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 OSHA’s outdated standards and dubious air sampling data come in for clear criticism.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.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)