The White House said on Thursday that Carl-Henric Svanberg, the chairman of BP, had been asked to meet Barack Obama, the US president, on Wednesday, while Eric Holder, the US attorney-general, pledged to make BP pay for “all the damages” from the spill. Estimates of the oil flow have steadily climbed from the 5,000 barrels per day (bpd) level initially cited by BP and US officials, although BP had said the estimates were unreliable. The wide variation in the figures points to the difficulty in estimating flow of a well that is 1.6km beneath the surface and reachable only by remotely operated robots.

Still, even at the minimum estimated rate of 20,000 bpd, the well has dumped at least a million barrels of oil into the Gulf of Mexico since the Deepwater Horizon rig exploded on April 20 and sank two days later. That is more than four times the amount of oil the Exxon Valdez spilled in Alaska in 1989, the previous worst spill in US history. This is going to create clean-up costs and the US push for BP to fully compensate economic victims of the spill has taken a toll on BP shares, which have lost nearly half their value since the explosion and sinking of the Deepwater Horizon rig in April. Analysts agree, saying that BP will have around $5bn this year to pay damages and clean-up costs.

I think this oil spill is very dangerous for our environment. It will kill many marine creatures and will affect the food chain. In this photo, a bird is dying from the oil. The oil is life acid for the bird. It is choking on the oil and cannot fly because the oil has made its’ wings to it’s body. It is spending most of it’s time cleaning itself with it’s beak. Since it does that, it doesn’t have time to search for food. Luckily, someone has found this bird and rescued it from getting killed.

 1. What are some solutions for cleaning the spill?

 2. How much will it cost to clean the spill up? 

3. How much more oil was spilled now than in Alaska in 1989?

                BP is going to construct a giant dome to put over the oil leak to trap the oil for now. That will give them time to Build another rig or come up with another solution. Meanwhile, the damage done to the environment is incredible. In the wetlands, the oil had leaked in and has killed the mangorves, the primary tree of the wetlands. The trees are no longer there to hold the soil together had the soil has eroded. New Orleans and other cities are now more vunerable to hurricanes. If the oil hits Florida, a rare animal called the manatee could be in danger. The brown pelican is endangered because of the spill. The oil increases the petroleum toxicity, and decreases ocean oxygen levels. There has been 590 dead birds, 250 sea turtles, 30 dolphins and other mammals, and 1 reptile. The marshlands and islands have been put at risk, and also many animals. The economy in the gulf has gone down also, thanks to the oil spill. BP has almost lost half it’s income in the area, and the locals who own small businesses are suffering. In the next paragraph, I will tell you about how the oil spill affects the ecomony.

               The economy in the gulf has gone down. The fishing industry, tourism, and oil industry has gone down. BP is losing money rapidly, until they can put a lid on the oil well. BP has tried using mud and dirt to clog the well, but that did not work. Now, they are building a huge dome to trap the oil until they can build a new rig or some other idea. Until then, BP will lose a lot of money and workers in the area. Already 11 workers died, and 17 were injured. Meanwhile, the tourism and fishing industries continue to suffer. The fish are all poisoned, and the fisherman cannot sell toxic fish. Also, no one wants to see oil covered beaches or boat in oil. Hotels and small business will suffer. BP is investigating if the rig qualified saftey measures. If it did not, I would be angry. The oil spill could have prevented if they had put a pump on. BP is still investigating. That is what I think.

1. Do you think the rig owners took the saftey measures and put the pump?

2. How bad do you think the spill is?

3. How much do you think the economy and environment will be affected?

All of the animals in the Gulf are slicked with oil. They can’t move, so they can’t find food. Eventually they will die because there isn’t any food. Some businesses along the Gulf had to close down because the oil is coming ashore. Tourists can’t go to the ocean because it’s filled with oil and some people don’t even want to come down south because they won’t be able to do the things they wanted to. This has effected many people and things in the Gulf of Mexico and along the shore.

What are some ways people are trying to clean up the oil?

Do you think this oil is gong to stop leaking soon? Why?

Are there any other affects on the environment or economy?

