Federal Regulators Allowed Oil Companies To Decide Safety Issues


I noted in my recent article Oil Spills And Troubled Waters:

When safety depends on the ability to shut down a system by blocking a fluid flow it is absolutely imperative that the system should incorporate 'fail safe' design principles: the system should fail into the safest possible state.

The most widely known fail safe devices are fuses and circuit breakers.  It is basic common sense that a fault condition should shut off power rather than risk fire or electrocution.

Arctic Ice May 2010

The Arctic melt, already more rapid than average this year, has begun to accelerate.


I have no doubt that by the end of this month, May 2010, there will be much less sea ice than there was in May 2007.

I have no doubt either that the anti-science propagandists will continue to insist either that the ice is recovering or that Arctic melt is perfectly normal.

Wild Wells

Caution: satire alert!


The current slight mishap in the Gulf of Mexico is just another oil spill.

So says BP and the media, and we all know we can trust them to be honest and ethical.


The Gulf disaster is not an oil spill - it's a wild well.  I hate weasel words¹.

New Volcano Plume - New Partial Flight Ban


A significant ash plume from Iceland is headed to U.K. airspace.

Precautionary flight bans affect Irish Republic, Northern Ireland and Scotland's Outer Hebrides.

The Irish Aviation Authority (IAA) has informed Irish-based airlines that it will be imposing restriction on all flights in and out of Ireland from 0700hrs local until 1300hrs tomorrow, Tuesday, 4^th May 2010 due to risk of ash ingestion in aircraft engines. Ireland falls within the predicted area of ash concentrations that exceed acceptable engine manufacturer tolerance levels.

Oil Spills And Troubled Waters

The ongoing environmental disaster in the Gulf of Mexico has much of the anti-environmentalist bloggersphere ducking its collective head beneath the parapet.  Suddenly, America is aware that offshore oil drilling has the potential to wipe out the livelihoods of entire coastal communities.  Perhaps, now, proposals to drill for oil in the Arctic will be examined more closely, and the views of indigenous populations considered more adequately.  If disaster mitigation in the Gulf is difficult, imagine how much more difficult it would be in Arctic waters.


Latest news and updates

Arctic Tipping Points - #6: Are We There Yet?


What might cause the Arctic sea ice to have a tipping point?

Are we about to reach, or have we already reached a tipping point?



This series is a follow-on to my 3-part series Arctic Ice 2010.