Scientists reported that bacteria consumed almost all of the methane that was released from BP's broken wellhead in the Gulf of Mexico last year, which could have contributed to climate change. Despite nearly 200,000 tons of methane being released, the bacteria in the deep waters of the Gulf managed to consume it before it could reach the atmosphere. However, this process led to a loss of around 1 million tons of dissolved oxygen in certain areas. The study, conducted by David Valentine of the University of California-Santa Barbara and published in Science, found that while significant, the oxygen loss was dispersed enough to avoid creating a harmful low-oxygen condition known as hypoxia. Methane's impact on the environment is of interest to climate scientists, as it is much more potent than carbon dioxide in trapping heat in the atmosphere. Similar to carbon dioxide, methane is produced by both natural and human activities, including the petroleum industry. Following the BP oil spill in April 2010, methane was not being consumed in the area near the wellhead for two months, raising concerns among scientists about its potential to linger in the water and eventually enter the atmosphere, where it could contribute to climate change by trapping heat. Researchers, including Valentine, have observed large-scale methane releases from natural sources in the past that have impacted the climate, prompting them to investigate the role of bacteria in such cases. The BP spill provided an unintentional opportunity to observe how certain bacteria thrived on a diet of methane as it spread through the underwater plume from the broken well. The peak consumption of methane likely occurred in late July and early August. While other organisms tackled different hydrocarbons emitted in the oil spill, the bacteria that consumed methane were the last to join the feast. Scientists were initially unsure if these bacteria could effectively consume the methane due to past observations suggesting it was a slow process. According to scientists, the bacteria's ability to consume a significant amount of methane suggests they may also be able to absorb other substantial releases of deep ocean methane. The US government recently filed a civil suit against BP and its partners for the damage caused by the spill. The White House commission on the oil spill stated that BP and its partners' cost-cutting decisions played a role in causing the spill.