriedscience.com/ I found Deep Sea News.
Hosted by Craig McClain National Evolutionary Synthesis Center, the blog is a finalist in the "Funniest Blog" category for the 2010 Research Blogging Awards given by Seed Media Group. But these awards were made in February before the spill. I doubt that Deep Sea News would be entered in the same category next year.
McClain, or Dr. M as he is identified, launched his blog with the intent to post abstracts of recently published papers. But as he began to add more news, Dr. M realized that his blog could be a channel to deliver deep-sea science to the public. Today’s post offers a link to Scientific American’s story on the “mass murder” (blogger’s characterization) of sea cucumbers near the oil leak site. There are two photos, one aerial in which you can see an expanse of water dotted with floaters and another close up of the sea cucumber. Thousands of these sea-bottom feeding creatures died and floated to the surface of the Gulf. The team of researchers who reported this huge fish kill was actually in the Gulf to measure methane levels, estimate the size of the spill and come up with ways to remove the methane from the water. The Deep Sea News blog cited this story as another of the “ecological disaster manifesting itself.”
The next post for June 22, proclaims that is has been “64 magical days and 160 million gallons (or so) since the Deepwater Horizon smack down,” and then follows with a long list of links to the most arresting stories to “make you feel nauseous.” Reading these recent posts written by scientists who know all too well what is being lost, you are exposed to their feelings as well as their knowledge. They don’t need to express their feelings in sensational terms, the facts they choose to highlight and explain along with random sarcasm convey their discouragement.
Oil Spill Blogs
Gulfblog - http://gulfblog.uga.edu/
This blog is run by Dr. Samantha Joye at the University of Georgia’s Department of Marine Sciences, who is a leading a team of scientists conducting research on the massive underwater oil plume that was discovered in the wake of the Deepwater Horizon explosion. The first dispatches were sent from aboard the R/V F.G. Walton Smith, where they were collecting data for this NSF-funded project; since they returned from their 2 week cruise, Joye has been updating the blog as the team works on their analysis. Several of the blog posts use a straightforward question-and-answer format as Joye tries to address the many questions that readers have sent in. Many of the questions relate to minutiae or esoteric concepts connected to the oil spill and marine science, indicating that readers are generally either experts in the field or had no knowledge about this stuff before the spill and have just been doing a lot of reading up in the past few weeks (I know several people who would fall into the latter category). Some questions are factual questions or requests for clarification about the scientific elements related to the spill, while others relate more to Joye’s research direction and methods. Still others are inquiries about Joye’s firsthand experience in the area, which I find particularly interesting as there are so many rumors swirling about that it’s hard to get an idea of what’s really going on, and it’s nice to hear from someone who doesn’t seem to have an agenda (well at least not as obvious as the various politicians/oil and gas PR people). While technically sophisticated and often conceptually complex, Joye’s answers are presented in clear, colloquial language and make for an interesting read even to a novice like me. I have remained shamefully ignorant of most of the goings-on in the Gulf (partly out of self-preservation – I get easily overwhelmed by the grimness of it all, and partly because I don’t know who to believe), but Joye’s blog provides one of the most informative and up-close accounts of what’s going on in the Gulf that I’ve come across. The blog is chock full of photos and links to various websites and news stories relating to the UGA research and the oil spill in general. Two thumbs up!
The Recovery Room - http://blogs.nature.com/NicoleRE/
This blog is written by Nicole Edmison, a conservation and nature biologist who was stationed near
DeepWater Blog - http://rucool.marine.rutgers.edu/deepwater/category/deepwater-blog/
I’m not sure if this totally qualifies, since a group of scientists rather than just one contribute to this blog, but it is a highly technical blog on a site called the “Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Portal” that is dedicated to “developing a portal that will consolidate many data streams to help response efforts.” The site is designed to be a resource for several “partners,” including government agencies, non-profits, businesses, and schools, many of which have acronyms that include the letters “OOS,” or Ocean Observation System. It is pretty much a “by scientists, for scientists” kind of blog, in contrast to the two others I outlined above. The blog posts contain tons of graphics and maps and charts that are really pretty but also completely incomprehensible to me. Gliders and drifters and Loop Currents, oh my! The idea seems to be to consolidate information, data, and analyses in one place to be viewed and used by many different groups in a variety of ways, which seems like a smart thing to be doing about now. A typical post includes an image of NOAA’s spill forecast for the day, with subsequent zoomings and other manipulations including overlaying satellite or radar images to try to predict what is going to happen next and what can be done. I may not be able to appreciate the information being presented on the blog, but I like the idea of people from different backgrounds and institutions working together to try to do whatever predicting and problem-solving they can.
TED Extra - Oil Spill Event- - Monday, June 28
OK - this doesn't count as one of my 3 blog posts but it looks like such an interesting opportunity that I had to share.
http://tedxoilspill.com/speakers/
http://tedxoilspill.com/speakers/
How the gods must see the oil spill
Dan Satterfield, chief weather man for WHNT TV in Huntsville, Alabama, is not one of those mainstream media celebrities driven by the need to accumulate ratings with the quick and easy story full of sensational statements. Dan has a bachelor’s degree in atmospheric physics and a master’s degree in earth science. He forecasts the weather by day and blogs about topics “that I have too little time for on air” on his site, Dan’s Wild Wild Science Journal. The fluffy-sounding title belies the solid science information he posts for his readers.
