Hurricane may have a bad effect on Oil

[USATVFAN]

The Upcoming Hurricane may have a bad effect on the Oil spill.
http://www2.tbo.com/content/2010/may...ect-oil-spill/
TAMPA - Imagine a wind-whipped hurricane feasting on warm Gulf of Mexico waters as it marches toward the shore.

Then toss in 6 million gallons of oil.

Boats on the sea and workers on the shore would have to stop the cleanup. The big globs could be transported even farther inland to sensitive mangroves and marshes as the powerful storm surge is unleashed. The oil might be dispersed over a wider area. Pockets that had been lurking on the floor of the Gulf could be stirred up and strewn ashore.

It's a recipe for disaster.

"Hurricanes are a natural disaster,'' said Peter Clark, executive director of Tampa Bay Watch, a local environmental group. "This will only compound our hurricane season this year by combining it with the huge disaster that is going on in the Gulf of Mexico. Having tropical systems really creates a loose cannon out there.''

With the start of hurricane season just a few days away, and with a tropical system already threatening to form in the Atlantic, it also creates a lot of unanswered questions. After all, the Gulf has never seen a spill like this before – during a hurricane season or not.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is scrambling to run models and simulations to see how such a huge spill can affect the hurricane season. Officials there say the spill won't have an effect on the overall number of tropical storms and hurricanes.

Beyond that, officials aren't sure what might happen. State meteorologist Amy Godsey called it "uncharted territory.''

There is a chance, experts say, that thick oil on the surface of the Gulf could be a positive. It actually could limit evaporation by not allowing the water to contact the air. Because hurricanes feed on warm waters to stay alive, that could mean there might be less moisture available and therefore reduce the hurricane's punch.

"If the oil spill was big enough, it could hurt the hurricane and help weaken it a little bit," Godsey said. "It doesn't stop it, but it can reduce it.''

High winds and seas from any tropical activity also could mix the oil more with the water, which would help to break it down, officials say. That could mean a slick could be turned into weathered patches or tar balls instead, Godsey said.

Hans Graber, a researcher at the University of Miami, said a tropical system in the Gulf could turn one continual carpet of oil into a multitude of smaller sections.

"Now you have them coming at you from all directions,'' Graber said. "You could have patches of oil floating here and there and another streak heading this way. You would not have much control over it any more. You would have to be on the beaches 24/7 and mop up as things come on shore.''

Much of the uncertainty about where the oil might move would depend on the track of any system.

"Everything that I have heard says it could push a large mass in another direction from where it is heading, which could include West Central Florida,'' Clark said. "That would be one of our worst fears and primary concerns as we go into the summer season. It also could spread it out over a much wider area; it could spread it out from Texas to Florida.''

The environmentalist is worried about what could happen with oil being transported to other coastal areas by fast-moving conveyor belts of water such as the loop current or Gulf Stream.

"It really opens the door for all of the coastal Gulf of Mexico and the east coast as well to be inundated by tropical storms and large quantities of oil," Clark said. "It's out of our hands.''

And that could be for some years to come.

"This could be several years that we are under the gun,'' said Clark, who worries that some of the oil will remain on the Gulf floor for years and then get churned later and resurface. "You may not be able to see it, but it will still be out there.''


http://www.wapt.com/news/23659646/detail.html
Upcoming Hurricane Season Could Affect Oil Spill

Storms Could Produce Major Ecological Problems
JACKSON, Miss. --
The official start of hurricane season 2010 is just a week away. And as the oil spill grows in the Gulf of Mexico so does the concern as to how tropical storms may influence the direction in which the oil may head.
Dr. Remata Reddy, who studies and teaches tropical meteorology at Jackson State University, said winds along the surface of the Gulf push the oil.
“Direction and intensity is important as to which direction the oil is moving,” Reddy said.
He said if a tropical storm were to form in the Gulf, there could major ecological problems for residents along the Gulf Coast. If a storm were to travel to the east of the oil spill, the concentration of the oil would head to the center of the Gulf, he said. If the storm would travel to the west of the oil spill, the bulk would be thrust up against the Louisiana, Mississippi and Alabama coastlines, Reddy said.
Ken Graham, of the National Weather Service in New Orleans, is forecasting where the oil is heading.
“This is unprecedented,” Graham said. “We don't have a lot to draw from experience with this type of scenario.”
Special Section
Graham said his greatest concern is that oil could be thrust inland by storm surge.
“If you have storm surge that penetrates well inland and there are contaminants in that water, there could be contaminants well inland,” Graham said.
Reddy said the stronger the storm, the worse the damage could be.
“For example, if it intensifies to a category 4 or 5 storm, then you generally expect a greater storm surge -- somewhere between 15 to 18 meters in height,” Reddy said.
That's about 20 yards high and about 10 miles in from the coastline, which would coat homes and businesses and pollute waterways and damage crops.
Tropical storms usually form in the far eastern Atlantic early in the season. But as the Gulf heats and the oil continues to spill into the open waters, that concern and storm potential will grow together, Reddy said.
As oil evaporates and comes into contact with a tropical storm, the chances of acid rain falling within the storm are possible, Reddy said.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2010...ulf-mexico.php
Hurricane Season + Massive Oil Spill = Trouble
It doesn't take a genius to realize that the arrival of hurricane season (officially starting on June 1st) won't make things easier for the people trying to plug the oil leak and clean up the mess in the Gulf of Mexico. But according to Kevin Trenberth, a climate scientist at the National Center for Atmospheric Research, this hurricane season could be particularly rough, maybe even worse than the tragic 2005 hurricane season that brought us Katrina. Read on for details.


Photo: NOAA

Trenberth told Discovery said: "The eastern tropical Atlantic Ocean, where disturbances from Africa are transformed into hurricanes, is experiencing record high temperatures, even higher than in 2005, and that was the most hurricane-ridden season on record."

But it's not all bad news. Temperatures in the Caribbean are relatively low, and since heat is hurricane fuel, this could help prevent a total disaster.

What Would a Hurricane Do to the Oil Spill?
Aside from making it impossible for surface ships to stick around the site and work on fixing the well and capturing as much oil as possible, a hurricane would violently spread the oil everywhere in the Gulf and maybe even help it reach the loop current. This could bring some oil all the way over Florida and up the East coast of North-America. A powerful hurricane could also mix the oil with water as far as 150 meters down.
\Via Discovery News