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《scientists escalate warnings about gulf oil spill》由會員上傳分享，免費在線閱讀，更多相關內(nèi)容在行業(yè)資料-天天文庫。
1、ScientistsEscalateWarningsaboutGulfOilSpillInthedaysaftertheApril20explosionoftheDeepwaterHorizonoilrig,therewasnowayforthepublictoknowhowmuchoilcouldbeleakingfromthebrokenwell5,000feetbelowthesurfaceoftheGulfofMexico.Weekslater,BPwouldreleaseatinysnippeto
2、fvideoofthesurgingleak,whichthecompanyestimatedwasdischargingroughly5,000barrels,or210,000gallons,ofoiladay.Butindependentscientistsstudyingthevideoandmeasuringthegrowingslickatthesurfacesuggesteditcouldbefiveto16timesthatrate,orevengreaterifonetookintoacc
3、ounttheenormous,hiddenplumesofoilrecentlydiscoveredunderthesea-onesuchplumemeasured10mileslong.Nonetheless,BPCEOTonyHaywardtoldBritain’sSkyNewsonTuesdaymorningthathedidn’tthinkthespillwouldseriouslyhurttheGulfecosystem.“Everythingwecanseeatthemomentsuggest
4、sthattheoverallenvironmentalimpactwillbevery,verymodest,”hesaid.Laterthesameday,however,BPfinallyreleasedextendedvideooftheunderwaterspill-andthepicturegotmurkier.Theimages,postedonFloridaSenatorBillNelson’sWebpage,showthickfunnelsofoilstillbillowingintoth
5、ewater-thisevenafterBPmanagedtohookupahosethatissiphoningoffsomeoftheleak.Atthesametime,somescientistshaveintensifiedwarningsthatpartoftheoilslickcouldentertheGulf’sloopcurrent,whichcurlsaroundFlorida,andputsomesectionsofthecoastlineandtheFloridaKeysatrisk
6、.Federalofficialshavealsoraisedalarmsaboutthedamagethathasalreadybeendonetoturtles,seabirdsandmarinemammals.Andinresponsetoconcernsabouttheimpactonunderseaspecies,theNationalOceanicandAtmosphericAdministration(NOAA)onTuesdayexpandedtheno-fishingzone;nearly
7、one-fifthoftheGulf,morethan47,000squaremiles,isnowoff-limitsforfishing.Farfromhavinga“very,verymodest”effect,theGulfoilspillwilllingerforaverylongtime.“Makenomistake,”saidRowanGould,theactingdirectoroftheU.S.FishandWildlifeService.“Thisspillissufficienttoa
8、ffectwildlifeintheGulfandacrosstheregionforyearsandperhapsdecades.”AddingtothelistofpotentialcasualtiesoftheoilistourismtotheSunshineState,whichdependsheavilyonvacationers’dollars.Already,anumberoftarballshav