   Keiren says that the Delta employee switched the paperwork with another girl who was also traveling alone, and was on her way to see Cleaveland. I wonder what happened to the girl who was sent to Bosten? I wonder how she was feeling, and why she has not been interviewed on her experiance yet? Well, maybe she noticed right away and switched planes? No body knows.

How will Delta Airlines be charged? Will they even be charged? Maybe Keiran’s parents will not put on a charge on Delta Airlines, we still dont have the full scoop. Though when Keiran finally landed the adventurous ride his worried grandparents were complaining on how he is not just some lost luggage, he is a lost little boy. There were millions of questions, and confusion on how they mixed up a little boy, and a little girl, they just threw him on the plane like everybody else, and didnt even look up his name to see if he was rightly directed. Craziness strikes again, what will happen next? This is a very very scary event in time, but even though everybody makes mistakes, this istake could of been avoided.

If you were Keiran how would you react if your plane landed in Cleveland, and you were alone, and supposed to be in Boston?

How would you react if you were Kerian’s grandparents, or parents, and you found out that your grandchild, or child was put on a mistake plane to Cleveland?

Would you agree on charging Delta Airlines because of this mishap?

It’s robots to the rescue in the Gulf of Mexico or at least that’s what British oil giant BP hopes following a disastrous explosion and oil spill at trans ocean deep water horizon oil rig, 130 miles southeast of New Orleans.

Officials have deployed robotic submarines in an effort to contain the spill, which has grown to cover an area measuring some 1,900 square miles. BP quoted National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration experts as saying the spill is

It’s robots to the rescue in the Gulf of Mexico or at least that’s what British oil giant BP hopes following a disastrous explosion and oil spill at trans ocean deep water horizon oil rig, 130 miles southeast of New Orleans.

Officials have deployed robotic submarines in an effort to contain the spill, which has grown to cover an area measuring some 1,900 square miles. BP quoted National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration experts as saying the spill is “very thin” and on the surface of the ocean.

An ROV arm attempts to activate the blowout preventer at the Deepwater Horizon wellhead in the Gulf of Mexico.

The agencies have deployed four remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to the wellhead about 5,000 feet below the ocean surface.

They are monitoring the leak, which was discovered Saturday, as well as trying to activate the blow out preventer,which is a 50-foot-tall, 450-ton mass of valves that can cap the wellhead and stop the oil flow.

The ROV’s which include machines such as the Millennium by oilfield engineering company Oceaneering  have apparently been on the job for several days, but without success. While ROVs have been used by the oil and gas industry for more than 30 years, this particular mission is highly complex due to the great depth of the wellhead, as well as the first of its kind.

If you can visualize it, it’s like robotic arms doing something outside the space station, BP spokesman was saying. It is operating something with a mechanical claw on it that grasps things and turns things and adjusts equipment way down at the floor of the ocean.

The 220-horsepower Millennium Plus weighs some 8,800 pounds and can descened 10,000 feet. It has a dual manipulator, as well as and fiber optic video and data links to surface operators. If the robots fail in their mission, BP will have to drill relief wells into the well bore to capture the oil, a task that could take months. Another idea is to install funnel-shaped covers at the site to capture the oil.

The Coast Guard believes the well is leaking about 42,000 gallons of oil a day into the ocean. Eleven workers went missing last week when the rig exploded and sank to the seabed. A Coast Guard search for the workers has been suspended.

Some are speculating that the accident is the worst U.S. offshore oil rig spill in decades. Let’s hope robots can mitigate the effects.

When i finished reading this article i was suprised of how much oil was spilled and how much damage really occured. also i just thought it was a spill but that huge, i think it’s also good that they are developing ideas to help take out the oil from the gulf sea of Mexico, but not one of their ideas are working some are but some are failing and they have to take some time in order to be prepared and well if they fail that’s what it said in the Artical but if they fail i think they are going to waste all from what they have paid for.

ARTICAL  QUESTIONS:

• 1)  What did you think about the artical?
• 2) Do you think these robots will fail their attempt? why or why not?
• 3) can you think of other methods in way’s to help or  solve this problem of the gulf Mexico oil spill?