While most of his posts are about climate science and he seems particularly exorcised by the segment of the public that denies human impacts on global change, he takes great care to present material that is factual and from solid sources. He doesn’t dumb down information. He takes the time to explain information so that junior high kids can understand what he is talking about. In addition to his commitment to explaining the science, Dan has a good eye for what his readers might be interested in. Check out this image of a 1962 oil company advertisement he found.
http://wildwildweather.com/forecastblog/2010/06/truth-in-advertisinghumble-now-exxon-oil-advert-from-1962/
But it is Dan’s weather perspective on the oil spill that is unique. On April 20th Dan was preoccupied with the Alabama hurricanes. For nine days, his blog is filled with hurricane facts, maps, and photos. He didn’t post on the oil spill until April 29th. Even although he was late to the scene, Dan’s cloud’s eye view and interpretation of the information for his readers conveyed the severity of the spill immediately. From then on, he has tracked the spill as closely as the daily weather, producing ongoing commentary that is much like a serialized novel rich in imagery and detail. The climate science is an added bonus. If we only watch the oil spill from 30,000 feet we run the risk of disengaging from the suffering of people below much like the mythic Greek gods perched on Mount Olympus. But every now and then, we all should see the spill from this angle - thanks to Dan we can - to absorb the enormity of the event. Being gods for just a moment may move each of us to consider our role in the tragedy.
While most of his posts are about climate science and he seems particularly exorcised by the segment of the public that denies human impacts on global change, he takes great care to present material that is factual and from solid sources. He doesn’t dumb down information. He takes the time to explain information so that junior high kids can understand what he is talking about. In addition to his commitment to explaining the science, Dan has a good eye for what his readers might be interested in. Check out this image of a 1962 oil company advertisement he found.
http://wildwildweather.com/forecastblog/2010/06/truth-in-advertisinghumble-now-exxon-oil-advert-from-1962/
But it is Dan’s weather perspective on the oil spill that is unique. On April 20th Dan was preoccupied with the Alabama hurricanes. For nine days, his blog is filled with hurricane facts, maps, and photos. He didn’t post on the oil spill until April 29th. Even although he was late to the scene, Dan’s cloud’s eye view and interpretation of the information for his readers conveyed the severity of the spill immediately. From then on, he has tracked the spill as closely as the daily weather, producing ongoing commentary that is much like a serialized novel rich in imagery and detail. The climate science is an added bonus. If we only watch the oil spill from 30,000 feet we run the risk of disengaging from the suffering of people below much like the mythic Greek gods perched on Mount Olympus. But every now and then, we all should see the spill from this angle - thanks to Dan we can - to absorb the enormity of the event. Being gods for just a moment may move each of us to consider our role in the tragedy.
Riki Ott - Read with a Grain of Salt
Last Friday evening, I caught the last 15 minutes of the PBS program Need to Know with a report by Emily Senay, M.D. on the health effects of the BP oil spill. The report included interviews of heath and safety officials from BP, Louisiana State, and the Louisiana Shrimp Association. And two scientists were interviewed, Gina Soloman who is highlighted in Dr. Lemonade’s earlier post and Riki Ott, a Ph.D. marine toxicologist and self-described “Exxon Valdez survivor.” Knowing neither of these experts I gave each one a close listen (or as close as you can after a long week). Soloman spoke in measured tones about side effects, studies, and data gaps. Ott, more animated, talked about long term health effects that she observed among people who lived near Prince William Sound and worked cleanup of the Exxon-Valdez spill. She spoke of working with people for over 20 years and observing people “living with 100% disability to dead.”
Perhaps I should have been tipped off by Ott’s syntax compared to Soloman’s. But I was impressed by the title of her 2008 book mentioned in the PBS piece, “Not One Drop: Betrayal and Courage in the Wake of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill.” I jotted down “Riki Ott,”and went in search of a blog.
Google yielded www.rikiott.com, three blogs about the oil spill, and several YouTube videos of appearances on cable news. I’m afraid that, like the mainstream media who interviewed Ott on camera, I got snookered into following her train of thought by the alarm-sounding syntax paired with envirovocabulary. While I don’t discount her experiences in Alaska, I don’t think hers will be a credible blog on long term health effects to follow in the coming months. For example, in her first Huffington Post entry Ott says, “For two weeks, I've been in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama sharing stories from the Exxon Valdez oil spill, which devastated the community I lived and commercially fished in, with everyone from fishermen and women to local mayors to state governors and the crush of international media.”
Dr. Ott, sharing stories from 20 years ago with the people whose health should be monitored today is not scientific, it’s promoting an agenda. Her other blogs, linked below, pretend to reference reliable sources of data, but when you click you are linked to other advocacy sites. This is argument by acclamation, not data. Again, not very scientific.
Riki Ott versus Gina Soloman for following oil spill health effects - no contest. Like Dr. Lemonade, I’ll be following Gina Soloman and leave Riki Ott for MSNBC.
1) Need to Know, PBS, June 18, 2010
Story by Emily Senay MD on Long term health effects of the BP Oil Spill.
http://video.pbs.org/video/1525264389/
2) Riki Ott on May 17th
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/riki-ott/at-what-cost-bp-spill-res_b_578784.html
May 19th
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/riki-ott/human-health-tragedy-in-t_b_582655.html
June 11thhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/riki-ott/from-the-ground-bp-censor_b_608724.html
Perhaps I should have been tipped off by Ott’s syntax compared to Soloman’s. But I was impressed by the title of her 2008 book mentioned in the PBS piece, “Not One Drop: Betrayal and Courage in the Wake of the Exxon Valdez Oil Spill.” I jotted down “Riki Ott,”and went in search of a blog.
