Just how much oil is in the Gulf as a percentage?

[Erod]

Amidst the chaos of the oil spill, a bit of perspective is needed regarding just how big of a disaster this is, as well as how much of a disaster it is NOT.

There are 660 quadrillion gallons of water in the Gulf of Mexico. If not a single drop of oil from the spill by the end of August, that will be a total of 108 million gallons of oil.

That means there will be only 1 gallon of oil per 6.6 billion gallons of water by the end of August, or 0.00000000001 percent of the gulf. That's less than a half a drop of oil in a bathtub full of water.

This is not to downplay the catastrophe at hand to the estuaries and beaches, nor the people so gravely impacted by this spill. But there's this notion that the gulf is going to turn into one big soup bowl full of oil, which is hardly the case here.

 

[jujuman13]

Amidst the chaos of the oil spill, a bit of perspective is needed regarding just how big of a disaster this is, as well as how much of a disaster it is NOT.

There are 660 quadrillion gallons of water in the Gulf of Mexico. If not a single drop of oil from the spill by the end of August, that will be a total of 108 million gallons of oil.

That means there will be only 1 gallon of oil per 6.6 billion gallons of water by the end of August, or 0.00000000001 percent of the gulf. That's less than a half a drop of oil in a bathtub full of water.

This is not to downplay the catastrophe at hand to the estuaries and beaches, nor the people so gravely impacted by this spill. But there's this notion that the gulf is going to turn into one big soup bowl full of oil, which is hardly the case here.

And is this your Bathtub or is it sited at the end of your garden and do you stock fish in it for the consumption of yourself and your family?

 

[drz-400]

The problem is that the oil is spread very thinly across the top of the gulf, so it covers a hell of a lot more surface area than a similar amount of volume in the gulf. Where do you think the oil does most of its damage too...

 

[ptif219]

The problem is that the oil is spread very thinly across the top of the gulf, so it covers a hell of a lot more surface area than a similar amount of volume in the gulf. Where do you think the oil does most of its damage too...

If we could get the feds to help instead of stopping work as the Coast Guard is doing to skimmer barges we could maybe keep it off shore. If kept off shore it will evaporate and be taken care of naturally by the water