Archive by category | Oil spill science

White House interference: bad science or poor communication?

White House interference: bad science or poor communication?

It certainly doesn’t look good. Federal investigators have confirmed that the White House altered a peer-reviewed report last May to expand a six-month drilling moratorium following the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The decision sparked complaints from the peer-reviewers themselves, who said they never signed off on such a recommendation.  Read more

Got Oil?

Got Oil?

A late-breaking session was added to Monday’s schedule at the Geological Society of America meeting in Denver, Colorado, to discuss the status of oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill. The talk, titled “An Update on the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill: Where is the Oil Now?” aimed to provide an update on how much oil is left in the environment, where it all went, what scientists are doing to find it, and what long-term impacts can be expected.

Bat fellatio and slime molds take 2010 IgNobels

It’s that time of year, when a few elite scientists are recognized for years of hard work tackling the great problems of the day. Yes, IgNobel season is upon us.

Sizing up the spill

When the government began releasing estimates of the size of BP’s Gulf of Mexico oil well leak, scientists and environmental groups questioned the figures, certain the leak was larger. New research supports that notion. According to the study, published in Science, some 4.4 million barrels of oil has escaped into the ocean. It is the first independent, peer-reviewed paper on the size of the leak. (doi: 10.1126/science.1195840)

Oil spill science: A Month Searching for Oil

Oil spill science: A Month Searching for Oil

After 27 days at sea and 80-plus data collection stops, the Cape Hatteras pulled into Gulfport , Mississippi yesterday. Her complement of scientists from the University of Texas Marine Science Institute and the University of Georgia, Athens, broke down the on-board lab, carting instruments and equipment off the ship and into waiting U-Hauls.

Oil spill science: On the oil trail

Oil spill science: On the oil trail

Scientists from the University of Texas and University of Georgia aboard the R/V Cape Hatteras have continued mapping subsurface oil this week, collecting data at eight more stations. Chief scientist Tracy Villareal says that the oil plume they are tracking in the Gulf of Mexico is like the summer cloud banks above the ship, constantly moving, expanding, and contracting.

Oxygen “sags” and oil “snow storm” near spill site

Oxygen "sags" and oil "snow storm" near spill site

A new report from the Joint Analysis Group (JAG), which includes the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, found that oxygen levels have dropped by about 20% below average in locations around the site of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.  Read more

Oil spill science: Mapping subsurface plumes in the Gulf

Oil spill science: Mapping subsurface plumes in the Gulf

The R/V Cape Hatteras, on a port call after two weeks zig-zagging around the northern Gulf of Mexico on the trail of oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill, seemed quiet when I came aboard Friday afternoon. Some of her eight scientists and technicians (and ten crew members) are enjoying a day off, while others prepare for the next stretch of a 27-day cruise. I watch food and sodas go onto the ship and trash come off, and overhear snatches of cell phone calls home. Chief scientist Tracy Villareal of the University of Texas at Austin contemplates a Google map of the floor of the Gulf.