The Mandelbear's Musings

siliconshaman points to this article which says, in part,

Ominous reports are leaking past the BP Gulf salvage operation news blackout that the disaster unfolding in the Gulf of Mexico may be about to reach biblical proportions.

[...]

Methane is now streaming through the porous, rocky seabed at an accelerated rate and gushing from the borehole of the first relief well. The EPA is on record that Rig #1 is releasing methane, benzene, hydrogen sulfide and other toxic gases. Workers there now wear advanced protection including state-of-the-art, military-issued gas masks.

Reports, filtering through from oceanologists and salvage workers in the region, state that the upper level strata of the ocean floor is succumbing to greater and greater pressure. That pressure is causing a huge expanse of the seabed-estimated by some as spreading over thousands of square miles surrounding the BP wellhead-to bulge. Some claim the seabed in the region has risen an astounding 30 feet.

I agree with siliconshaman that calling it a potentially "mass extinction level" event is almost certainly exagerated. But things don't look good for the states and countries around the gulf. Maybe not biblical, but at least a good disaster novel.

Note that methane is not only a much more effective greenhouse gas than CO2, it's also highly flammable. Can you say "fuel-air explosive"? I knew you could.

A tip of the hat to this post by ysabetwordsmith.