BP Oil Spill Stalls
Gulf Loop Current
Global Consequences if Current
Fails to Reorganize
YOWUSA.COM, 01-August-10
Marshall Masters
Oceanographic satellite data now shows that the Loop Current in the Gulf of Mexico
has stalled as a consequence of the BP oil spill disaster. This
according to Dr. Gianluigi Zangari, an Italian theoretical physicist,
and major complex and chaotic systems analyst at the Frascati
National Laboratories in Italy.
He further notes that the effects of this stall have also begun to
spread to the Gulf Stream. This is because the Loop Current is a
crucial element of the Gulf Stream itself and why it is commonly
referred to as the “main engine” of the Stream.
The concern now, is whether or not natural processes can re-establish the
stalled Loop Current. If not, we could begin to see global crop
failures as early as 2011.
An Open System in Trouble
The Loop Current is a clockwise flow that extends northward into the Gulf of
Mexico and joins the Yucatan Current and the Florida Current to the
Gulf Stream.
Although at first glance the Loop Current appears confined within the Gulf,
scientists define it as an “element of an extremely complex,
open system”: as all other “elements” of the
so-called “Earth System”, are not separable from the
others.
These various “elements” of the Earth System (i.e., atmosphere,
landmasses and so forth) are so strongly correlated to one another
that at some point, they become indivisible.
Why is this important to all life on the planet? The Gulf Stream is a
strong interlinked component of the Earth's global network of ocean
conveyor currents, which drive the planet's weather systems.
For this reason, Zangari's concern is that should the Loop Current fail
to restart, dire global consequences may ensue as a result of extreme
weather changes and many other critical phenomena. The repercussions
of which could trigger widespread droughts, floods, crop failures and
subsequent global food shortages.
While pundits are certain to trivialize the ramifications of this event,
“the real worry” says Zangari, “is that that there
is no historical precedent for the sudden replacement of a natural
system, with a dysfunctional man-made system. That is, except for
the atomic bomb blasts and contamination as a result of nuclear waste
and nuclear plant accidents, such as the April 1986, Chernobyl disaster
In what is now widely regarded by many as “Oil's Chernobyl,”
Americans, and particularly Gulf Coast residents are disheartened by
a steady stream of bureaucratically bungled responses, which are now
proving to be just as a deadly as the initial event itself.
Perhaps even more so, as this toxic brew of incompetence, greed, corruption,
oil, Corexit dispersant and other chemicals has unleashed a man-made
disaster in the Gulf, with frightful possibilities for the future.
The Corexit Curse
The use of Corexit as a dispersant was first brought to the public's attention during the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil spill.
A powerful solvent used as a dispersant for oil slicks, public
knowledge about the dispersant and its long-term effects is hampered
by the proprietary protections of its manufacturer, Nalco Holding
Company, which is associated with British Petroleum (BP) and Exxon.
What is known, is that this petroleum-based formula is regarded as being at least four times more toxic to life, than the
oil is disperses by many environmentalists.
Approximately 1.8 to 2 million gallons of Corexit have been spayed in the Gulf of Mexico. This is a critical fact as current satellite data
of the Gulf feeds, tell Zangari that the Loop Current in the Gulf of
Mexico has clearly stalled. This due to environmental impacts from a
man-made introduction of oil, which were then compounded by other
agents (Corexit and so on).
Worse yet, these real-time satellite data feeds offers clear evidence to
Zangari that a new artificial system has been generated in the
Gulf in a remarkably short period of time. It is this new and
unnatural system which has changed the viscosity, temperature and
salinity of the Gulf's seawater, thereby causing the Loop Current to
stall. A system that has existed for millions of years.
Consequently, there is no possible way for scientists to predict its future
evolution, though corporate spinmeisters and media pundits will no
doubt be sure to offer a bevy of right-sounding predictions. Their
goal as it has been throughout this ordeal, will be to deflect
attention by trivializing the severity of the event with simplistic
and misleading explanations.
However,
researchers like Dr. Gianluigi Zangari, offer insights that transcend
the politics of oil.
As a theoretical physicist, he currently holds a position as an associate member of the Research Division of the
National Institute of Nuclear Physics at Frascati National
Laboratories (LNF) of the National Institute of Nuclear Physics
(
INFN) in Italy. A prestigious research facility focused on
high-energy physics.
However,
what makes Dr. Gianluigi Zangari's findings so vital to the common man,
is that for over a decade, he has conducted his continuous global
analysis climate research, using publicly available data. Unlike the
jealously guarded formulas for Corexit, anyone can vet his research
without having to run through a gauntlet of corporate lawyers.
