Can It Rain Oil?
The Deepwater Horizon oil spill, also known as the BP oil spill or the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, is the worst environmental disaster ever faced by the United States and the largest oil spill in the world ever. Tens of millions of gallons have already spilled into the Gulf of Mexico and as of June 2010, the spill has not been contained. The spill began on April 20, 2010 when a drilling rig exploded, resulting in a sea floor oil gusher that began leaking oil into the ocean. The oil company BP is being held responsible for the oil spill by the United States government and will be required to pay all the fees associated with the cleanup.
The world is concerned about the effects of this oil spill on the environment. Experts worry that the oil will affect marine and wildlife habitats, resulting in the death of animals and ecosystems. The fishing and tourism industries located in and around the Gulf of Mexico have been crippled, resulting in economic problems for the people of the region.
People living near the Gulf of Mexico in places like Louisiana are worried that even though they were not directly affected by the oil spill, they may suffer as well due to oil raining down from the sky. Reports have surfaced claiming that there have been rains of oily substances smelling like oil. If these reports are true, there are two possibilities: either the rain is mixing with oil or it is mixing with Corexit, the oil dispersant being sprayed on the oil spill.
The only way these substances could show up in the rain is if they evaporated. Generally, oil does not evaporate. However, we are not dealing with normal oil in this oil spill – the oil is heavy crude oil, which does not necessarily behave like normal oil. When mixed with ocean water, the oil becomes an emulsion, which enhances its likelihood of evaporating. Another factor to consider is the Corexit, which may or may not be helping the oil evaporate. The Corexit itself may be evaporating and combining with the rain.
There are no hard and fast facts since no one has ever dealt with an oil spill of this magnitude before. The United States Environmental Protection Agency claims that it has no data to suggest that the oil and dispersant are evaporating into the water cycle and mixing with the rain.
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In June, with critics comparing the Gulf to Hurricane Katrina, Obama announced the “British Petroleum” oil spill the “worst environmental disaster the US has ever faced”. America’s grubby politicians, green-lobby tub-thumpers, compensation claimants and their mega-bucks lawyers went completely ballistic every night on prime-time TV. However with more than 4,000 oil wells in the Gulf, the ecosystem is used to seepage, the light oil dissipated quickly in its warm waters, and powerful currents from the enormous Mississippi Delta swept much of it away from the shore. Today the pristine beaches are back to normal but Obama’s poisonous remarks have wiped £45 billion off the value of BP, damaged millions of US and UK pensions, and wrecked the tourist trade.