Mapping the Scale of the Oil Gushing From the Gulf Coast Ocean Floor

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It is difficult to imagine the sheer size of the oil slick surfacing from the (so far) uncontainable oil well blowout on the ocean floor in the Gulf.  Paul Rademacher, Google Map’s Engineering Manager has come up with a mapping tool that enables you to put this disaster in perspective; by bringing it home to your own neighborhood.

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His google map will show you how much space the slick would it cover if it was over an area that you are familiar with. You can pick any region or zip code and it will display how large an area it covered superimposed over the region you choose. I chose my own zip code and got this result.

This map shows the size and shape of the slick as of May 6th. Chip in a few dollars a month to help support independent cleantech coverage that helps to accelerate the cleantech revolution!

The figures come from the National Ocean And Atmospheric Administration which has monitored the leak since day one, and mobilized experts from across the agency to help contain the spreading oil spill and protect the Gulf of Mexico’s marine mammals, sea turtles, fish, shellfish and other endangered marine life.

The NOAA is also providing daily map updates to visually track the movement of the spill its current size and shape, and showing where it might be heading. I assume that updated Google Earth overlays will be available next week.

They also offer scientific expertize in environmental trade-offs of countermeasures and cleanup methods, field observations, trajectory analysis, chemical hazards, resources at risk and predicting what might happen as the oil breaks up.


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