e360 digest

04 Jun 2010: Computer Model Suggests
Gulf Spill Could Reach Atlantic by Summer

A computer modeling study suggests that oil from the Gulf of Mexico spill could travel thousands of miles up the Atlantic coast and into the open ocean as early as this summer. Using a virtual dye tracer to project movement of the oil based on what is known about ocean currents and typical wind conditions, scientists at the Colorado-based National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) illustrated six possible dispersal paths. While the models are not a forecast, they suggest that the environmental impact of this spill could be greater than previously thought and “is likely to reach far beyond Florida,” according to one NCAR scientist. The greatest threat is if the oil enters the so-called loop current, which carries warm water in a clockwise pattern from the Yucatan Peninsula to the northern Gulf of Mexico and then south to the Florida Keys and the Atlantic Ocean. According to the computer simulations, once the oil reaches the fast-moving current, it is likely to spread to the Atlantic coast within weeks, and then move toward Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, before shifting east. The model does not estimate how much oil would reach any particular location, but rather how much of the total oil could be transported by ocean currents.

Watch the video

Yale Environment 360 is
a publication of the
Yale School of Forestry
& Environmental Studies.

SEARCH e360

CONNECT

Twitter: YaleE360
e360 on Facebook
Donate to e360
View mobile site
Bookmark
Share e360
Email newsletter
Subscribe to our feed:

ABOUT

About e360
Contact
Submission Guidelines
Reprints

e360 PHOTO GALLERY

South African photojournalist Adam Welz documents the harrowing relocation of six white rhinos to a region that has lost all its rhinos to poaching. View the gallery.

DEPARTMENTS

Opinion
Reports
Analysis
Interviews
e360 Digest
Podcasts
Video Reports

TOPICS

Biodiversity
Business & Innovation
Climate
Energy
Forests
Oceans
Policy & Politics
Pollution & Health
Science & Technology
Sustainability
Urbanization
Water

REGIONS

Antarctica and the Arctic
Africa
Asia
Australia
Central & South America
Europe
Middle East
North America

e360 VIDEO

A Yale Environment 360 video explores Ecuador’s threatened Yasuni Biosphere Reserve with scientists inventorying its stunning forests and wildlife. Watch the video.

e360 MOBILE

The latest
from Yale
Environment 360 is now available for mobile devices at e360.yale.edu/mobile.

e360 VIDEO

In a Yale Environment 360 video, photographer Pete McBride documents how increasing water demands have transformed the Colorado River, the lifeblood of the arid Southwest. Watch the video.




Top Image: aerial view of Iceland. © Google & TerraMetrics.

e360 VIDEO

The Warriors of Qiugang, a Yale Environment 360 video that chronicles the story of a Chinese village’s fight against a polluting chemical plant, was nominated for a 2011 Academy Award for Best Documentary (Short Subject). Watch the video.

OF INTEREST