10 of the World's Worst Energy Disasters:
The BP Gulf Oil Spill

Fire boat response crews battle the blazing remnants of the off shore oil rig Deepwater Horizon April 21, 2010. A Coast Guard MH-65C dolphin rescue helicopter and crew document the fire aboard the mobile offshore drilling unit Deepwater Horizon, while searching for survivors April 21, 2010. Multiple Coast Guard helicopters, planes and cutters responded to rescue the Deepwater Horizon's 126 person crew.

Photo: U.S. Coast Guard

< < More about
The BP Gulf oil spill

Next:
The Chernobyl nuclear disaster

What:
The BP Gulf oil spill

Where:
The Gulf of Mexico, 50 miles off the Louisiana coast

When:
April 20, 2010

What happened:
The Transocean rig Deepwater Horizon exploded on April 20, 2010, and sank on April 22, resulting in an oil leak spilling as much as 50,000 barrels of oil a day (official estimates put the figure at 5,000 barrels, but independent experts have said the spill is up to 10 times as big). Besides the oil slick on the surface of the Gulf of Mexico, which is visible from space and presents an acute hazard to fish, turtles, marine mammals and birds, scientists say there are underwater plumes that could decimate ocean life from the surface to a depth of one mile, where the broken well is found.

The longterm impact:
While it's too early to predict the extent of the spill's volume, let alone its impact, already 11 oil rig workers have died; fishermen in one of the nation's most productive fishing grounds have been put out of business – at least temporarily; offshore oil exploration has been halted in many areas; and the fragile political compromise that had held together a Senate climate and energy bill has been broken.

The environmental, social, economic and political fallout from the spill are difficult to predict, but could be long-lasting. Looking to the future, some seafood production in the U.S. could be halved; fish, turtle, marine mammal and bird life could be significantly harmed by the oil spill; and the spill itself could spread far up the East Coast after it is caught in the Gulf of Mexico loop current (map).

Next:
The Chernobyl nuclear disaster

More of the World's Worst Energy Disasters

The Kuwait oil fires The Prestige oil spill The Kingston fly ash spill The Three Mile Island meltdown

The Upper Big Branch mine disaster The Exxon Valdez disaster The Johnstown flood The Sayano-Shushenskaya hydroelectric power station disaster

COMMENTS ()