These are all different types of tropical fish, but just a few species are shown here.

            Fish are cold-blooded, aquatic animals that have scales, gills and fins. Some people may see fish and think nothing of them, others may see fish and think of how amazing, and extraordinary fish are. For instance, when I am in New York, I once saw a few fish in a  river, and become excited because the river is so polluted and living things are almost rare to be able to live in hat pollution. Unlike in Hawaii, tourists see colorful, unique, and riveting fish and are amazed, while the people who live there are not amazed and are only thankful that they are able to live with one of a kind animals.

             Just like kangaroos in Australia, fish are extraordinary and have a large history. Fish have been on the earth for over 450 million years, before dinosaurs were alive. Having there be 25,000 identified species of fish alive on the earth, 15,000 species haven’t been identified.  If someone was to combine all the species of amphibians, birds, and mammals, there are still more species of fish. Even though 40% of all fish species live in fresh water, less than 0.1% of the earth’s water is fresh. The largest fish in the world is the whale shark, the whale shark can grow to be fifty feet in length. The smallest fish is the Philippine goby that is less than 1/3 of an inch when fully grown. 

               Some species of fish have skeletons made of only cartilage. Two species of fish even have no jaw! Fish also feel pain, they have excellent senses of sight, touch, taste, and many species have a good sense of smell and “hearing”. But, one of the , most popular pet in the U.S are tropical fish. Yet, 95% of tropical fish mortalities are because of improper housing and nurturing. Many of the tropical fish in the United states are imported and harvested from Africa, Asia, and Central South America. Over all, many people misjudge fish for average, boring animals, but, as I have proved, fish are some of the most exciting animals know to man!

 Questions:

 1. If you could swim, or have swam, with tropical fish, what would, or how did, you react?

 2. Have you ever housed a tropical fish, is it still living, has it changed since you first received it?

 3. How do you feel about fish dying due to living in a bad habitat/ fish tank?

The seas were not calm. It was starting to get stormy, and Jessica Watson logged, “I’ve been in some rough weather for awhile with winds steady at 40-45 knots with higher gusts.” This is probably the reason of Abby’s disappearance. Today (June 10th) they’ve lost all connection with her. The last they heard from her she was in the middle of the South Indian Ocean. Many officials say it is common for brutal conditions to occur in that area of the earth. The U.S. and international governments have put together a search team to look between Australia and Africa.

I think this is a very sad story. Poor Abby. She just wanted to prove to herself and family that she could do what her brother did. And now she’s lost at sea. I think the remarkable thing is that not just once but twice the parents allowed these children to sail across the world. Not exactly the greatest parenting skills. This is happening much more frequently. First two 16 year-olds and a 17 year-old sailing across the world. And then there’s a 12 year-old bullfighter in Mexico. Plus the 13 year-old that just climbed Mount Everest. I think this is not appropriate for a child to do. I would never do something nearly as extreme as that.

Abby before she disappeared

Would you ever do something to set a record?

How would you feel if you were in Abby’s place?

What would you do if you were lost at sea?

 In Nevada there is a wide spread of temperature throughout the months. In January the average temperature is 45 degrees Fahrenheit. This is very different from New Jersey because here our average is about 35 degrees Fahrenheit. It is a large difference. In Nevada there is an average temperature of 91 degrees Fahrenheit. Our average is about 80 degrees Fahrenheit. This is also a large difference. As you can see there are so many different things about Nevada compared to New Jersey.

In Nevada there are so many things you can do. I feel that they are “lucky” to have weather so they can just walk or do anything outside. Also, I feel that a lot of people judge Nevada by Las Vegas and casinos but there is so much more to the magnificent state. Other than Las Vegas it is pretty calm. I feel bad that some people “judge” the state. If I was older and ready to retire I would retire there because there is so much to do and see. My opinion of Nevada is that it is a magnificent state. This is the best and most interesting state to me.

Discussion Questions:

1.      What are some interesting facts you picked up on while reading the article?

2.      What is the difference in temperature for where you live?

      3. What is you opinion of Las Vegas, Nevada?