No se cuantos de nosotros estamos siguiendo el derrame del golfo de Mexico, pero aqui les “posteo” varios articulos interesantes de la pagina livescience.com. Anatomy of the Gulf Oil Spill Here’s a look under the hood at how officials, and their robots, are trying to stem the flow of oil leaking from the well beneath the seafloor in the Gulf of Mexico, after the rig Deepwater Horizon exploded and then sank on April 22, 2010. This graphic was udpated at 11:02 a.m. Thursday, April 29. 
Source:http://www.livescience.com/environment/gulf-oil-spill-science-100428.html? Experts: Most of the Gulf Oil Spill Won’t Be Cleaned Up BP is attacking the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico on all fronts, from the traditional skimmers and booms to more advanced technologies. But history and science suggest this clean-up effort probably won’t end in a spotless environment. BP Chief Executive Tony Hayward said the company would do “everything in our power to contain this oil spill and resolve the situation as rapidly, safely and effectively as possible,” according to news reports. The company, which was leasing the Transocean oil rig that exploded and sank on April 22 in the Gulf, is responsible for the clean-up. And yes, all hands are on deck – skimmers, booms, domes, controlled burning and chemical dispersants – to try to clean up the 1,000 to 5,000 barrels a day estimated to be leaking out of the well. However, for an oil spill at sea, typically only 10 to 15 percent of the oil is recovered, Gerald Graham, president of Worldocean Consulting, a marine oil spill prevention and response planning firm based in British Columbia, told LiveScience. So far, BP claims it has recovered 685,062 gallons (more than 2.5 million liters) of an oil-and-water mix. That mix is almost entirely water, with oil stirred in like vinaigrette. Until the entire recovery process finishes, it will be impossible to tell how much crude oil BP has recovered, Graham said. The rest of the oil that doesn’t get cleaned up evaporates, breaks up and floats on the surface, or sinks to the bottom, Graham said. “It’s kind of overwhelming,” U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 3rd Class Cory Mendenhall said of the cleanup effort…. read the rest of the article at http://www.livescience.com/environment/gulf-oil-spill-clean-up-100429.html?
source:http://www.livescience.com/environment/gulf-oil-spill-clean-up-100429.html? Pero no todo son malas noticias para nuestro ambiente!!!! A continuacion, les ”posteo” uno de los pocos articulos que nos da buenas noticias sobre nuestro ambiente. Wathever happend to the Hole in the Ozone layer?
Three British scientists shocked the world when they revealed on May 16th, 1985 — 25 years ago — that aerosol chemicals, among other factors, had torn a hole in the ozone layer over the South Pole. The ozone layer, which protects life on Earth from damaging solar radiation, became an overnight sensation. And the hole in the ozone layer became the poster-child for mankind’s impact on the planet.
Today, the ozone hole — actually a region of thinned ozone, not actually a pure hole — doesn’t make headlines like it used to. The size of the hole has stabilized, thanks to decades of aerosol-banning legislation. But, scientists warn, some danger still remains.
First, the good news: Since the 1989 Montreal Protocol banned the use of ozone-depleting chemicals worldwide, the ozone hole has stopped growing. Additionally, the ozone layer is blocking more cancer-causing radiation than any time in a decade because its average thickness has increased, according to a 2006 United Nations report. Atmospheric levels of ozone-depleting chemicals have reached their lowest levels since peaking in the 1990s, and the hole has begun to shrink.
Now the bad news: The ozone layer has also thinned over the North Pole. This thinning is predicted tocontinue for the next 15 years due to weather-related phenomena that scientists still cannot fully explain, according to the same UN report . And, repairing the ozone hole over the South Pole will take longer than previously expected, and won’t finish until between 2060 and 2075. Scientists now understand that the size of the ozone hole varies dramatically from year to year, which complicates attempts to accurately predict the hole’s future size.
Interestingly, recent studies have shown that the size of the ozone hole affects the global temperature. Closing the ozone hole actually speeds up the melting of the polar ice caps, according to a 2009 study from Scientific Committee on Antarctic Research.
So even though environmentally friendly laws have successfully reversed the trend of ozone depletion, the lingering effects of aerosol use, and the link between the ozone hole and global warming, virtually ensure that this problem will persist until the end of the century.
source: http://www.livescience.com/environment/Whatever-Happened-to-the-Hole-in-the-Ozone-Layer-100505.html?