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On April 20, 2010, an explosion aboard the Deepwater Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico sank the oil rig and created a leak that has spewed millions of gallons into the water. This report contains our ongoing coverage of this disaster.
May 7, 2010 |
News
The downside: by going deeper it will take another two months. In the meantime the oil company scrambles for temporary fixes
Features
New York University sociologist Harvey Molotch compares the devastating 1969 Santa Barbara oil spill with Deepwater to see how far the U.S. government and the oil industry have--and have not--come
News
The oil spill will not just have an environmental impact--the catastrophe, along with efforts to stop it, may reshape the geography of Louisiana's Gulf coast
Extinction Countdown
It has taken nearly 50 years for the species to recover from the devastating effects of DDT. The Gulf oil spill could set progress back.
A team of researchers is hoping that the study of methane will help more accurately calculate the extent of the oil spill and the Gulf's ability to break down the slick
Bacteria and other microbes are the only thing that will ultimately clean up the ongoing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico
Microbial activity could end up exacerbating waters with little oxygen--as could the coating of oil
Crews from the Guard, BP and local fishermen have been hard at work in the Gulf of Mexico since the oil rig exploded and sank in April
The short answer is everywhere--the sea surface, deep waters, the Gulf Coast, in deepwater corals and even as far as the Arctic
How will the ongoing oil spill in the Gulf impact the bird populations of the South Coast?
The method alone has failed to seal the broken well, so BP plans to keep pumping mud to stop the flow.
The global oil giant responsible for the fast-spreading spill in the Gulf of Mexico is no stranger to major accidents
The true impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill on the Gulf of Mexico won't be known for weeks--if not months or years--but already the spreading oil presents a danger to the region's threatened and endangered species
Storm surges might carry oil into the coastline and inland or force boats aiding in the efforts to control the oil leak back to shore.
Remotely operated subs have met with both success and failure in stanching the flow of crude, and the oil industry may need to rely on completely autonomous vehicles
On Thursday BP began using the chemical compounds to dissolve the crude oil, both on the surface and deep below, deploying an estimated 100,000 gallons
Even if U.S. energy policy goes "drill baby drill," there will be no escape from the vicissitudes of the global oil market
A 26-year moratorium on offshore drilling expired in 2008, after the House approved a temporary-spending package sans a planned extension of the ban
Do oil disasters happen less or does the media not prioritize them?
The U.S. Supreme Court capped damages for the Exxon Valdez oil spill at a fraction of what an Alaskan jury awarded
The year 2009 will see a rendezvous between science, politics and big business in the high Arctic. Though frenzied seabed mapping clarifies the geology, economic incentives cloud the discussion
The immediate effects of an oil spill are all too apparent: dead wildlife, oil-covered marshlands and contaminated water chief among them
That's not just because of the economic crisis slowing demand, remaining unexplored oil reservoirs are in deep waters offshore
National renewable standards and offshore drilling still in question, however
As bad as it is, BP's Gulf oil spill dwindles in comparison to gushers of the past. David Biello reports
A nanotech material absorbs oil but repels water, making it a possibly perfect picker-upper for tanker spills. Cynthia Graber reports
It's not just a matter of stopping the spill, it's also a matter of where the oil ends up
The last big blowout, at Ixtoc off Mexico in 1979, took almost a year to stop and spilled some 140 million gallons of oil before it was through, making it still the second largest oil spill ever (Saddam Hussein's intentional opening of the Kuwaiti and Iraqi wells during the first Gulf War remains, by far, the largest oil spill at roughly 1 billion gallons.)
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