Tag: BP Oil Spill Page 1

Visualizing the BP Oil Spill

There appears to be no limit to the horrors associated with the Deepwater Horizon tragedy, from the initial loss of the eleven rig workers to the mounting disaster threatening life and livelihoods along the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.

Although I vacationed in the Gulf of Mexico a number of times as a child, I admit to having an impoverished sense of the Gulf’s scale – its immensity. Perhaps that’s why I was taken aback when I learned of this website, http://www.ifitwasmyhome.com/, which takes oil spill data gathered by the NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) and then maps it onto your geographic location. Such an exercise reveals that the main axis of the oil spill stretches a distance equivalent to the space from Cincinnati, OH to Cleveland, OH.

This graphic provides support for the argument that presenting data in a creative, visual manner can often have more of an impact then presenting data solely with the written word.

For those who are interested in exploring and creating other data visualizations of the BP Oil Spill, check out this NOAA website.

By Orie on 6/10/10, In Data Visualization, Tags , , ,