Gulf Coast Oil Spill- Location Update and Scientific Discussion

The Gulf Coast Oil Spill has reached Pensacola Beach.

We've known for over a month this day would come. We've been waiting for it, preparing for it, dreading it. It has finally reached Pensacola. Now it's ready to be swept into the Gulf Current and blown up the east coast and maybe over to Europe or the Middle East.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_oil_spill_florida
http://www.forexyard.com/en/news/Florida-coast-suffers-first-impact-from-oil-spill-2010-06-04T163646Z-UPDATE-2
http://www.vancouversun.com/news/Florida+coast+suffers+first+impact+from+spill/3112240/story.html

When we saw this on CNN while eating lunch, Brian jokingly said to me "2012- Wanna go to France?". I don't believe that 2012 stuff- it's silly...but f there was some alien race coming to judge us, I wouldn't blame them if they wanted to kill us for killing the planet-the punishment fits the crime. Think about it- we're killing millions of fish and sea mamals and a delicate ecosystem. Why? So we can drive instead of walk or bike.

Well, there are a couple of new things I want to mention as well. For the people who want to clean up- not all the information needed is actually being disseminated. The dispersants used in the water are actually carcinogens which can be inhaled. Coastal cleanup volunteers should be wearing masks, and could cause a great deal of harm to themselves if they don't. Also, to clean oil off of the animals you need to have special training so you don't hurt the animal.

Another shocking environmental impact that the media is not discussing is the air quality. When we heard the news that the oil had reached our hometown, we both called our parents. When I was talking to my mom, she said that she had been coughing a lot and got a throat swab done (we both usually get atypical strep when we get strep- you can't see white spots, so only the throat swabs will tell if you have it or not) and the results were really surprising- she had inhaled some petroleum. Her doctor's theory is that the burning at the oil spill site got petroleum particles into the cloud and they rained down. From my atmospheric physics class, this makes sense, the small particles could became what we meteorologists call cloud condensation nuclei (CCN) and when there is enough moisture (which is basically everyday for the Gulf Coast- especially in summer, sea breeze season), these particles became parts of clouds and then rained down over the area. This same process is how acid rain works, where particles from volcanoes or anthropogenic sources of sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides become CCN, form clouds, then rain and fall down. However, with acid rain there is a chemical reaction that turns water and sulfates or nitrates into sulfuric or nitric acid. There is no reaction between the oil and the water because of the molecular bonds, so instead of the combination causing acid rain, it just brings the particles down in normal rain.

Now I do have a Bachelors, but I don't have a Master's or a PhD in meteorology. I have only had one class that discussed cloud physics. I could easily be wrong. It's also possible that she could've gotten it from filling up her car's tank. I feel that the theory is more likely however because she doesn't fill up her car often since she has a hybrid, and there has never been a time in my lifetime where my mom's throat has been irritated by having petroleum particles in it as far as we know of. So these facts plus the timing make the event suspect.

Now, NOAA (the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) recently distributed a PDF on the mutual effects of hurricanes and the oil in the Gulf Waters. In it, it says that if a hurricane passes over the area, it will not rain oil. In theory, this is true and well based on science- hurricanes are powered through the evaporation of warm ocean water- over a larger area than the are of the oil spill. Oil and water have very different chemical properties, so the oil will not be evaporated and get carried into the storm and rain down. BUT they are forgetting that the air will contain particulates of the oil in it if there are oil burns close to the passing of the hurricane and that these particles can become part of the cloud drops, then part of rain drops.

We're hurting ourselves more than we know with our greed for oil and animal flesh (including sea animals!). I know I'm preaching to the choir, but I hope that if anyone comes across this besides my friend Allie that they will at least consider the impacts they have on the earth by doing things as simple as eating and going from one location to another.

And now some legalese as I leave...
Please note: I am not a professional. I have a degree in meteorology, but the theory of oil becoming a CCN is, to the best of my knowledge, an untested one. My ideas do not reflect those of any organization.