New Data Reveals That Deepwater Horizon Spill May Have Been Worse Than We Thought

According to a new study, it seems that satellites may have missed some “invisible oil” that escaped during the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico back in 2010.

During the spill, over 200 gallons of oil spewed into the Gulf. Satellites were used to determine what areas should not be fished in as the oil was toxic to both the fish and the humans who eat fish. However, it seems that there were some places left out, where the spill was not visible from the satellites, yet it was still toxic enough. Study authors believe that the extent of the spill could have been as much as 30% larger than previously predicted.

What’s even worse is that according to Claire Paris-Limouzy, an author of the report and a biological oceanographer at the University of Miami, eventually, there will be another spill like that. It’s just a matter of time.

It’s pretty crazy that even though the spill took place 10 years ago, some of the data wasn’t released up until now. However, scientists have used that to their advantage. They have put together the different sources of information gathered over the years and this allowed them to have a better view of what was going on right after the spill in 2010. They hope that this information will be useful for future spills. “The less uncertainty you have about where the oil will go, the better the response will be,” says Paris. Also, we now have computer models that can predict where the spill will spread more accurately. Hopefully, with these advancements, possible future disasters will be cleaned up faster and more effectively.