mastodon.ie is one of the many independent Mastodon servers you can use to participate in the fediverse.
Irish Mastodon - run from Ireland, we welcome all who respect the community rules and members.

Administered by:

Server stats:

1.6K
active users

#bbcverify

0 posts0 participants0 posts today

#Russia suffering '#EnvironmentalCatastrophe' after #OilSpill in #KerchStrait

Joshua Cheetham, Olga Robinson & Matt Murphy, January 23, 2025

"Satellite images reviewed by BBC Verify have shown a major oil slick spreading across the Kerch Strait that separates Russia from annexed #Crimea, a month after two oil tankers were badly damaged in the #BlackSea.

"Oil has leaked into the strait from two ships which ran into trouble during bad weather on 15 December. Volgoneft-239 ran aground following the storm, while Volgoneft-212 sank.

​​"Up to 5,000 tonnes of oil has now leaked, and media reports and official statements analysed by BBC Verify suggest the spill has spread across the Black Sea and the #SeaOfAzov.

"A senior Russian scientist called the spill the country's worst '#EnvironmentalCatastrophe' of the 21st Century.

"'This is the first time fuel oil has been spilled in such quantities,' Viktor Danilov-Danilyan - the head of science at the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS) - said in a 17 January interview with a Russian newspaper.

"Russian scientists said in December that this spill could be more than twice the size of a similar disaster in the strait in 2007, which saw up to 1,600 tonnes of #HeavyOil leak into the sea. #Ukraine's ministry of #ecology has estimated that the clear up from the latest spill could cost the Russian state up to $14bn (£11.4bn).

"#PaulJohnston, a scientist at #GreenpeaceResearchLaboratories, said 'there's always an element of uncertainty around oil spills', but a lack of timely information has heightened this uncertainty further.

"'I'm not entirely optimistic we'll ever know the full extent of the problem,' he added.

"Satellite images reviewed by #BBCVerify on 10 January - the most recent available high-resolution photos - showed a #MassiveOilSlick running through the strait, measuring at least 25km (15 miles) long. A second, smaller slick measuring around 5.7km (3.5 miles) long is also visible."

Read more:
bbc.com/news/articles/c23ngk5v
#WaterIsLife #EnvironmentalDestruction #OilSpill

www.bbc.comRussia suffering 'environmental catastrophe' after oil spill in Kerch StraitActivists say the spill - caused after two ships ran were battered by a storm - could cover an area of 400 sq km.

Awake early enough to hear #radio4 doing its cranky Sunday morning god slot. Firstly #bellsonsunday, a minute of sequenced cling-clang for the lord. Then #beyondbelief in which ‘theologists’ burble about the theoretical suffering of their magic sky captain. This will later be followed by the groaning out of a few servile reverb-drenched chants and singalongs. Deliberately deceitful broadcasting, one might even call it evil. #bbcverify and ‘the lord’ as ever, nowhere to be seen.