Google yielded www.rikiott.com, three blogs about the oil spill, and several YouTube videos of appearances on cable news. I’m afraid that, like the mainstream media who interviewed Ott on camera, I got snookered into following her train of thought by the alarm-sounding syntax paired with envirovocabulary. While I don’t discount her experiences in Alaska, I don’t think hers will be a credible blog on long term health effects to follow in the coming months. For example, in her first Huffington Post entry Ott says, “For two weeks, I've been in Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama sharing stories from the Exxon Valdez oil spill, which devastated the community I lived and commercially fished in, with everyone from fishermen and women to local mayors to state governors and the crush of international media.”
Dr. Ott, sharing stories from 20 years ago with the people whose health should be monitored today is not scientific, it’s promoting an agenda. Her other blogs, linked below, pretend to reference reliable sources of data, but when you click you are linked to other advocacy sites. This is argument by acclamation, not data. Again, not very scientific.
Riki Ott versus Gina Soloman for following oil spill health effects - no contest. Like Dr. Lemonade, I’ll be following Gina Soloman and leave Riki Ott for MSNBC.
1) Need to Know, PBS, June 18, 2010
Story by Emily Senay MD on Long term health effects of the BP Oil Spill.
http://video.pbs.org/video/1525264389/
2) Riki Ott on May 17th
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/riki-ott/at-what-cost-bp-spill-res_b_578784.html
May 19th
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/riki-ott/human-health-tragedy-in-t_b_582655.html
June 11thhttp://www.huffingtonpost.com/riki-ott/from-the-ground-bp-censor_b_608724.html
Monday, June 21, 2010
Building castles in the sand
What could be more American than trying to fight environmental disaster by creating a new one. According to Rob Young, professor of coastal ecology at Western Carolina University, that's exactly what we're doing.
One brilliant idea to avert further damage to wetland and coastal ecosystems is to build a 45-mile berm out of sand to protect the coast of Louisiana. The Army Corps of Engineers would move sand, presumably from another piece of coastline, to build a sand barrier 300-feet wide and standing six feet above the surface of the water.
In his blog post for Yale's "Environment 360," Young concludes that the ludicrous project is too expensive, too rushed and not likely to work. All of it driven by the blind need to do something, anything.
It's just this kind of near-sighted planning that got us here in the first place, however. Driven by annual reports and quarterly profits, the principles of both modern governance and corporate responsibility value immediate return over long-term success. Getting fast results is more important than getting it right.
Valued at half a billion dollars, building the berm comes with a big price tag for an uncertain outcome. But that's hardly a drop in the bucket for the likes of BP that recently committed at least $20 billion to the cleanup effort. More alarming is the fact that we would risk doing even more environmental damage to sensitive marine habitats by dredging up the ocean floor in an attempt to keep oil off the shore. This without any guarantees that the berm will actually keep oil out of sensitive areas; there is evidence to suggest it might only trap it there.
Young also points out that with expedited approval, the project did not receive proper review and few experts in the field of coastal ecology were consulted. Even EPA was given less than a day to file comments on the project.
This kind of quick action is exactly what we don't need, writes Young. Instead, this disaster should awaken us to the need to re-imagine environmental planning as the most important step of a project, one that should be considered carefully with input from as many stakeholders as possible. Not rushed out the door at the 11th hour.
One brilliant idea to avert further damage to wetland and coastal ecosystems is to build a 45-mile berm out of sand to protect the coast of Louisiana. The Army Corps of Engineers would move sand, presumably from another piece of coastline, to build a sand barrier 300-feet wide and standing six feet above the surface of the water.
In his blog post for Yale's "Environment 360," Young concludes that the ludicrous project is too expensive, too rushed and not likely to work. All of it driven by the blind need to do something, anything.
It's just this kind of near-sighted planning that got us here in the first place, however. Driven by annual reports and quarterly profits, the principles of both modern governance and corporate responsibility value immediate return over long-term success. Getting fast results is more important than getting it right.
Valued at half a billion dollars, building the berm comes with a big price tag for an uncertain outcome. But that's hardly a drop in the bucket for the likes of BP that recently committed at least $20 billion to the cleanup effort. More alarming is the fact that we would risk doing even more environmental damage to sensitive marine habitats by dredging up the ocean floor in an attempt to keep oil off the shore. This without any guarantees that the berm will actually keep oil out of sensitive areas; there is evidence to suggest it might only trap it there.
Young also points out that with expedited approval, the project did not receive proper review and few experts in the field of coastal ecology were consulted. Even EPA was given less than a day to file comments on the project.
This kind of quick action is exactly what we don't need, writes Young. Instead, this disaster should awaken us to the need to re-imagine environmental planning as the most important step of a project, one that should be considered carefully with input from as many stakeholders as possible. Not rushed out the door at the 11th hour.
No more Blue Crabs
The Gulf oil spill makes ecologist Nicole Heller feel "depressed and uncertain." Thankfully, these are not the only thoughts she leaves her readers with at the Climate Central blog.
