Cool Geo-Pic: Oil Seeps in the Gulf of Mexico

This Cool Geo-Pic comes again from NASA's Earth Observatory.

Sometimes we get caught up in the political discussions and "time-filling" news media hype to such an extent - that we forget, while not in the same measures in degrees of severity (slick vs. spill) or the temporal nature of humankind's escalation of impact (decades vs. millennial of measured change), many "man-made calamities" are things that have a "natural" parallel.

While it was certainly covered in my M.S. work years ago, I had forgotten that oil slicks are also a natural earth phenomenon.

Perhaps this is yet another reminder that the planet can survive anything we (humanity) can "dish out". The question is, can humanity survive its own dishing?

Also see George Carlin's old stand-up routine about "mother nature, why are we here & plastic".

download large image (5 MB, JPEG) acquired May 13, 2006

Quick "Cut & Paste" Highlights:

" ... Although accidents and hurricane damage to infrastructure are often to blame for oil spills and the resulting pollution in coastal Gulf of Mexico waters, natural seepage from the ocean floor introduces a significant amount of oil to ocean environments as well. Oil spills are notoriously difficult to identify in natural-color (photo-like) satellite images, especially in the open ocean. Because the ocean surface is already so dark blue in these images, the additional darkening or slight color change that results from a spill is usually imperceptible. ..."

Full Article - Click Here

References / Credits:

Hu, C., Li, X., Pichel, W.G., and Muller-Karger, F. E. (2009). Detection of natural oil slicks in the NW Gulf of Mexico using MODIS imagery. Geophysical Research Letters, 36, L01604.
NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data obtained from the Goddard Level 1 and Atmospheric Archive and Distribution System (LAADS). Caption by Rebecca Lindsey.
Instrument:
Terra - MODIS