Nuke the damn oil leak!!

[mike3]

Because the worst case scenario would end all organic life on earth within about ten years.

If that's the case, then why not leave the nuke option on the table as an absolute last resort? Or do you mean that such would be trigged via the use of the nuke?

But this seems excessive. Killing "all organic life" is an extremely difficult thing. You have to remember that not even a gigantic Chicxulub impact killed all organic life on the planet. Even nuking the planet with our entire nuclear arsenals at their height won't cut it. These things may be able to kill many species of complex life forms, but killing all life is darn near impossible because those microbes go way deep down into the ground and are tougher than nails. How's a little oil gonna do what all that other stuff couldn't do? Not saying it wouldn't be a very, very bad catastrophe indeed, but I don't think this type of overstatement is accurate, either. The less accurate the statements, the less credible your points may appear in others' eyes.

 

[mike3]

Do you know exactly how much oil it takes to make the ocean non-viable, and how much is in the reservoir? Note also that the methane reduces the ability of sea water to absorb oxygen or CO2. Fish can't breathe methane.

I'd be interested to see the calculations.

 

[lionking]

Believe me, I know a great deal more about the formation of the Grand Canyon than you, though I admit, not as much as structural geologists. (I'm more of a sedimentary geologist.)

Looks like you've run into Mike Tyson in a dark alley lefty.

 

[leftysergeant]

Looks like you've run into Mike Tyson in a dark alley lefty.

Not really. There is no way yo know what lies below the surface into which the well was drilled, other than what is brought up in the core samples, and that only gives us a vertical sampling of the rock at varied depths. It is risky to assume, that close to the edge of an even greater drop-off, that there is nothing that could go wrong based on the structure of the rock.

And my position on the dangers of using dispersant on the oil stands. Wildlife can't avoid it and clean-up crews can't remove it.

And it kills living things. It is only a matter of time now until someone dies from its effects.

 

[funk de fino]

Not really. There is no way yo know what lies below the surface into which the well was drilled, other than what is brought up in the core samples, and that only gives us a vertical sampling of the rock at varied depths.

You really should not pretend you have any idea what you are talking about here.

It's almost like me telling you that you can out out fires by pouring petrol on them.

 

[leftysergeant]

You really should not pretend you have any idea what you are talking about here.

It's almost like me telling you that you can out out fires by pouring petrol on them.

If, as you seem now to claimy, it is possible to know what the substrata are like in any given area, there will never be a dry hole.

 

[Tricky]

Not really. There is no way you know what lies below the surface into which the well was drilled, other than what is brought up in the core samples, and that only gives us a vertical sampling of the rock at varied depths. It is risky to assume, that close to the edge of an even greater drop-off, that there is nothing that could go wrong based on the structure of the rock.

I take it you've never heard of geophysics or seismic surveys. I assure you that there is a great deal known about what is happening structurally under the surface. That's how they know where to drill, you see.

Oh, and by the way. There was no conventional core taken on this well. They do have sidewall core and cuttings. Do you know the difference?

I cannot fault you for being ignorant about geology. Lots of people don't know how geology works. However, to flaut your ignorance so proudly is inadvisable.

And my position on the dangers of using dispersant on the oil stands. Wildlife can't avoid it and clean-up crews can't remove it.

And is it your postion that it is worse than the oil itself? For someone who claims that this spill could wipe out all life on earth, I'm wondering what you think is worse.

And it kills living things. It is only a matter of time now until someone dies from its effects.

Probably someone will die. That is a tragedy. The whole thing is a tragedy. Those responsible should be made to compensate. But tragic though it is, it is not the apocalypse.

 

[funk de fino]

If, as you seem now to claimy, it is possible to know what the substrata are like in any given area, there will never be a dry hole.

Listem mate stick to fires and bombs. You have no idea what you a talking about here.

I'll give you a wee helping hand. Look up MWD and LWD. Mudlogging also.

 

[Tricky]

If, as you seem now to claimy, it is possible to know what the substrata are like in any given area, there will never be a dry hole.