No, Heller also goes on to explain the more pernicious and subtle ecosystem impacts that biologists are just starting to understand. Researchers like Dr. Erin Gray of Tulane University are finding that the oil spilled today could very well live on in generations of spawn to come. Gray is interested in Blue Crabs, in particular, which are a $40 million industry for Gulf fishermen. She studies population dynamics as they move from tiny larvae born in the open waters to fully grown crabs that inhabit estuaries. And her initial findings are disturbing to say the least.
Female blue crabs lay their eggs in the open water which then migrate inland after a couple months in later stages, writes Heller. It just so happens that breeding season in late spring and summer corresponds exactly with the timeline of the oil spill. That means the crabs will be traveling directly through the wake of the oil geyser.
That's not all. Once again, it also appears that the chemical dispersants used to break up the oil slick on the surface of the water are doing more harm than good. Gray believes she has identified tiny specks of oil--the kind created by using dispersants--inside the tissue of post-larval crabs. Gray is not a toxicologist and so is unsure what the ultimate effects will be on the Blue Crab. But her discovery points to yet another example of the disaster being much worse than we thought. It's not just the immediate damage--the oil-drenched birds and tar-balled beaches. It's the generations of aquatic life and wetland vegetation, things visible and invisible, that will be poisoned for many years to come with unknown influences on the environment.
Mother Nature is resilient, but even she has a breaking point. Heller and Gray have reminded us that if we haven't reached it yet, we will very soon.
No, Heller also goes on to explain the more pernicious and subtle ecosystem impacts that biologists are just starting to understand. Researchers like Dr. Erin Gray of Tulane University are finding that the oil spilled today could very well live on in generations of spawn to come. Gray is interested in Blue Crabs, in particular, which are a $40 million industry for Gulf fishermen. She studies population dynamics as they move from tiny larvae born in the open waters to fully grown crabs that inhabit estuaries. And her initial findings are disturbing to say the least.
Female blue crabs lay their eggs in the open water which then migrate inland after a couple months in later stages, writes Heller. It just so happens that breeding season in late spring and summer corresponds exactly with the timeline of the oil spill. That means the crabs will be traveling directly through the wake of the oil geyser.
That's not all. Once again, it also appears that the chemical dispersants used to break up the oil slick on the surface of the water are doing more harm than good. Gray believes she has identified tiny specks of oil--the kind created by using dispersants--inside the tissue of post-larval crabs. Gray is not a toxicologist and so is unsure what the ultimate effects will be on the Blue Crab. But her discovery points to yet another example of the disaster being much worse than we thought. It's not just the immediate damage--the oil-drenched birds and tar-balled beaches. It's the generations of aquatic life and wetland vegetation, things visible and invisible, that will be poisoned for many years to come with unknown influences on the environment.
Mother Nature is resilient, but even she has a breaking point. Heller and Gray have reminded us that if we haven't reached it yet, we will very soon.
It's not just the pelicans
For the past couple weeks, we've been bombarded with nothing but pelicans. Helpless brown pelicans, drowning in oil, splattered across the front pages of magazines and newspapers. So it comes as a rather macabre reprieve to ponder the plight of a different animal for a change: the sperm whale.
In a blog for CNN's running coverage of the "Gulf Coast Oil Disaster," Heather Heenahan lays out a brief history and status update of the sperm whale--many of which reside in the Mississippi Canyon just off the coast of Louisiana. She's a Duke University masters student in environmental management and summer fellow at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and has spent much time studying whales behavior as social creatures.
Heenahan reminds us that, before our lust for petroleum, humans hunted in the Gulf of Mexico for oil of another sort: the oils from the fatty tissue of whales. The business was so lucrative, in fact, that sperm whales were hunted to near extinction in the very same waters where their lives are now again in grave danger.
Whales are at risk on numerous fronts from the oil spill, Heenahan writes. First, they swim through the deep waters that are now being inundated with oil. Second, they eat other fish that are currently bathing in the same muck. Third, when they surface after 45-minute dives, they take a nice long breath of aerosolized chemical dispersants that contain volatile organic compounds. Thus, the whales soak up, eat and breathe in the leaking oil as well as the foul toxins sprayed to help mitigate the fallout.
But ultimately, it's not about the whales or the pelicans. Heenahan at least pays lip service to the greedy habits of consumption that led BP to forsake warnings from the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission and other federal regulators in order to extract their profit-worthy bounty. Unfortunately, her attempts to attribute this disaster to our mutual complicity as oil-loving citizens of the consumerist First World feel half-hearted and uninspired. This calamity should be received as a sharp kick in the pants to every SUV-driving, solo-commuting, plane-hopping, wasteful American lifestyle-having, finger-pointing one of us. If we ever hope to avoid the next one we better do a whole lot more than "support clean energy" and "decrease oil consumption." The pelicans, the whales, and any future humans who hope to get some enjoyment from life on this planet all depend on it.
In a blog for CNN's running coverage of the "Gulf Coast Oil Disaster," Heather Heenahan lays out a brief history and status update of the sperm whale--many of which reside in the Mississippi Canyon just off the coast of Louisiana. She's a Duke University masters student in environmental management and summer fellow at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, and has spent much time studying whales behavior as social creatures.
Heenahan reminds us that, before our lust for petroleum, humans hunted in the Gulf of Mexico for oil of another sort: the oils from the fatty tissue of whales. The business was so lucrative, in fact, that sperm whales were hunted to near extinction in the very same waters where their lives are now again in grave danger.
