VISUALIZING The BP Oil Spill Disaster

[Segami]

::wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: :wow: Holy Smokes!!

Here's an interactive computer model that really puts into perspective the damage that BP's negligence has done. see link:

<http://www.ifitwasmyhome.com/>


How do you know how big the spill is?

The data used to create the spill image comes from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. NOAA releases a daily report detailing where the spill is going to be within the next 24 hours. They do this by collecting data from a number of sources, including satellite imagery and reports by trained observers who have made helicopter flights back and forth across the potentially affected areas. This data is entered into several leading computer models by NOAA oceanographers along with information about currents and winds in the gulf.

Why does the spill seem to change size as I move it?

If you move the spill south of the gulf, without crossing the equator, you'll see it appear to shrink in size. If you move it North, it will appear to increase in size. The spill actually covers the same area on the map no matter where you place it, what changes is the map itself! Google Maps, and many maps we're used to looking at, use something called "Mercator Projection" in order to draw the spherical surface of the earth onto a flat plane. This projection distorts space as you move away from the equator in order to make the nice flat map you see. This means that a 100 square mile object placed at the equator will appear much smaller on the map than the same object placed closer to the poles. If you think about it, this makes sense -- if you were to wrap a string around the globe, you would need much more string to do so at the equator than you would further North, yet Google Maps portrays the Earth as a rectangle. You can read more about Mercator Projection on Wikipedia.

[BeFree]

1. I've seen the maps

And without fail NOAA minimizes the size of the surface oil, and, as far as I can tell,
(afaict) it has never shown any underwater plumes. NOAA is a big disappointment.

[Segami]

3. The resistance by many to provide the public with the straight facts makes me believe

that the environmental damage has crossed critical levels and is beyond correction for the next decade at the very least.

[Individualist]

4. The damage will last more than a decade

Oil remains on the shores of Prince William Sound, and this is much worse than the Exxon Valdez spill.

[bdamomma]

6. it is just terrible, this is what we are leaving to other generations?

[HereSince1628]

2. There are many equal area projections now available

Anyone who is doing this sortof work isn't going to work from a Mercator projection.

Satellite photos do a fairly good job that can be presented as minimal radius conical projections centered on the spill.

[qb]

5. Wow. The spill would fill nearly all of Lake Superior. nt