Could the oil spill help

I was wondering, jus a thought creeping in the back of my head, figured no where I know better than here to ask....

Does anyone know if the oil or the gas being released into the sea could have consequences that would be, let's just say positive, in anyway possible.
I should clarify, what I mean is that, could this in anyway cause a desired result?
And if so to what end?

Very vague I know...

Originally posted by KingAtlas
I was wondering, jus a thought creeping in the back of my head, figured no where I know better than here to ask....

Does anyone know if the oil or the gas being released into the sea could have consequences that would be, let's just say positive, in anyway possible.
I should clarify, what I mean is that, could this in anyway cause a desired result?
And if so to what end?

Very vague I know...

Interesting question. Can't say that anything I would be able to say would be anything mroe than wild speculation. Gaia (the mass biosphere for those who don't like the word) is pretty damned good at adapting to changes. I am certainly not the least bit concerned for the fate of life as a whole on this planet.

I guess the main question is can the outflow of crude oil and methane create a long term positive environment for human kind to survive and prosper? Maybe, but there will probably be a mass die off before that would happen.

only time will tell, i think

but i don't think it is natural for anything to be 100% positive or 100% negative. every event is a combination of causing both kinds of effects.

The only possible advantage I can think of to this situation is that hopefully we will learn not to be as irresponsible as BP was, and that if this does happen again, we will have a better idea how to fix it quickly, instead of letting 50k barrels of oil spill into the ocean for 3 months.

I don't think that's quite what you were asking, though. In regards to purely biological effects, I can't see it helping. Some indvidual species might benefit; for instance, if Species A experiences a population decline due to the spill, and Species B is the natural food of Species A, then Species B will benefit as it is getting eaten less. However, the ecosystem taken as a whole, I cannot imagine that it's benefitting in any way.

The only possible positive, in my opinion, is that it might make the public more enthusiastic about alternative fuels.

Perhaps that was the whole point of the spill. A 9/11 if you will with oil being the "terrorists" and alternative fuels being the hero. The public will be more willing to pay a carbon tax after something like this.