It happened on April 20, 2010 – 41 miles off the coast of Louisiana. The Deepwater Horizon oil-drilling rig exploded. Tragically – the blowout killed 11 – and changed the lives of millions living near the Gulf coast – as well as hundreds of scientists who responded to the crisis.
To discover what happened – scientists from around the world turned their attention to the Gulf of Mexico. A whole research community has developed dedicated to finding new and unique methods to understand the oil pollution process.
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“Dispatches from the Gulf” is a new Journey to Planet Earth (J2PE) episode showing how scientists confront the challenges of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. The documentary also investigates the impact of the event on the ecosystems and communities along the Gulf of Mexico.
J2PE dramatizes new ways of looking at the delicate relationship between people and the world they inhabit. The series is designed to help viewers understand and cope with the most important environmental issues of the 21st century.
Through an interdisciplinary approach, these programs reach beyond the physical sciences and draw connections to politics, economics, sociology, and history. A common thread runs throughout — the necessity to achieve a balance between the needs of people and the needs of the environment. Though photographed on different continents and focusing on different sets of problems, audiences come to see why all of these stories are connected, providing a dramatic mosaic of how the Earth works as an interrelated system.