Could it be true that the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico is only the beginning of what is being touted as possibly the worst possible natural disaster known to man? New evidence was unearthed during the week by U.S. scientists that indicate the warnings which surfaced as long as a year before the BP Deepwater Horizon catastrophe occurred may well be true.

Unknown to the majority of the public, this particular area that was chosen by the BP geologists has been described as unstable and even dangerous due to the possible super sized methane beds embedded deep in the earths crust. Some geologists believed this to be so and voiced their opinions early on in the piece, but to no avail.

Now 12 scientists from the Texas A&M University who have been running tests in the area within a 5 mile radius of the drill site, have found levels of methane in the ocean that are through the roof. In some pockets of the ocean the concentrations of methane gas levels are up to 100,000 times the norm and even more incredibly up to 1 million times higher.

The effect of these levels of methane gas on the ocean can be devastating, as it depletes the oxygen in the water, and at these levels scientists say they could create a dead zone. Oxygenated water is crucial to sustaining marine life and in some close by areas of the well, it has found to have dropped by 30 percent.

As carbon dioxide is a by product of breathing in air, so methane is a natural by product of a breathing living ocean that is filled with life. Science has since proven that where higher concentrations of methane gas exist, there is a common side effect which occurs. The smaller microbes out grow the marine life dramatically and end up consuming much more oxygen.

Another factor that would contribute to positive signs of a large methane gas reservoir would be cracks or fissures appearing on the ocean bed near the capped well opening. The appearance of these cracks is now becoming evident from footage sent up by the underwater robots working on the damaged well.

Fissures of gas eruptions entering the ocean are also being reported further along the outer radius of the drill site. Scientists are still crunching the numbers on the data they have collected over the recently completed 10 day research expedition. More available facts should come to light within the week.

http://www.news4us.com/new-evidence-suggests-the-oil-spill-in-the-gulf-could-only-be-the-beginning/22509/