• Non-biodegradable plastic bags – $$ – These will sit in a landfill forever. Well, not forever, but a very, very long time (500-1,000 years)
• Transport to toilet – $ – The greenest and best way to dispose of doggie waste. It ends up being processed the same as human waste.
• Transport to compost pile – $$ – Very green, but more expensive than toilet-disposal since you have to have a composting system
• Transport to garbage/other – $ – Inexpensive, but not as green as you think, since pet waste is one of the top pollutants in our waterways
• Biodegradable bags (non-ASTM D-6400) – $$$ – These bags bio-degrade over time, given the right conditions (light, heat, moisture, etc.) There is some suspicion that non-conforming bags are actually the same as the non-biodegradable plastic bags, but misleadingly labeled biodegradable. However, most landfills are designed to prevent decomposition, so it is likely that these will just sit in the landfill for a very long time. On the bright side, these will not release methane or CO2 until they decompose.
• Biodegradable bags (ASTM D-6400 conforming) – $$$$ – In order to conform to the standard, the bags should decompose at the rate of an apple. They release methane and other gases that can be harvested, but very few landfills are equipped for methane recapture.

I thought about flaming poop in a bag as a disposal methodology, but it did not make the cut.

Since we live in a 3rd floor apartment, we’ve decided on the non-ASTM D-6400 conforming bags to the garbage for now. It makes us feel good about ourselves, and we hope that our landfill allows for degradation and is equipped for methane recapture. We plan on a composting system when we purchase a home.

“BP officials have repeatedly said there is no way to measure the rate of flow from the broken pipe. – link“

Given the fact that NOAA underreported the numbers in the first place and BP has no incentive to report actual numbers, I am inclined to believe the numbers carried on the Examiner. This is really scary:

If this thing blew, it could be like the Yellowstone Caldera, except from below a mile of sea, with a 1/4-mile opening, with up to 150,000 psi of oil and natural gas behind it.

That would be an extinction event.

It is not likely to happen, but it is within the realm of possibilities.

How do you estimate this?

Although the real number will never be known, scientists and others will create more specific estimates over time. I am pretty certain that the chain of events that lead to this catastrophe will also be dissected. However, I am not so certain that the punishment and/or deterrents needed to prevent a future accident similar to this one will be implemented.

1. The prominent status given to Svalbard, a small archipelego of islands (smaller than Iceland) that is owned by Norway. You can see it in the map floating to the east of Greenland and north of Norway.
2. The lines indicate the Novell network (I believe). If you follow the lines, it makes Provo Utah seem like the center of the Novell networking universe.

I think that this map was installed before year 2000, and I am certain that it is pre-2004, since that is when Novell moved its headquarters to Waltham, MA.