It's possible the 2012 crazies aren't that crazy.

[tzikeh]

Doomsday: How BP Gulf disaster may have triggered a 'world-killing' event

Pullquote:

The warning signs of an impending planetary catastrophe—of such great magnitude that the human mind has difficulty grasping it-would be the appearance of large fissures or rifts splitting open the ocean floor, a rise in the elevation of the seabed, and the massive venting of methane and other gases into the surrounding water.

All three warning signs are documented to be occurring in the Gulf.

Why is the press being kept away? Word is that the disaster is escalating.

This is not from some wild-eyed conspiracy theorists. Sources include Gregory Ryskin, Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Northwestern University, and John Kessler, Assistant Professor of Oceanography (M.S. & PhD in Earth Systems Science) at Texas A&M.

So, if I don't see you before the end of the human race... bye.

Comments

[brewsternorth.livejournal.com]

Hmm - despite the contributors' qualifications, color me skeptical about the worst-case scenario.

Definitely an argument in favor of greater transparency of coverage of this disaster, though - we really do need to keep a close eye on what's going on around there. Extinction-level event in waiting or no, this is already a BFD for those living through it.

[auroramama]

Well, I do hope that that isn't the case. And I also hope that my son doesn't hear about it. It took him about a year to get over the damn Mayan calendar, and he's old enough to appreciate good science.

[usakeh.livejournal.com]

SCARY.

As is usual with these sorts of things, I've sent the article to my father, who is a physics professor at Columbia University; I'll have him opine on it.

If you'd like, I'll let you know whether or not he rated it as at all realistic.

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

Please, I would love to hear from someone else with specific knowledge.

[usakeh.livejournal.com]

Will do!

[tzikeh.livejournal.com]

Yeah, the Mayan calendar thing is ludicrous; if something should happen, the intelligent ones understand what coincidence is.

[usakeh.livejournal.com]

Extinction-level event in waiting or no, this is already a BFD for those living through it.

AGREED.

Also, I ADORE your icon; I have that particular Japanese woodcut as my laptop background.

[redangel618.livejournal.com]

and it's happening in my metaphorical backyard. we had local news reports of the chemicals BP was using making people dangerously sick about three weeks into their use. national TV just picked up on that story.

once again proving that the government and big business doesn't care about the people down here. we were finally getting over last time, too.

[deejay.livejournal.com]

Well, shit.... O.o

And I just bought a beach house here in Florida, too ... dammit.

[thegrrrl2002.livejournal.com]

It's bullshit. The wild-eyed conspiracy theorist is the writer himself. (I suspect this is the same Terrence Aym? http://vigilant-patriots.ning.com/profile/TerrenceAym)

Ryskin at NU has a well-respected theory about methane bubbles and the possible role they may have played in planetary extinctions (about 250 Million years ago). There is no evidence that he's connected any of this to the situation in the gulf. Kessler's concerns with the high levels of methane is that it can cause oxygen depletion, resulting in a large dead zone in very productive waters.

The rest of the author's story is based on "reports of" without any substantiation at all. He goes from talking about methane bubbles to high benzene concentrations (well, duh, it's an oil well) and the fact that works are wearing "gas masks" as evidence to support his claim.

I'm guessing he's a Glen Beck fan, his "connections" are just as substantiative.

(Not to say, of course, that the oil well isn't a complete and utter disaster and will effect the area for decades to come.)

[usakeh.livejournal.com]

My father was not impressed by the article. He was not at all convinced that the oil spill would or even could trigger something so devastating, despite what the scientists in the article said. That's enough to comfort me, frankly; if there's anything I've learned in years of panicking over things and asking my father about them, it's that he knows his stuff.

[usakeh.livejournal.com]

I'm inclined to agree with you, especially after rereading and then consulting my father, who is a physics professor and researcher at Columbia University. He was totally skeptical of the whole thing; he even referred to the writers as "crazies." If there's anything I've learned after years of bringing him pseudo-science, it's that he sure as hell knows the difference between rubbish and the real thing. So he - and I - agree with you.

[gwyn-r.livejournal.com]

Well, damn, I just went and spent all this money on getting my teeth straightened. All this time I expected that it'd be cancer that would happen and make me feel foolish for wasting my money under such a short time to live.

[chalcedony.livejournal.com]

I'm with your father.

[chalcedony.livejournal.com]

Hmmm. First of all, the jury is still out about the cause(s) of the Permian extinction. Second, although there are some data pointing to additional disruptions associated with the Cretaceous extinction (i.e., eruptions of the Deccan Traps), most geologists are convinced that the (comet?, meteor?) impact was a primary cause.

Personally, I'm more concerned about the possibility that some of the dissolved constituents of the petroleum which are now migrating toward the open ocean could prove toxic to plankton. If the plankton start dying off in large numbers, it could get very difficult for terrestrial organisms to breathe. Oops.