Butterfly Effect: Gulf Oil Flow to Impact the World

At the Huffington Post they have a poll going asking people if they think that the ongoing gulf oil spill, which is reported to be currently pouring 100,000 barrels of crude into the ocean every day, is a US problem or a worldwide problem.

 

As the results show, when this post was drafted, over 97 percent of people who have voted think it is a problem for the world and not just the U.S.

The whole article on the Huffington Post site articulates the proposition that the ongoing oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico will have far reaching ecological impacts in many other parts of the world; although these impacts may not happen for a number of years.

The thinking being that tonnes of crude solids and partially dissolved crude have already been caught up in, and will be carried around the oceans of the world by, the Great Ocean Conveyer Belt. The Great Ocean Conveyer Belt is comprised of a number of deep sea ocean currents that move warm and cold water around the globe.

These currents, which have a huge influence on weather patterns, are depicted in the picture above [Ctrl+Click on this to open the Huffington Post article in a new Tab].

 

The article, by DK Matai—who is a global risk expert and chairman of mi2g—is published in full on the ATCA site [Ctrl+Click on picture above to open the full published article in a new TBA].

DK Matai goes on to point out that, due to the principles of the Butterfly Effect, sometime in the future, 10 or 20 or more years on, when the likely knock-on disasters and catastrophes occur, that the experts and scientists involved in reviewing and analysing them will not link them to the initial trigger; being the gulf oil spill occurring now.

Oh! If you want to vote the poll can be found at the bottom of the Huffington Post article.