Detonating nuclear bomb at BP oil spill site could end all life on planet
Lately, I’ve heard many talking heads in the news media suggesting that the only way to stop the BP oil leak might be to detonate a nuclear bomb under the leak site.
Before they consider that option, they might want to watch this video of Dr. Gregory Ryskin, Professor of Chemical Engineering at Northwestern University. In the video, Dr. Ryskin explains how a prehistoric methane gas explosion could explain the Permian-Triassic Extinction Event, a mysterious period in Earth history where 95% of all species went extinct.
Given that the amount of methane gas that is leaking from the BP spill site is at least equal to the amount of oil, it would lead one to believe that there is a huge underground pocket of methane gas buried there. Now, if Dr. Ryskin’s theory is correct, not only would detonating a nuclear bomb near that underground methane pocket end the oil spill, it might end all life on Earth as well.
Well, methane CAN react with the steam generated by the intense heat of the nuclear explosion. However, the reaction needs an akali catalyst like nickel, and it consumes heat rather than producing it. You end up with liberated hydrogen and carbon monoxide, which I think would promptly disperse as it rose up to the ocean surface. The hydrogen won’t react with ocean water (because, duh, the H2O molecule already has all the hydrogen it wants to be stable) And this is in a highly controlled industrial process. I don’t think you can just throw a bunch of heat at methane bubbles under water and expect to necessarily have this happen. For sure, though, you aren’t going to get an oxidative methane reaction at the bottom of the ocean any more than you are going to be able to burn a gasoline-soaked rag at the bottom of a pool.
Does it have to be a NUKE? How about 2000 pounder? Shove way down the well bore and blow it up. I think that would be enough to cave in the well which is all you have to do. As far as a Tsunami goes we don’t have a bomb big enough to generate much of a wave. Our largest bomb is 50 mega tons. The tsunami in Indonesia was 2,000 mega tons. Blow the freaking thing up.
If they detonate a nuke, do you really think they will tell us?
Come on guys, methane needs oxygen to burn. No O2, no fire, no explosion, nada zip…
Basic fact. There is no air to burn metane underwater. Was this article written by a total idiot or what??
Get a clue folks..
Well, methane CAN react with the steam generated by the intense heat of the nuclear explosion. However, the reaction needs an akali catalyst like nickel, and it consumes heat rather than producing it. You end up with liberated hydrogen and carbon monoxide, which I think would promptly disperse as it rose up to the ocean surface. The hydrogen won’t react with ocean water (because, duh, the H2O molecule already has all the hydrogen it wants to be stable) And this is in a highly controlled industrial process. I don’t think you can just throw a bunch of heat at methane bubbles under water and expect to necessarily have this happen. For sure, though, you aren’t going to get an oxidative methane reaction at the bottom of the ocean any more than you are going to be able to burn a gasoline-soaked rag at the bottom of a pool.
He’s not saying that the methane would explode underwater. He’s saying that a huge pocket of methane will be released all at once instead of a little at a time, if a nuke is used. Then when it breaks the surface, it will mix with air, cause a large tsunami, and likely explode when it touches an open flame.
That seems improbable. For one thing, nobody has ever actually discovered a “huge pocket” of methane on the scale that is suggested on that Discovery channel TV show. That such pockets *may* exist anywhere is a controversial theory in the first place. Second, the Gulf has a history of violent, smaller-scale methane bubble releases. To me, this suggests that the geology of the seabed in the Gulf is such that the geological structural integrity needed to constrain apocalyptic amounts of methane gas accumulations is just not there. In other words, the pockets blow out before they can grow too large. This still doesn’t completely negate the need for concern, especially since my arguments are coming from my admittedly poor understanding of ocean geology. But this brings me to my third point, which is that few of us really have a clue what to expect from a nuclear detonation down there. Discovery’s “Mega Disasters” is a show whose sole purpose is to cause alarm and get ratings. This doesn’t discount everything that is targeted on the show, but you should take it with a grain of salt. Undersea nuclear detonations are something that have occurred and have been well-studied. They have even been used to seal blowouts. So while they are definitely not the best option, and they are certainly not guaranteed safe, the parties involved in fixing this shitfest at least have enough data to give them *some* idea of what to expect. The same can not be said for a long term, continuous flow of oil into the ocean at the current flow rate.
Well if it doesn’t end life on earth, it certainly looks like things are getting kinda scary. Now’s the time you should start making yourself more resilient to the shocks the system is experiencing and “Thriving During Challenging Times, The Energy, Food and Financial Independence Handbook” is an excellent roadmap to followup. If the world doesn’t end, you’ll be heating and cooling and eating without depending on the industrial machine that’s making such a mess of things. http://www.cammather.com/
Martin your fear is showing. Dr. Ryskin is a highly respected scientist who has been exploring this area of study of mass extinctions for years. He is not the only one. The only reason his theory is often attacked is because of its validity. Now, we are seeing in the Gulf Oil and Methane explosion, that he is on the money. All that remains is the proper “spark” to test the rest of his hypothesis. Instead of attacking HIM maybe you should be attacking BP and demanding your congressmen and women stop the madness and seek out the advice and counsel of learned men like Dr. Ryskin.
Don’t worry about methane explosions, it won’t happen that way. What will happen is the gulf will die, and what’s left will be a sea that is totally depleted of oxygen. oxygen that oil-biodegrading bacteria need to surive (so the nice chewy centre of this dead sea remains intact).
As the weather and currents shift this dead body around, it kills everything, creating a larger dead zone, a feedback loop of doom. First the Atlantic then Indian and lastly the Pacific oceans die. This is going to be a painfully slow process, however it will look very fast on the ground once it gets underway.
Better get down and buy some seafood before it runs out. What all plague species say just before they die-off from gluttonous resource depletion .
America needs to step down and let the rest of the world take charge before we’re all doomed!
Re: Tony.
No risk, no gain. Also the nuclear option will boost stocks in genetically modified food, once the organic natural source is neutralised. Also if the worst was to occur, and a major release of climate changing methane gas than it will be a major boost to the fledgling climate change industry.
You really are one stupid, mercenary f$ck.
Isn’t the current state of the oil leak going to eventually toxify all of the worlds oceans? Tidal currents connect them all, so I don’t see what going to stop that from happening if we do nothing. And, if the oceans die, our species will die off soon afterwards. No good choices. I don’t care how many shitholes there are running the world today and are responsible for this catastrophe. I really don’t care. I just don’t want to sit around and sentence my children and my childrens children to death by starvation by doing nothing. FIX THIS OR DIE TRYING! There is no other alternative.
Dont you get it? They dont want to fix it. It could have been fixed on Day 1 before it became this monster. They want to bring the earth population DOWN by 6 billion.
Why cant people wake up and address the real issue that is driving world events today?
You will not have grandchildren starving. The oxygen produced by the G of Mexico rivals the Amazon basin. YOU will be lucky to make it out alive.
This is pure speculation. The History Channel has been throwing around a lot of speculative and sensationalistic stuff in recent years (ancient aliens? please). If we were to listen to every wild-eyed, half-baked theory, we never would have turned on the LHC for fear of creating a black hole that would destroy the earth.
This is not the History Channel’s “half-baked” theory. It is the theory of a respected scientist to explain a prehistoric extinction event. Given that a methane gas explosion could have caused that extinction event, wouldn’t it be wise to err on the side of caution when so many lives are on the line. What would you suggest, just let it rip and see what happens?