Whales are at risk on numerous fronts from the oil spill, Heenahan writes. First, they swim through the deep waters that are now being inundated with oil. Second, they eat other fish that are currently bathing in the same muck. Third, when they surface after 45-minute dives, they take a nice long breath of aerosolized chemical dispersants that contain volatile organic compounds. Thus, the whales soak up, eat and breathe in the leaking oil as well as the foul toxins sprayed to help mitigate the fallout.
But ultimately, it's not about the whales or the pelicans. Heenahan at least pays lip service to the greedy habits of consumption that led BP to forsake warnings from the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission and other federal regulators in order to extract their profit-worthy bounty. Unfortunately, her attempts to attribute this disaster to our mutual complicity as oil-loving citizens of the consumerist First World feel half-hearted and uninspired. This calamity should be received as a sharp kick in the pants to every SUV-driving, solo-commuting, plane-hopping, wasteful American lifestyle-having, finger-pointing one of us. If we ever hope to avoid the next one we better do a whole lot more than "support clean energy" and "decrease oil consumption." The pelicans, the whales, and any future humans who hope to get some enjoyment from life on this planet all depend on it.
Sunday, June 20, 2010
The Eloquence of Mucky Flip-Flops
Scientist measures X. Scientist models Y. Scientist offers a highly nuanced response to research paper published in a different peer-reviewed journal. Such is the discourse of science. But to outsiders, it often adds up to a giant, baffling... huh?
We know scientists are smart, that they do important work, and that they care—a lot. But sometimes it’s hard to tell that scientists live and breathe the same air as the rest of us, that they share our concerns, fears, and hopes. Perhaps this is because scientists are trained to be clinically objective. Perhaps it’s because the language of science is not readily understood, except by other scientists.
Carl Safina gets it. Macarthur Fellow, Pew Scholar, media gadfly (see here on the Colbert Report discussing the oil spill), author, teacher, co-founder and president of the Blue Ocean Institute—and yes, holder of a PhD in Ecology—Safina's mission is to move people with science, as evidenced by the tag-lines on both his self-titled blog (“Inspiration, Science, Nature. Hope.”) and his Blue Ocean Institute ("...works through science, art, and literature to inspire solutions and a deeper connection with nature").
Not surprisingly, Safina has written several posts on the situation in the Gulf of Mexico (see here, here, here, and here). Slightly unusual is that Safina’s posts are based on recent visits. And more unusual still is that he doesn’t just write about his observations, he also shows them. Safina's photographs of the oil spill, taken from a helicopter, a boat, and during walks on a local beach, are not scientific but they are evidence that it is possible to be both a scientist and an impassioned citizen (see his caption on the image of plastic garbage bags used for a beach clean-up). His photographs capture both the human and ecological impacts and prove, too, that he is living in our world-- one in which children swim amidst gooey tar balls, floating brown fingers of oil, and blackened, mucky flip-flops. In short, a world that is surprising, chaotic, and often uncontrollable.
To prove why science matters, scientists must respond to events like the Deepwater Horizon spill and many will—over weeks, months, and years to come. Kudos to those who are offering analysis in real-time and double kudos to scientists like Safina who are getting their feet dirty in the process.
We know scientists are smart, that they do important work, and that they care—a lot. But sometimes it’s hard to tell that scientists live and breathe the same air as the rest of us, that they share our concerns, fears, and hopes. Perhaps this is because scientists are trained to be clinically objective. Perhaps it’s because the language of science is not readily understood, except by other scientists.
Carl Safina gets it. Macarthur Fellow, Pew Scholar, media gadfly (see here on the Colbert Report discussing the oil spill), author, teacher, co-founder and president of the Blue Ocean Institute—and yes, holder of a PhD in Ecology—Safina's mission is to move people with science, as evidenced by the tag-lines on both his self-titled blog (“Inspiration, Science, Nature. Hope.”) and his Blue Ocean Institute ("...works through science, art, and literature to inspire solutions and a deeper connection with nature").
Not surprisingly, Safina has written several posts on the situation in the Gulf of Mexico (see here, here, here, and here). Slightly unusual is that Safina’s posts are based on recent visits. And more unusual still is that he doesn’t just write about his observations, he also shows them. Safina's photographs of the oil spill, taken from a helicopter, a boat, and during walks on a local beach, are not scientific but they are evidence that it is possible to be both a scientist and an impassioned citizen (see his caption on the image of plastic garbage bags used for a beach clean-up). His photographs capture both the human and ecological impacts and prove, too, that he is living in our world-- one in which children swim amidst gooey tar balls, floating brown fingers of oil, and blackened, mucky flip-flops. In short, a world that is surprising, chaotic, and often uncontrollable.
To prove why science matters, scientists must respond to events like the Deepwater Horizon spill and many will—over weeks, months, and years to come. Kudos to those who are offering analysis in real-time and double kudos to scientists like Safina who are getting their feet dirty in the process.
Samantha Joye and gulfblog: cataloging disaster
According to WNEG’s website, a scientific team funded by the National Science Foundation set sail on May 25, 2010 for a two-week survey of the damage from the continuing Deepwater oil spill. The team comprises scientists from University of Southern Mississippi, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and University of California, Santa Barbara, and is led by Samantha Joye, PhD, of the University of Georgia. When Joye is not reviewing the gas chromatograph output or mapping underwater oil plumes, she blogs about the team’s work.
