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Baseline environmental data are crucial for understanding the impacts of oil spills On 20 April 2010, an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon drilling unit initiated an uncontrolled release of oil and gas from the Macondo seafloor well into the Gulf of Mexico that lasted for 87 days. Documenting and tracking the ecological, environmental, and human impacts of the Deepwater Horizon oil-well blowout has proved a considerable challenge. Nonetheless, valuable lessons continue to be learned, and data are revealing broad and substantial impacts on the Gulf ecosystem across a range of scales.

Stated-preference research supports$17.2B in protections When large-scale accidents cause catastrophic damage to natural or cultural resources, government and industry are faced with the challenge of assessing the extent of damages and the magnitude of restoration that is warranted. Although market transactions for privately owned assets provide information about how valuable they are to the people involved, the public services of natural assets are not exchanged on markets; thus, efforts to learn about people's values involve either untestable assumptions about how other things people do relate to these services or empirical estimates based on responses to stated-preference surveys. Valuation based on such surveys has been criticized because the respondents are not engaged in real transactions. Our research in the aftermath of the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill addresses these criticisms using the first, nationally representative, stated-preference survey that tests whether responses are consistent with rational economic choices that are expected with real transactions. Our results confirm that the survey findings are consistent with economic decisions and would support investing at least $ 17.2 billion to prevent such injuries in the future to the Gulf of Mexico's natural resources.

Hydrocarbons released following the Deepwater Horizon (DH) blowout were found in deep, subsurface horizontal intrusions, yet there has been little discussion about how these intrusions formed. We have combined measured (or estimated) observations from the DH release with empirical relationships developed from previous lab experiments to identify the mechanisms responsible for intrusion formation and to characterize the DH plume. Results indicate that the intrusions originate from a stratification‐dominated multiphase plume characterized by multiple subsurface intrusions containing dissolved gas and oil along with small droplets of liquid oil. Unlike earlier lab measurements, where the potential density in ambient water decreased linearly with elevation, at the DH site it varied quadratically. We have modified our method for estimating intrusion elevation under these conditions and the resulting estimates agree with observations that the majority of the hydrocarbons were found between 800 and 1200 m. Key Points Analytical models predict the subsea structure of the Deepwater Horizon plume The subsea plume of the Deepwater Horizon blowout was stratification dominated Quantitative models predict the elevations and quantity of subsea oil and gas

Assessment of direct and indirect impacts of oil and dispersants on the marine ecosystem in the northeastern Gulf of Mexico (NEGOM) from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (April – July 2010) requires sustained observations over multiple years. Here, using satellite measurements, numerical circulation models, and other environmental data, we present some initial results on observed biological changes at the base of the food web. MODIS fluorescence line height (FLH, a proxy for phytoplankton biomass) shows two interesting anomalies. The first is statistically significant (>1 mg m−3 of chlorophyll‐a anomaly), in an area exceeding 11,000 km2 in the NEGOM during August 2010, about 3 weeks after the oil well was capped. FLH values in this area are higher (i.e., water is greener) than in any August since 2002, and higher than ever since 2002 in an area of ∼3,000 km2. Analyses of ocean circulation and other environmental data suggest that this anomaly may be attributed to the oil spill. The second is a spatially coherent FLH anomaly during December 2010 and January 2011, extending from Mobile Bay to the Florida Keys (mainly between 30 and 100‐m isobaths). This anomaly appears to have resulted from unusually strong upwelling and mixing events during late fall. Available data are insufficient to support or reject a hypothesis that the subsurface oil may have contributed to the enhanced biomass during December 2010 and January 2011. Key Points Part of the GOM is significantly greener after the spill; it did not last long This finding is possible only through a multi‐disciplinary approach More integrated observations and modeling are required to assess impact

Numerous conventional container ports in East Asia are evolving from intercontinental into regional hub ports. This study adopted the Port of Kaohsiung as an example of competition with neighboring ports. The results of this study demonstrated that the Port of Kaohsiung is still a competitive docking port on trans-Pacific trunk routes for North America, despite facing external threats (e.g., upsizing of ships, lack of new deep-water terminals, and new strategic alliances affecting terminal operations), overall shipping cost considerations (e.g., container volume, different ship sizes, and port selection), and increasingly intense competition with neighboring ports. Under such circumstances, the Port of Kaohsiung must keep pace with container ship upsizing, sufficiently increase deep-water terminal capacity, and improve its existing container terminals’ operating efficiency to attract route deployment and larger container ships and thereby maintain its current advantages and position as a regional hub port.

The 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon (DWH) oil spill damaged thousands of km2 of intertidal marsh along shorelines that had been experiencing elevated rates of erosion for decades. Yet, the contribution of marsh oiling to landscape-scale degradation and subsequent land loss has been difficult to quantify. Here, we applied advanced remote sensing techniques to map changes in marsh land cover and open water before and after oiling. We segmented the marsh shorelines into non-oiled and oiled reaches and calculated the land loss rates for each 10% increase in oil cover (e.g. 0% to >70%), to determine if land loss rates for each reach oiling category were significantly different before and after oiling. Finally, we calculated background land-loss rates to separate natural and oil-related erosion and land loss. Oiling caused significant increases in land losses, particularly along reaches of heavy oiling (>20% oil cover). For reaches with ≥20% oiling, land loss rates increased abruptly during the 2010-2013 period, and the loss rates during this period are significantly different from both the pre-oiling (p < 0.0001) and 2013-2016 post-oiling periods (p < 0.0001). The pre-oiling and 2013-2016 post-oiling periods exhibit no significant differences in land loss rates across oiled and non-oiled reaches (p = 0.557). We conclude that oiling increased land loss by more than 50%, but that land loss rates returned to background levels within 3-6 years after oiling, suggesting that oiling results in a large but temporary increase in land loss rates along the shoreline.