Tracking Zangari's Data
Zangari's assessment is based on daily monitoring of real-time data
oceanographic satellite public data feeds called “Real-Time
Mesoscale Altimetry” from the Jason, Topex/Poseidon, Geosat,
Follow-On, ERS-2 and Envisat satellites.
These satellite feeds are captured and made publicly available by NASA,
NOAA and by the Colorado Center for Astrodynamics Research (CCAR) at
the University of Colorado at Boulder.
These CCAR data maps offer researchers like Zangari a continuous stream of
markers for sea and ocean dynamics: surface height, velocity,
temperature. A fourth marker that Zangari has found to be especially
helpful, are chlorophyll infrared emission maps. This is because
they show him real-time changes in the shape
of the Gulf Stream.
In addition to changes in ocean velocity, Zangari is reporting an
equally troubling analysis with sea surface temperatures. The data
published by
Rutgers University is from National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) data
maps.
Dr. Zangari re-elaborates and checks these data maps using his own
calculus system called SHT (patented in 1999.)
Acknowledgments: Frascati National Laboratories, NOAA and Rutgers University
(http://marine.rutgers.edu). Analysis by Dr. Gianluigi Zangari
(Frascati Labs), July 29, 2010.
Taken altogether, these four oceanographic markers began taking a turn for
the worse, shortly after the Deepwater Horizon well explosion on
April 20, 2010. This rapid turn of events raised Zangari's concerns
about the Gulf's Loop Current, and then on July 28, 2010 the worst
case imaginable happened. “The Loop Current simply stalled,”
Zangari noted sadly “and we have no idea if it can reorganize
itself, because now we're dealing with troubling unknowns.”
Velocity and Temperature Worries
At present, Admiral Thad Allen is trying to assure Americans that the worst of the disaster has passed and that the oil
slicks have disappeared due to natural processes. However the markers
from oceanographic satellite feeds Dr. Zangari is studying tell him
an entirely different story.
The millions of gallons of Corexit sprayed in the Gulf have given BP and the US government a convenient way to mitigate
public concerns by removing the threat from sight. The logic being
that since the oil is disappearing, so is the crisis. However,
taking oil from the surface and spreading through the water column is
not a PR matter. Instead, it has become a convenient way to cover up
one massive mistake, with a tragically larger one.
To help understand why, let's assume that what is really happening in the Gulf is not much different from what happens when
you shake a bottle of oil and vinegar salad dressing. Leave the
bottle on the shelf for a while and the oil and vinegar will
naturally separate, each with it's own unique viscosity.
However, when the bottle is shaken the two are mixed. This creates a new, and overall thicker viscosity, hence the dressing
pours more slowly. In very simple terms, this is what happened in
the Gulf of Mexico, which begs another question. Was the Gulf of
Mexico intentionally written off early on, so as to protect the Gulf
Stream and America's NATO partners?
Will This Stall Spread Into the Atlantic?
The importance of the Gulf Stream was brought to the forefront in the
blockbuster film
The
Day After Tomorrow (2004) where the Gulf Stream stalled, causing temperatures in New
York City to plummet from sweltering to freezing in a matter of
hours.
Based on real science, the film showed movie audience how the the Gulf
Stream transports warm water from the equatorial regions of the
Earth, along American's Eastern seaboard and then across the Atlantic
to Northern Europe.
Now, current temperature measurements for the Gulf Stream on the Atlantic
Front (from 76 to 47 meridian) now appears to be about 10 degrees
Celsius cooler than it was this time last year. Consequently, a
direct causality nexus has now been established, between the stall of
the Gulf Loop Current and this new temperature drop in the Gulf
Stream on the Atlantic Front.
For this reason, the focus of Zangari's research is presently centered
on finding signs of a return to the former natural equilibrium of the
Gulf. Again, he stresses making predictions (pessimistic or
optimistic alike) because “these phenomena are unpredictable
because they are ruled by strong non-linearities.”
Nonetheless, we must ponder the question: What does this new nexus portend
for our future? To that, Zangari says “we can affirm that
this system (the Gulf Stream) is changing in an unpredictable way,
which may produce serious consequences on planetary scale.”
Yowusa.com will report new developments in Dr. Zangari's research as they
become available.
http://yowusa.com/earth/2010/earth-0810-01a/1.shtml
What brought Dr. Zangari to these conclusions is the result of the natural
During that time, my most interesting assignment was on documenting the
