Dispersants, endless oil eruption, death, pollution, destruction. If all that weren’t enough, now we can add methane to the toxic mix:

It is an overlooked danger in the oil spill crisis: The crude gushing from the well contains vast amounts of natural gas that could pose a serious threat to the Gulf of Mexico’s fragile ecosystem.

The oil emanating from the seafloor contains about 40 percent methane, compared with about 5 percent found in typical oil deposits, said John Kessler, a Texas A&M University oceanographer who is studying the impact of methane from the spill.

That means huge quantities of methane have entered the Gulf, scientists say, potentially suffocating marine life and creating “dead zones” where oxygen is so depleted that nothing lives.

“This is the most vigorous methane eruption in modern human history,” Kessler said.

I don’t know whether to scream or cry… or both.  Big Oil’s Chernobyl is something we are all witnessing while feeling helpless en masse.  Nobody seems to have any answers, but there are so many questions.  How do we stop it? What is the future of the Gulf and surrounding areas? When will it end, if ever (meaning years, decades… centuries?)? Who will be prosecuted, if anyone? When? How? When when when? How how how?

There is so much speculation, but we’re all looking for real solutions, facts, reassurance. Sadly, those things will have to wait.

There is much more here.

H/t: avivao