Disaster strikes in the Gulf, as the Houston Chronicle recently
reported, with scientists desperately searching for the missing
plume of oil initially predicted to be the size of one of the
Great Lakes. Today’s Washington Post similarly and appropriately
asks (albeit, buried on p. A6), “Where has all the oil gone?”
Science’s study on this subject published yesterday solves much
of the mystery (Abstract here). Despite predictions by numerous
scientists that the purported 22-mile stretch of oil would not
easily biodegrade, that microbes were not up to the job of
ridding it, and that the Gulf’s natural resources were severely
at threat, the reality is that the bacteria-based microorganisms
are gobbling up the crude faster than anyone—including all the
“experts”—thought possible. Lead scientist Terry Hazen of the
Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory: “For the last three
weeks, we haven’t been able to detect the deepwater plume at
all” because “the bugs have degraded the oil.” (Link here). This
from the National