Having trouble visualizing the mind-boggling amount of oil that (still, for fuck’s sake) is gushing into the Gulf of Mexico every day? Maybe this’ll help: A visual representation of 25,000 barrels of oil, stacked 15,000 feet in the air, collapsing. It was created using the Unreal technology that powers a ton of popular videogames, and it’s at once impressive and terrifying.

That’s via Gizmodo—a site that points out 25,000 is the low end estimate of how many barrels’ worth of oil are being spewed into the gulf on a daily basis. So maybe watching the above video two times in quick succession will give you a more accurate idea of how supremely fucked up this situation is.

https://youtube.com/watch?v=B7_rPDwSKe8%26hl%3Den_US%26fs%3D1%26rel%3D0

With honor and distinction, Erik Henriksen served as the executive editor of the Portland Mercury from 2004 to 2020. He can now be found at henriksenactual.com.

3 replies on “Here Are Those 25,000 Barrels of Oil You Ordered!”

  2. I’d be more moved by this if it weren’t for the superfluous camera motion and alien-blasting gun. But I’m old-fashioned that way.

  3. @ Stefan: +1. I get the feeling they would also put that into one of those remembrance-of-life videos you see at memorials.

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