Author’s note: This is kinda funny. According to the New York Times there is a new word in the English Language. I can now die of benzene, polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, 2-Butoxyethanol, Propylene Glycol and other volatile organic compounds knowing that I made a difference!
Oilcane
The combined effect of spilled oil and a hurricane.
Tropical storm Alex has prompted fears about the possible effects of a hurricane on the oil clean-up operation in the Gulf of Mexico, Gregory Patin wrote on Examiner:
According to Bloomberg, the mere possibility of a named storm entering the Gulf had Wall Street betting on a worst-case senario. On Friday, crude oil prices rose the most in four weeks on concern the first tropical storm of the hurricane season may head into the Gulf, disrupting both clean up efforts and oil production. …
Researchers at the Colorado State University hurricane forecast team, perhaps the most accurate in the nation, predict 18 storms. The team anticipates 10 hurricanes forming in the Atlantic basin between June 1 and Nov. 30. Five are expected to develop into major hurricanes (Saffir/Simpson category 3-4-5) with sustained winds of 111 mph or greater.
So, what does that mean for Gulf residents, besides the usual destroyed property and higher gas prices? How about a new word? Oilcane! And a new experience that makes the tar sheets washing up on beaches benign by comparison.
Patin directed readers to a post by senior meteorologist Alex Sosnowski on AccuWeather.com, who argued:
Depending on the approach of a tropical storm or hurricane, increasing winds and building, massive seas would first halt containment operations.
Rough seas would dislodge or destroy protective booms, rendering them useless as the storm draws closer.
Next, as the storm rolls through, high winds on the right flank of a hurricane making landfall would cause some oil to become airborne in blowing spray.
A storm surge could carry contaminants inland beyond bays, marshes and beaches to locations well inland.
Even a glancing blow from a hurricane passing to the west of the oil slick could be enough for winds and wave action to drive the goo nearby onshore, or to more distant fishing and recreation areas, perhaps in foreign waters.
Read the original article here: Madison Independent Examiner