“So I shouldn’t have read between the words “
No, making assumptions is dangerous just as naturally occurring uranium can be. Not as dangerous as refined uranium but still dangerous.
None of which changes the original context. This oil is not where it would normally be or in the concentrations it would be at if it occurred naturally (on the beach).
Minimizing the damage which is being done by this spill is naive at best.
To begin with, Methane Hydrate is a crystal form of Methane that occurs naturally on the sea floor in MUCH higher levels than this spill is generating. Especially in the Gulf. And this occurrence has been going on for thousands of years. There is a constant flow of methane, in huge volumes, being passed into the water on a day by day basis before oil was ever discovered.
As far as this spill effecting the marine life, fishing etc, the enviro-Nazi’s said the same thing about the Exxon Valdez accident. They claimed that Prince William Sound was forever destroyed and ruined and that the fishing industry would NEVER recover. The hype was intensive.
I had one of my very best fishing years (herring) the very next year (1990) about 1/2 mile from Bligh Reef. In fact, every season after that, the area close to the reef was the best place to fish. And PWS did recover fully in mere months and has ever since.
But I do agree that someone is naive here, especially the ones who make the most absolute drastic claims that “all is forever ruined”.
“Minimizing the damage which is being done by this spill is naive at best”
Oh my GOD we are all gonna DIE...!
EVERY DROP of oil that has spilled out of the leak to date would fit into a cube of space just 330 feet by 330 feet by 330 feet, barely bigger than a football field tall by a football field wide by a football field high. This is a pin head size problem in two side by side olympic pools.
(75,000 barrels per day X 42 gallons per barrel X 85 days divided by 7.5 gallons per cube foot = 35,700,000 cubic feet. A cube 330 feet by 330 feet by 330 feet has 35,937,000 cubic feet.) ......$@(#*#*