What's Up With Hurricanes? In an Increasingly Volatile World, It's Difficult to Say

As the dreaded hurricane season starts to ramp up, many wonder what kind of impact a perfect storm might have upon the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. The first hurricane of the Atlantic season, "Alex", just recently pushed oil onto Gulf coast beaches. To the dismay of local residents, some tar balls were as large as apples. Though Alex has now cooled off, ridiculously warm oceans and still-air mean that storms like "Bonnie", "Colin" and "Danielle" could continue to plague the Gulf.

While future storms might mix up and disperse water and oil, which would in turn make it easier for bacteria to break down and consume larger clumps, hurricanes could also push the BP spill westward into marshlands. Indeed, by their very nature hurricanes move counter-clockwise and as a result will tend to move oil from east to west (up to now, the BP spill has generally been moving from west to east). What's more, hurricanes could complicate any relief effort since they give rise to storm surges, elevated water levels and big storm waves. Those waves spell danger since they reach farther inland as they crash onto beaches. As a result, oil could be spread over a much wider area.

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