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill occurred in spring and summer 2010 in the northern Gulf of Mexico. Research cruises in 2010 (approximately 2-3 months after the well had been capped), 2011, and 2014 were conducted to determine the initial and subsequent effects of the oil spill on deep-sea soft-bottom infauna. A total of 34 stations were sampled from two zones: 20 stations in the \"impact\" zone versus 14 stations in the \"non-impact\" zone. Chemical contaminants were significantly different between the two zones. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons averaged 218 ppb in the impact zone compared to 14 ppb in the non-impact zone. Total petroleum hydrocarbons averaged 1166 ppm in the impact zone compared to 102 ppm in the non-impact zone. While there was no difference between zones for meiofauna and macrofauna abundance, community diversity was significantly lower in the impact zone. Meiofauna taxa richness over the three sampling periods averaged 8 taxa/sample in the impact zone, compared to 10 taxa/sample in the non-impact zone; and macrofauna richness averaged 25 taxa/sample in the impact zone compared to 30 taxa/sample in the non-impact zone. Oil originating from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill reached the seafloor and had a persistent negative impact on diversity of soft-bottom, deep-sea benthic communities. While there are signs of recovery for some benthic community variables, full recovery has not yet occurred four years after the spill.

Given the continued growth in the size of container ships, major hub ports around the world have carried out large-scale upgrades of their port facilities to attract shipping companies to choose their ports, thereby enhancing the competitiveness of their ports. This study takes Kaohsiung Port as an example and uses the Decision Analytic Network Process (DANP) method to investigate container terminal operations by switching container terminal operations to appropriate new locations. The results of the study indicate that, despite the external issues (such as a lack of deep-water terminals and hinterland in the port area, the upsizing of ships, and new strategic shipping alliances), Kaohsiung Port authority must accelerate the upgrade of its container terminals, integrate its port resources to build deep-water berth facilities with highefficient container operating system, and improve the operating efficiency of its existing terminals, as a means to maintain the status of Kaohsiung Port as a regional centre.

PurposeThe Deepwater Horizon (DWH) disaster in 2010 was the largest marine oil spill in history. We have established a prospective cohort study of U.S. Coast Guard DWH responders. Here, we describe the cohort and present results from a cross-sectional analysis of self-reported exposure and health effects.MethodsCoast Guard DWH responders and non-responders were identified via Coast Guard administrative data. Responders who completed an exit survey were included in a cross-sectional analysis to investigate the association of oil exposures with a range of respiratory, neurological, and dermal effects. Oil exposure was based on oil/oily water inhalation, ingestion, dermal contact, and submersion of a body part. To investigate cross-sectional exposure-outcome associations, we calculated prevalence ratios (PRs) and 95% confidence intervals using log binomial regressions, adjusting for age.ResultsThe Coast Guard DWH cohort (N = 55,587) is comprised of both responders (N = 9,030) and non-responders (N = 46,557). Among responders, 5,567 (62%) completed an exit survey. Those reporting ever having oil/oily water exposure (N = 2,977; 53%) had, statistically significant increased PRs for wheezing (3.73), shortness of breath (3.36), coughing (2.41), light headedness (3.23), numbness or tingling (2.57), headaches (1.88), and rash (4.22). Responders reporting inhalation of oil/oily water most or all of the time were 6.80 times more likely to report shortness of breath and 6.27 times more likely to report tremors, compared with those not exposed via inhalation. Those reporting oil/oily water skin contact most or all of the time were 6.74 times more likely to report skin rash or itching, compared with those not exposed via skin contact.ConclusionsResponders reporting oil exposures during the DWH response had elevated rates of reported respiratory, neurological, and dermal health effects during their deployment(s), based on cross sectional analyses. We are evaluating these findings further using prospective analyses of health encounter data available through 2011.

The sea‐to‐air flux of methane from the blowout at the Deepwater Horizon was measured with substantial spatial and temporal resolution over the course of seven days in June 2010. Air and water concentrations were analyzed continuously from a flowing air line and a continuously flowing seawater equilibrator using cavity ring‐down spectrometers (CRDS) and a gas chromatograph with a flame ionization detector (GC‐FID). The results indicate a low flux of methane to the atmosphere (0.024 μmol m−2 d−1) with atmospheric and seawater equilibrium mixing ratios averaging 1.86 ppm and 2.85 ppm, respectively within the survey area. The oil leak, which was estimated to contain 30.2% methane by weight, was not a significant source of methane to the atmosphere during this study. Most of the methane emitted from the wellhead was dissolved in the deep ocean.