The blog describes what the team collected, reams of data that catalogs dissolved oxygen and methane concentrations, outlines the expansion of the underwater oil plumes and surface slicks, quantifies salinity, chlorophyll levels, and water temperature at various depths, and most importantly, documents the presence of CDOM’s,or colored dissolved organic matter—oil. Joye also notes the impotent crowd gathering on the surface of the sea, what she calls “the city of ships.”
She records the ugliness simply, without drama, and so when she offers us a moment of contrast—the ship breaks out of the slick into clear blue water while a pod of spinner dolphins dances off the bow—we see the tragedy fully illuminated.
Read this blog and see photos of the team working at:
http://gulfblog.uga.edu/
WNEG website, accessed 6/20/2010:
http://www.wneg32.tv/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3190:uga-scientists-blog-oil-spill-research&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=18
The blog describes what the team collected, reams of data that catalogs dissolved oxygen and methane concentrations, outlines the expansion of the underwater oil plumes and surface slicks, quantifies salinity, chlorophyll levels, and water temperature at various depths, and most importantly, documents the presence of CDOM’s,or colored dissolved organic matter—oil. Joye also notes the impotent crowd gathering on the surface of the sea, what she calls “the city of ships.”
She records the ugliness simply, without drama, and so when she offers us a moment of contrast—the ship breaks out of the slick into clear blue water while a pod of spinner dolphins dances off the bow—we see the tragedy fully illuminated.
Read this blog and see photos of the team working at:
http://gulfblog.uga.edu/
WNEG website, accessed 6/20/2010:
http://www.wneg32.tv/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3190:uga-scientists-blog-oil-spill-research&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=18
Richard Denison Blogs on the Chemical Dispersants Used in the Oil Spill Clean-up
Dr. Richard Denison is a Senior Scientist with the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF). He has 25 years of experience in the areas of environmental policy, hazard and risk assessment, and management for industrial chemicals and nanomaterials. Denison has been writing regularly since mid-May on the EDF’s Chemicals and Nanomaterials Blog about the dangers of using inadequately tested and ineffective dispersants to aid in cleaning up the massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. As many as one million gallons of two dispersants, Corexit® 9527 and Corexit® 9500, have been released into the Gulf. Denison deftly highlights the key issues surrounding BP’s use of these chemicals. He notes that they are “among the least effective of the 18 dispersants that EPA has approved under the National Oil and Hazardous Substances Pollution Contingency Plan, and they appear to be among the more toxic based on limited short-term toxicity tests conducted on fish and shrimp.” Denison emphasizes that the long-term effects of these chemicals on the marine environment as well as the workers exposed to them far from known. He notes how the Toxic Substances Control Act denies the EPA the power to develop even basic safety information for chemicals that are being brought onto the market, or to require the replacement of chemicals that have been proven to be dangerous. Denison occasionally provides links to articles of interest, such as a posting on The Pump Handle by Elizabeth Grossman that questions whether the health and safety of response workers to the Gulf oil crisis are being ensured. Overall, Dennison’s blog posts are informative and easy to read – two attributes of a good blogger.
David Guggenheim: the Ocean Doctor
David E. Guggenheim eschewed medical school to become a doctor—an ocean doctor. After pocketing his first master's degree in population and aquatic biology from the University of California, Santa Barbara, a second in regional biology from the University of Pennsylvania, and finally earning a PhD in environmental studies and public policy, Guggenheim set out to conquer global warming, unsustainable fish-farming practices, and Siberian forest ecology while working with numerous government agencies and private environmental groups.
Now the explorer and conservationist works and blogs out of 1planet1ocean, his non-profit consultancy firm based in Washington, DC. He uses his oil spill-related posts to offer his opinions on sustainable aquaculture techniques and to advance his efforts to protect Cuba’s marine environment through The Ocean Foundation.
Guggenheim enhances his posts with underwater video and vibrant photos. You can view his efforts at:
http://www.oceandoctor.org/
Now the explorer and conservationist works and blogs out of 1planet1ocean, his non-profit consultancy firm based in Washington, DC. He uses his oil spill-related posts to offer his opinions on sustainable aquaculture techniques and to advance his efforts to protect Cuba’s marine environment through The Ocean Foundation.
Guggenheim enhances his posts with underwater video and vibrant photos. You can view his efforts at:
http://www.oceandoctor.org/
Oil Spill Blogs
http://gulfblog.uga.edu/
This Gulf Oil Blog is sponsored by the University of Georgia – Atlanta Department of Marine Sciences, Dr. Samantha Joye, a professor of marine science at UGA, has been writing about efforts to clean up the Gulf oil spill and the severity of the problem. Her last few posts have been answering many questions that came to her e-mail, which is posted on the blog for that purpose. Most of the questions are fairly academic – I did not understand what they all meant. So I think this blog would be a good resource for other scientists. She posts regularly and also includes pictures sometimes. Here is article about the blog: http://www.wneg32.tv/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3190:uga-scientists-blog-oil-spill-research&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=18
http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2010/06/the_worst_oil_spill_in_us_hist.php?utm_source=sbhomepage&utm_medium=link&utm_content=channellink
On Science Blogs, a scientist (username “GrrlScientist”) disputes the claim that the current oil spill is the worst in U.S. history. She claims that a 1910 oil spill from California is the worst and includes a video from CNN about this spill. She has received a couple of comments on her post.
http://scienceblogs.com/dotphysics/2010/05/oil_spill_estimation.php
Rhett Allain is an Associate Professor of Physics at Southeastern Louisiana University. His blog, Dot Physics, looks at different issues in physics. This particular post is aimed at how to estimate the flow of oil into the Gulf. He starts with a video of the underwater oil spill, then makes detailed calculations that I don’t follow to come up with an estimate of how much oil is leaking into the ocean. This is the only post I found where he talked about the Gulf Oil Spill.
