Poll: is the BP oil spill in america equivilent to chernobyl?

[FlyAwayAutumn]

An oil spill and a radioactive meltdown... kind of a tough one but I'm gonna go with Chernobyl being the worst of the two.

I can't make myself care all that much about something that doesn't affect me, both are "disasters" and both should not have happened but whatever man. Life keeps on going.

 

[Snarky Username]

S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Shadow of BP.

Coming out later this year.

 

[himemiya1650]

No, unless America makes a giant wall, and that this oil is still seeping in underground and it's featured in a future call of duty where you have to snipe someone.

 

[rogerdonaldson]

Nah. Chernobyl laid waste to a whole area fairly permanently. This oil spill will be out of sight, out of mind this time next year. The effects will still be there, but the ocean will simply thin it out month by month....

 

[SilkySkyKitten]

No, not at the moment.

If it continues, however, I would not be surprised if it did became a sort of US Chernobyl. Maybe not for humans (unless it drives gas prices through the roof, that is), but for wildlife and the envornment I'd say it would and possibly is already worse.

 

[Snarky Username]

No to the shizzle.
BP oil spill: Oh noez, some fishies are dying!
Chernobyl: OH DEAR GOD! A SHITLOAD OF PEOPLE ARE DEAD AND THE REST HAVE RADIATION SICKNESS!

Seriously, not even close.

Yeah that's right! Fuck you world and everything that isn't human! Fuck you in your giant planet ass!

/sarcasm

I still think Chernobyl's worse (at the moment, still don't know the final damage of the oil spill), but saying that it's worse just because people died instead of the environment is just not a good reason.

 

[octafish]

no not even close no one has died due to this event. while the area around the oil spill are unpleasant to say the least they will not be uninhabital for hundreds of years

The families of the eleven who died on the rig would like a word with you.

OT:This spill will be cleaned up before Chernobyl is.

 

[Treeinthewoods]

The only way the spill could be that bad is if somebody nukes the oil.

I'm not saying it's good but it's not life ending. Oil (oddly enough) is a natural resource which means it will eventually dissipate and decompose.

 

[leviathanmisha]

Oil Spill vs Chernobyl

I really think a nuclear meltdown is worse, but hey, I'm just an 18 year old college freshman, what do I know?

 

[rsacks]

At the moment no, but like so many others have said we still don't know the actual affects of the oil spill yet. As of writing this post (8:24 PDT) BP has yet to cap the well, and oil is still gushing into the Gulf.

As for long term affects, if you want more info for Chernobyl I suggest the following sites:

http://www.who.int/ionizing_radiation/chernobyl/en/

and

http://www.unscear.org/unscear/en/chernobyl.html

Both are sites from the UN and contain THOUSANDS of pages of information on the incident.

Conservative estimates say that the farmland around Chernobyl will be unusable for 200 years (I'm getting that figure from the WHO report available at the first link)

We haven't even gotten into the fact that radiation from Chernobyl has been shown to increase cancer risks, especially those of the thyroid, by statistically significant amounts.

On the other hand if you go to the shores of Alaska and dig a down on the shores where the Exxon Valdez ran around, you can still find significant amounts of oil even after 20-some years.

Comparing the two is unrealistic in the endgame however as the affects are wildly different.

 

[spectrenihlus]

In terms of damage no. In terms of being accidents that could have been easily prevented and then scaring people into not using them because of irrational beliefs..yes.

 

[jonmcnamara]

No its not, because the oil is unlikely to cause a huge rise in birth defects and cancer for humans, and be uninhabitable for decades. Also its in the ocean which isnt a major human like.. country.

The only bad part is that all that oil cant be used because its full of animals.

 

[AdamRBi]

Well, considering that if the oil is some how pulled up in to a weather system, raining oil across the costal areas and possible towards the inland cause practically all plant life to die... I still say nothing sounds as bad as radiation poisoning. (But it's pretty damn close.)

 

[GreyWolf257]

No. It sucks balls, but it doesn't equate to a nuclear meltdown. It pisses me off that I can't go to the fucking beach this weekend for god knows how long, and that the environment is being raped and that the local economy is being pissed on, but it doesn't really compare.

 

[jonmcnamara]

Oh I also forgot to mention that this very stupid event from a very badly constructed, and very shittily maintained ancient reactor has supplied hippies and other assholes with a very well known negative press story to use against an otherwise fantastic energy source.

 

[Timbydude]

Well they're closing all the beaches near me in a few days, and I'd imagine that swimming into the oil wouldn't do wonders for me, but because I've been warned, I'll know not to go in.

People affected by Chernobyl didn't have that privilege.

 

[Vault boy Eddie]

Since it's BP's fault, I see it as Britain's payback for the revolutionary war. GET THOSE REDCOATS!!!!

 

[Jeezy]

Oh I also forgot to mention that this very stupid event from a very badly constructed, and very shittily maintained ancient reactor has supplied hippies and other assholes with a very well known negative press story to use against an otherwise fantastic energy source.

Yes it is sure an amazing energy source that just happens to leave a few hundred barrels of toxic waste we need to find a place to dump. Yup no problems could ever come of that.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Love_Canal

 

[Naheal]

Not only no, but fuck no.

 

[madcap2112]

No, it's not. Surely you've heard of the Exxon Valdez spill? This is that on a much bigger scale and in a far worse place, but it's not really comparable to Chernobyl.