Even if you know the structure, you cannot be sure that there is reservoir or that the reservoir is charged with hydrocarbons or that the reservoir has a competent seal that will retain the hydrocarbons. There are many many uncertainties. Regional structure is the least of them.

 

[trvlr2]

sNIP!....

I cannot fault you for being ignorant about geology. Lots of people don't know how geology works. However, to flaut your ignorance so proudly is inadvisable.


.

Would that be an example of flautulence?


Just had to ! Life does not offer enough straight lines.

 

[Tricky]

Would that be an example of flautulence?


Just had to ! Life does not offer enough straight lines.

No, I just meant somebody is going to have to pay the piper!

(I always have trouble with that word. I know the difference between "flaunt" and "flout", but for some reason, I try to combine them.)

 

[Bill Thompson]

Won't work. 5000 feet under water remember? That means that the explosion is transmitted rather well. Anything close enough to be fused by the heat is going to be blown clear (probably several times due to the rebound effect you see in underwater nuclear explosions).

If not a true nuclear weapon, perhaps some sort of adaptation would work. Massive amounts of heat caused by a thermonuclear device that is highly modified might be something to think about.

Also I am not so sure you are correct. My memory of nuclear tests shows the debris going up, not out.

 

[Tricky]

If not a true nuclear weapon, perhaps some sort of adaptation would work. Massive amounts of heat caused by a thermonuclear device that is highly modified might be something to think about.

Also I am not so sure you are correct. My memory of nuclear tests shows the debris going up, not out.

With all that oil in the water and in the sediments around the leak, you really think it would be a good idea to heat it to flash point?

Believe me, these guys have gone over a lot of scenarios, and they are top-notch scientists with expertise in fluids, chemistry and engineering of all kinds. You won't see guys like that working for the government very often.

 

[KingMerv00]

Again again again again:

Please provide evidence that the rig well in question has enough oil to kill everything in the ocean.

 

[trvlr2]

No, I just meant somebody is going to have to pay the piper!

(I always have trouble with that word. I know the difference between "flaunt" and "flout", but for some reason, I try to combine them.)

It worked fine, here. In both senses. I thought it may have been a Freudian typo, considering LS's comment.

 

[Jekyll's Guest]

(I always have trouble with that word. I know the difference between "flaunt" and "flout", but for some reason, I try to combine them.)

Dear god man, you're tampering with forces man was not meant to tamper with!

 

[funk de fino]

Not really. The dirt bag didn't want people to wear respirators because it makes his company look bad. If any of them die, he has murdered them by depraved indifference. Manslaughter is saying "Eat these beans" and accidentally giving somebody food poisoning because you didn't think to heat them to 212F after they had been left out overnight.

Feeding someone bad beans that you know are bad is murder by theory of depraved indifference.

That's what punk boy Tony is doing to cleanup workers. If any of them die, he should never see the horizon for the rest of his life.

Repeating your lies doesnt make them true.

 

[leftysergeant]

Repeating your lies doesnt make them true.

Rubbish. Ptomaine Tony knows damend well that the dispersant is carcinogenic and toxic. But he does not want the public to know this. That is why his dirtbag security people are running around harrassing reporters who want to take pictures of the operation.

And if you want to make an issue of my stepping outside my area of expertise, save it for the blubbering little executive twit. Tomaine Tony won my undying ewnmity when he made his brain-dead remarks that the distress the workers were experiencing resembled food poisoning and then made the dumb-as-box-of-rocks comment that it is a common occurance among military units in the field. MEGA BULL FLOPS.

A military field mess operation may be safer than some fast-food joints. I know this as a mess sergeant. As a mess sergeant, I also know the symptoms of food poisoning. As a fire fighter, I know the symptoms of respiratory distress due to inhalation of volitile petroleum distillates.

Apparently Ptomaine Tony either does not know that difference, or is such a petty, rotten, nasty, worthless little drongo that he should never chair another meeting of a non-cannibalistic group of people again for the rest of his sub-human existance. He is never again to be trusted with a project which could go so terribly wrong for people who are not even vested in his crime family.

 

[DC]

Obama should hire Lefty to kick asses

 

[AlBell]

I think lefty is Rahm in a sock.