Friday, May 14, 2010

Dr. Strangefuel or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Oil pt1 Spill Size Underestimated by 4 times

The figure of 5,000 barrels a day was hastily produced by government scientists in Seattle. It appears to have been calculated using a method that is specifically not recommended for major oil spills.


Ian R. MacDonald, an oceanographer at Florida State University who is an expert in the analysis of oil slicks, said he had made his own rough calculations using satellite imagery. They suggested that the leak could “easily be four or five times” the government estimate, he said.

via NYTimes.com

From earlier in the same article:

Two weeks ago, the government put out a round estimate of the size of the oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico: 5,000 barrels a day. Repeated endlessly in news reports, it has become conventional wisdom.

It sure is nice that the mainstream media has learned its lesson, after the Bush Years, about trusting everything the USG says without independent confirmation!

It took them just two weeks to bother to follow up! GOOD JOB, MSM!

Posted via web from thepete's posterous

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