This Gulf Oil Blog is sponsored by the University of Georgia – Atlanta Department of Marine Sciences, Dr. Samantha Joye, a professor of marine science at UGA, has been writing about efforts to clean up the Gulf oil spill and the severity of the problem. Her last few posts have been answering many questions that came to her e-mail, which is posted on the blog for that purpose. Most of the questions are fairly academic – I did not understand what they all meant. So I think this blog would be a good resource for other scientists. She posts regularly and also includes pictures sometimes. Here is article about the blog: http://www.wneg32.tv/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=3190:uga-scientists-blog-oil-spill-research&catid=1:latest-news&Itemid=18
http://scienceblogs.com/grrlscientist/2010/06/the_worst_oil_spill_in_us_hist.php?utm_source=sbhomepage&utm_medium=link&utm_content=channellink
On Science Blogs, a scientist (username “GrrlScientist”) disputes the claim that the current oil spill is the worst in U.S. history. She claims that a 1910 oil spill from California is the worst and includes a video from CNN about this spill. She has received a couple of comments on her post.
http://scienceblogs.com/dotphysics/2010/05/oil_spill_estimation.php
Rhett Allain is an Associate Professor of Physics at Southeastern Louisiana University. His blog, Dot Physics, looks at different issues in physics. This particular post is aimed at how to estimate the flow of oil into the Gulf. He starts with a video of the underwater oil spill, then makes detailed calculations that I don’t follow to come up with an estimate of how much oil is leaking into the ocean. This is the only post I found where he talked about the Gulf Oil Spill.
Laura Geselbracht Highlights the Potential Effects of the Oil Spill on Florida's Marine Wildlife
Laura Geselbracht is a marine conservation planner with The Nature Conservancy in Florida. Geselbracht recently posted Gulf Oil Spill: A View from Florida on The Nature Conservancy’s Cool Green Science conservation blog. I like this blog posting because Geselbracht concisely summarizes the potential threat of the Gulf oil spill to local marine wildlife on the Florida coastline. Having relatives on the west and east coasts of Florida, I really want to know what the sunshine state may be facing in the weeks and months to come. Geselbracht worked in Washington state when the Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred, so she saw first hand how oil spills can threaten various species. She mentions the Tenyo Maro oil spill, which occurred in 1991 off the coast of Washington near the Canadian border. Oil from the Tenyo Maro spill was taken up by ocean currents and ultimately affected a substantial amount of the Washington coast as well as some of the Oregon coast. Geselbracht provides some information on the Loop Current, which is a warm current in the Gulf of Mexico that loops around southern Florida on its way to merging with the Gulf Stream. Many fear that the oil slick could be picked up by these major currents, and therefore impact much of Florida’s coastline and coastal resources. Geselbracht highlights a number of vulnerable species, including the Florida manatee, American crocodile, smalltooth sawfish, the spoonbill, five species of sea turtles, and several terrapin species. The thought of losing any of these species due to the oil spill is unthinkable, and Geselbracht’s blog posting effectively makes that point.
Gina Solomon: healing the waters
Polymath Gina Solomon blogs on the Natural Resources Defense Council site about the health effects of the BP oil spill on clean-up workers, coastal dwellers, fishermen, and anyone else intimately involved in the disaster. In recent weeks Solomon has clambered onto the deck of a cleanup boat in the gulf, and using a hand-held monitor, has found volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) hanging in the air above the oil spill—despite BP’s assurances to the contrary. She is no stranger to gulf coast disaster, having pitched in after Katrina by measuring toxin and mold levels in soil, air and water. But disaster is not all she does.
A physician trained at Harvard and Yale, Solomon sees patients a clinic at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, where she directs the environmental medicine fellowship program. She also holds the post of Senior Scientist at NRDC.
Solomon the physician, teacher, and scientist is above all Solomon the activist, and in the best sense of the word. Every blog post crackles with the surly passion of a doer: “I have also repeatedly called upon BP and the Coast Guard to publicly release the air quality data that they claim shows the air is "safe" out there where hundreds of people are working….”
You can catch Solomon's blog at the NRDC's site
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/gsolomon/, and at the Huffington Post.
A physician trained at Harvard and Yale, Solomon sees patients a clinic at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine, where she directs the environmental medicine fellowship program. She also holds the post of Senior Scientist at NRDC.
Solomon the physician, teacher, and scientist is above all Solomon the activist, and in the best sense of the word. Every blog post crackles with the surly passion of a doer: “I have also repeatedly called upon BP and the Coast Guard to publicly release the air quality data that they claim shows the air is "safe" out there where hundreds of people are working….”
You can catch Solomon's blog at the NRDC's site
http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/gsolomon/, and at the Huffington Post.
