BP originally estimated that the Gulf of Mexico oil spill would be contained with robotic submarines, however early attempts to contain the oil spill failed. Now BP and the Obama administration are left with an ever-worsening environmental catastrophe and a spiralling clean-up bill that runs into billions of dollars.
Still staggering from devastating hurricanes several years ago, residents and wildlife along the Gulf Coast are threatened again, this time from a potentially catastrophic oil spill. As shown in the map below, tourism, commerce and the coastline are all at risk.
Oil has been bubbling up from the floor of the Gulf of Mexico since the Transocean Deepwater Horizon rig caught fire on April 20 and sank two days later. Here are some figures to put the spill in context:
The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is now 80 miles across and the size of Jamaica, and according to new reports is five times worse than first thought, leaking around 5000 barrels into the sea, as opposed to the 1000 barrels first estimated.
