News Headline
Gulf Oil Spill Surprise: Methane Almost Gone Natural gas ingredient gobbled up by bacterial blooms, study finds.
Source
National Geographic
Publication Date
2011-01-10
After months of speculation about what will happen to the Gulf oil spill, it turns out Mother Nature has rolled up her sleeves and dispatched with a lot of the gas released along with it—in just four months. Surprisingly, practically all of the methane that accompanied nearly five million barrels of oil leaked into the northern Gulf of Mexico (map) has been devoured by giant bacterial blooms, a new study says. Methane, the main component of natural gas, is typically found with oil.