A team funded by the National Science Foundation has developed a porous smart sponge that selectively soaks up oil in water. With an ability to absorb more than 30 times its weight in oil, the sponge could be used to inexpensively and efficiently clean up oil spills without harming marine life. The sponge can be reused dozens of […]
ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox. In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, while stranded New Orleanians flagged down helicopters from rooftops and hospitals desperately triaged patients, crude oil silently gushed from damaged drilling rigs […]
New economic developments in the Arctic, such as trans-Arctic shipping and oil exploitation, will bring along unprecedented risks of marine oil spills. The world is therefore calling for a thorough understanding of the resilience and “self-cleaning” capacity of Arctic ecosystems to recover from oil spills. Although numerous efforts are put into cleaning up large oil […]
The term, “in situ burning,”is the oil industry’s terminology, used to describe the disposing of the oil on the surface that is thick enough to ignite. This a visual example of the ineffective technology currently being utilized. The “Down Stream” consequences of burning oil on the ocean surface will equate to heavy plumes of toxic […]