We already know that the sub-seafloor geology of the Mississippi Canyon has been profoundly and fundamentally altered by decades of oil and gas drilling and extraction operations. We also know that the Gulf of Mexico has entered a period of higher than normal seismological activity, as evidenced by the higher incidence of undersea earthquakes in the Gulf. As follows:
Rare Earthquake Shakes Gulf of Mexico
Given the propensity of the Oil & Gas Industry to ignore vital data about their own backyard of oil and gas leases, it is necessary to point out some quickly changing realities. The concentration of nearly 4000 oil and gas platforms spread throughout an area known as Hurricane Alley ought to give cause for concern in light of the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon. An additional pause ought to occur when one considers the 27,000 abandoned platforms throughout the Gulf that are sitting idle, unattended, rusting and vulnerable to Category V hurricanes. As follows:
Enviro groups stunned that govt ignoring 27K wells
METHANE ONE OF THE MAJOR GREENHOUSE GASES
The global climate change predicament has brought to bear an understanding regarding methane gas which can no longer be overlooked. With enormous amounts of methane dissolving into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico and even greater amounts being released into the atmosphere above the Gulf, we see the development of a potentially volatile situation. Of all the major greenhouse gases, methane is the one that contributes an inordinate amount of stress on homeorhesis, a little known "concept encompassing dynamical systems which return to a trajectory, as opposed to systems which return to a particular state, which is termed homeostasis. The Earth (atmosphere, cryosphere, hydrosphere and lithosphere) are closely integrated to form a complex interacting system that maintains the climatic and biogeochemical conditions on Earth in a preferred homeorhesis." (Per Wikipedia)
"Compared with carbon dioxide, methane has a high global warming potential of 72 (calculated over a period of 20 years) or 25 (for a time period of 100 years." (Per Wikipedia) CH4, aka methane, is also the principal component of natural gas (about 87% by volume), which brings a whole set of other obvious issues into focus, as it increases in global atmospheric concentration especially in and around the Gulf of Mexico. "In addition, there is a large, but unknown, amount of methane in methane clathrates in the ocean floors. The Earth's crust contains huge amounts of methane. Large amounts of methane are produced anaerobically by methanogenesis. Other sources include mud volcanoes, which are connected with deep geological faults, landfill and livestock (primarily ruminants) from enteric fermentation." (per Wikipedia)
When you add to this mix the pervasiveness of METHANE HYDRATE, aka methane clathrate, within this same area of the Gulf, as determined by the US Geological Survey and US Department of Energy, and its tendency to convert to gas at a much higher rate during periods global warming (one cubic foot of frozen methane hydrate produces 160 cubic feet of methane gas at sea level), it's easy to understand how combustible the whole situation really is. The Interagency Coordination on Methane Hydrates R&D has produced a telling document which, when viewed through the lens of the preceding set of circumstances, illustrates the rapidly increasing potential for cataclysmic destruction.
Gas hydrates are ice-like, naturally occurring compounds that are composed of gas,
typically methane (CH4), physically trapped inside a solid lattice of water molecules.
The Interagency Coordination on Methane Hydrates R&D Report:
We're not even talking about the entire Gulf of Mexico becoming a veritable DEAD ZONE due to the deadly combination of oil, methane, petrochemical derivatives, dispersants (COREXIT), radioactive effluent, and rotting carcasses of every sort and kind. We're not talking about the growing DEAD ZONE that has been gradually taking shape for decades through the myriad forms of pollution, which have been channeled into the Gulf by the Mississippi River. We're not talking about the proliferation of radioactivity due to a nuclear detonation or gushing radioactive effluent either.
What we have in the Gulf is a massive, unprecedented petrochemical cesspool, which has untold volumes of COREXIT, radioactive isotopes and methane gas added to the mix. The interactions, synergies and combinations of these various chemicals and compounds are not completely known. Surely the normal electrical grid and behavior of this body of water has been substantially altered. Therefore the conductivity of charges has been changed in ways that will have significant impacts on the weighty matters discussed in this essay. As follows:
"Electricity is the flow of charges. Many minerals and gases will readily dissolve in water. It is the presence of these minerals and gases that allow water to conduct electricity. Perfectly pure water without these impurities will not conduct electricity. This is why salt water is a good conductor of electricity." (Per Argonne National Laboratory, Division of Educational Programs, Department of Energy)
So, we are referring to a confluence of circumstances, which has been relentlessly put into place by a convergence of highly unenlightened industrial, political and economic interests and forces. Their obliviousness to the aforementioned realities on the ground (undersea floor), in the water (Gulf of Mexico) and in the air (atmosphere suffused with powerful GHG emissions such as methane) will push the entire civilization into a corner with no way out.
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