A year from now the oil is still spewing.

[wildbilln864]

Two years! I hope it's not but hypothetically if it is. What will the effects be? What's a worst case scenario IYO?

[Subdivisions]

1. Hey there wildbill... I think we'll see oil getting into

the Carribean and possibly into the Gulf Stream.

It's time to give up our oil addiction.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

2. 6 months from now nobody will be talking about it.

Sure, people will be still cleaning it up.

But nobody's going to give it much attention. It's this spring's swine flu.

[Orsino]

3. If it's still spewing six months from now, an entire region will be dead.

Not sure about direct human casualties, but entire ways of life will perish along with a sizable chunk of the biosphere.

Do you think They'll be able to make that invisible? I have my doubts.

[readmoreoften]

4. Well, if idiots aren't babbling about it then it must be irrelevant.

Kinda like black sites in Afghanistan, only even more irrelevant.

[jimshoes]

6. If that thing is still spewing 6 months from now

I predict there will be people with pitchforks and tubs of Gulf oil and feathers (best case scenario)ready to apply generously to the people that brought us this mess. (Not so best case scenario), pitchforks and something that hurts worse than tar and feathers.

[rudy23]

19. I wish---but it's already being forgotten. As long as the TV doesn't talk about it, it didn't happen

Too bad even the smart people are the same way.

[jimshoes]

22. I don't think this is going away

no offence, but wait till tons of sea life start washing up on shore, Some people might make the connection. Not a certainty but possible.

[donheld]

13. Do you work for BP?

[alittlelark]

17. Swine Flu? A better comparison is Chernobyl.

:eyes:

[HillbillyBob]

5. If it spews for 2 more years, I think it will impact

the entire Gulf, Caribbean, and Atlantic Seaboard all the way to Nova Scotia maybe even to Europes shores..thats my take. If that happens No seafood, higher co2 levels from the deaths of all the planktons, mangroves swamps and algae.

[Lorien]

7. I keep saying it: ocean flora provides 65% of earth's oxygen

and deforestation is wiping out the other 35%. How long could we last without a sizable portion of our oceans?

[lib2DaBone]

8. Something is very wrong with the mis-information campaign about this spill..

..I think it is is much worse than we are being told. This could be a major event in the destruction of food chains, which start in the ocean and move on land to row crops, fileds and orchards.

BP has been lying since day one... and Mr. Obama has failed to act to the level of this emergency.

I understand Mr. Obama has some type of press conference scheduled tomorrow. Something should have been done days ago... we shall see.. but I think we are screwed.

[mopinko]

12. president obama has acted

he has thrown a lot of resources at this thing. it isn't stopped, but that is a really, really far cry from 'something should have been done'. lots has been done.

eta, a thread earlier today talked about explosives to close the well. i think we will see this happen sooner than later. it has been done by the russians. the speculation was that bp is avoiding doing anything that will leave the field unusable. i tend to think that might be true.

[global1]

9. At What Point Does This Well Run Out Of Oil?.......

I think this is a fair question. How much oil was in this hole and if it is just let to spew - how long will it take before it runs itself out? If as the original post indicates - a year - or two years - have they been telling us the truth as to how much oil is really available in and around the U.S.?

[dixiegrrrrl]

10. Whenthe field was first discovered,BP estimated 500 million barrels.

The field is supposed to actually be miles under most of the states of the South,
they drilled at an angle offshore, hit an enormous field.
USA Today had a story on the discovery in 2009.

[Kablooie]

16. If it really is 5000 barrels a day it would take over 250 years to drain it.

[mopinko]

11. if it isn't stopped by hurricane season, the pooch may well be screwed, imho

hurricane rips through that shit.....

[wildbilln864]

15. or two?

maybe three by next year if it hasn't been stopped.

[mopinko]

23. or even if it is stopped

they are never gonna get it all cleaned up. it is gonna get sprayed all over.

[Kablooie]

14. 75% of oxygen comes from algae and other ocean life. If too much dies off...

we may see a decrease in the amount of oxygen in the atmosphere.

Granted this would have to be a very large die off but if this thing goes on for years it might be enough.

Oh, and by the way, the replacement for the oxygen is our good friend CO2.

[tavalon]

18. The gulf will die in human terms

If the oil gets into the Atlantic stream, it will kill a lot more than the gulf. This will speed the end of millions of species and in the end, ours. By how much, I can't even guess. But, we (and so many, far less death deserving species) are leaving this world, again, my crystal ball doesn't have a time line, but this will speed it up by some amount.

I'm glad though, that we are murdering ourselves this way instead of by massive nuclear holocaust. I may be wrong, but I think Gaia will heal faster from this kind of human annihilation. And make no mistake, our beautiful Earth, the one corporations are so disrespectful of, is at best, disdainful of us, more likely she really doesn't even notice us. She lives in geological time and you won't find THAT on a Rolex.

Do I see any scenario where humans find a way to be sustainable? No, not anymore.

Does that mean I'm lying in my bed crying and giving up? No, not exactly. I can't control the corporations that are hell bent on ending our tenure on Gaia, but I can control my own actions. I can follow my own moral code, even knowing it makes no difference in the big picture, it makes a difference to my soul and I may be able to help a few other souls and that just has to be enough. I will fight these corporations that think they are people (bad people) until the bitter end because it's the right thing to do no matter if the outcome is already known.

[Luminous Animal]

20. Never fear. BP has submitted an appiication to drill 2 more wells in order to...

contain the first.

[The Damned]

21. We spent eight years LIVING a worst-case scenario!

Cheney ought to be.....