On 5/14/10 7:45 AM, YukonBound wrote:


"hk" wrote in message
m...
Scientist Says Oil Spill Much Bigger Than Initial Estimates

After an explosion killed eleven and sent the Deepwater Horizon rig to
the bottom of the Gulf of Mexico, the government estimated that the
oil leaking from the ocean floor was around 5,000 barrels per day.
That figure, 210,000 gallons, has been widely used in media stories
concerning the spill. One problem: It might be way too conservative.
After footage of the spill was released on Wednesday, Ian R.
MacDonald, an oceanographer at Florida State University and expert on
oil slick analysis, went to work using satellite imagery. He estimates
the leak could "'easily be four or five times' the government
estimate," the New York Times reported. "'The government has a
responsibility to get good numbers,' Dr. MacDonald said. 'If it's
beyond their technical capability, the whole world is ready to help
them.'" It's important to have an accurate figure, scientists argue,
because it's directly related to the damage the spill will cause both
in the ocean and at the shore. "BP has repeatedly said that its
highest priority is stopping the leak, not measuring it," the New York
Times reported. "'There's just no way to measure it,' Kent Wells, a BP
senior vice president, said in a recent briefing." But scientists who
work primarily underwater have used various measurement techniques for
decades; the technology exists.

Original story in The New York Times | Friday, May 14, 2010
--
The Tea Party's teabaggers are just the Republican base by another name.


No worries....Froggy says it's no big deal!


Dr. Froggy matriculated at Limbaugh State Phew.


--
The Tea Party's teabaggers are just the Republican base by another name.