The Gulf Oil Blog Takes Readers on a Two-Week Scientific Expedition to the Oil Spill
Dr. Samantha Joye is an oceanographer and Professor in the Department of Marine Sciences at the University of Georgia (UGA) in Athens, Georgia. Joye’s laboratory conducts research on the biogeochemical cycling of nutrients, dissolved gases, trace metals, carbon, and sulfur in a variety of lakes and coastal and ocean environments. Joye was a member of the expedition that discovered the deepwater plumes in the Gulf of Mexico after the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion. In late May, Joye led a team of microbiologists, geologists, and biogeochemists into the Gulf for a two-week expedition to conduct a comprehensive, interdisciplinary study of the largest of the underwater plumes. They established the Gulf Oil Blog to bring this work to the public.
What I like most about this blog is its first person perspective. Joye brings the reader along with her on the boat, and it’s a rather wild ride. She shows how difficult it can be to actually locate the oil plume. She explains to readers what they are measuring in the water samples they collect, and she answers questions submitted by the general public to the blog.
Although Joye is an accomplished academic scientist, she is rather adept at writing in a manner that engages the layperson. For example, her team noticed an oil sheen on the water that they had collected from within the plume. She wrote: “You could see it. Everybody saw it. Everybody got excited. Seeing is believing. Even more, the bottles from the plume layers smelled strongly of petroleum. The bottles from above and below the plume did not.”
The Gulf Oil Blog also contains a Resources page with links to reputable sites providing information on the present oil spill as well as other noteworthy oil spills. The Resources page also includes a link to Joye’s Testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology, Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment, which she submitted on June 9, 2010.
Notably, Joye is co-author of a paper in press at the journal Nature Geoscience titled “Offshore oceanic impacts from the BP oil spill.” Joye’s paper will be just one of many that will surely be published in upcoming months by scientists studying this significant and continuing environmental disaster.
What I like most about this blog is its first person perspective. Joye brings the reader along with her on the boat, and it’s a rather wild ride. She shows how difficult it can be to actually locate the oil plume. She explains to readers what they are measuring in the water samples they collect, and she answers questions submitted by the general public to the blog.
Although Joye is an accomplished academic scientist, she is rather adept at writing in a manner that engages the layperson. For example, her team noticed an oil sheen on the water that they had collected from within the plume. She wrote: “You could see it. Everybody saw it. Everybody got excited. Seeing is believing. Even more, the bottles from the plume layers smelled strongly of petroleum. The bottles from above and below the plume did not.”
The Gulf Oil Blog also contains a Resources page with links to reputable sites providing information on the present oil spill as well as other noteworthy oil spills. The Resources page also includes a link to Joye’s Testimony to the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology, Subcommittee on Energy and the Environment, which she submitted on June 9, 2010.
Notably, Joye is co-author of a paper in press at the journal Nature Geoscience titled “Offshore oceanic impacts from the BP oil spill.” Joye’s paper will be just one of many that will surely be published in upcoming months by scientists studying this significant and continuing environmental disaster.
Finding Sure Footing on Slippery Ground
Our conversations go something like this. Me: “It’s unprecedented! The worst oil-spill ever!” Him: “I hate when people use the word ‘unprecedented’. During World War II more tankers lost more oil in more spills over a larger area.” Me: “Those spills happened at different places on different days. Completely different scenario. And all the spills took place in shallow water. The deep water impacts are entirely unknown. It's a feeble comparison.” And so on.
My friend says he can not trust most environmental reporting, that it is tinged with hysteria and marred by bias. I am equally for dispassionate, rigorous, science-based environmental reporting, and by extension, environmental policies. Are there sources out there to bolster my case that the Deepwater spill is enormous and unprecedented?
In a post on The Oil Drum, Cutler J. Cleveland compares rates of release between naturally occurring oil “seeps”, the man-made spills, including Deepwater and others. The article is backed up with references to scientific literature (hooray!). But is the author a screaming environmentalist?
Cleveland is a professor of geography and the environment at Boston University with joint appointments in the Center for Energy and Environmental Studies and the Pardee Center for the Study of the Longer Range Future. He is also the author of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill entry in the Encyclopedia of Earth, an initiative that is backed by the National Council for Science and the Environment (NCSE). NCSE’s board includes a mix of corporate, environmental, and current and former government officials. It's not full proof, but a promising indicator that my friend would entertain Cleveland's analysis.
Highlights are Cleveland's conclusion (yes, it’s bad), references, and a compelling line graph on the “Estimates on the quantity of oil released from the Deepwater Horizon accident, from natural oil seeps in the entire Gulf of Mexico, and from some notable historic U.S oil spills.”
Alas, Cleveland does not use the word “unprecedented”, but I stand, sadly, sadly hopeful.
A Mental Organizer for Ecological News from the Gulf
In an article posted on Deep Sea News, Miriam Goldstein, a doctoral student in biological oceanography at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, identifies the five leading impacts of an oil spill on wildlife and habitat—direct oiling, indirect oiling, reproductive failure, habitat destruction, and long-term chronic effects—explaining in layman’s terms what each one is and why it is critical to keep in mind. Goldstein calls her article an “anatomy” and this is apt because she offers a structural framework with which the ecological reverberations can be more fully understood. Her own area of research on the impact of plastic particulates on marine invertebrates—the largest garbage dumps on earth are actually floating at sea—attunes her to the challenges associated with studying vast, ever-changing, complex events with multiple causes and consequences.
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