A video animation of the potential path of the oil spill was released today by NCAR (The National Center for Atmospheric Research) depicting the flow of oil making its way into the Atlantic Ocean by sometime this summer.
NCAR reports:
The computer simulations indicate that, once the oil in the uppermost ocean has become entrained in the Gulf of Mexico’s fast-moving Loop Current, it is likely to reach Florida’s Atlantic coast within weeks. It can then move north as far as about Cape Hatteras, North Carolina, with the Gulf Stream, before turning east. Whether the oil will be a thin film on the surface or mostly subsurface due to mixing in the uppermost region of the ocean is not known.
If the flow of oil isn’t stopped, the worst-case scenario is that it could very well last until Christmas, even reaching Europe.
