[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pE-1G_476nA&feature=player_embedded](Visualization by Tim Scheitlin and Mary Haley, NCAR; based on model simulations.)

NCAR, the National Center for Atmospheric Research, right up the road in Boulder, CO, has released this computer-simulated dye study showing where ocean currents would likely carry BP’s runaway oil over a typical April-July period. The colors represent a dilution factor and are not a depiction of actual barrels of oil at any given spot. It’s fascinating in a terrible sort of way. Like watching a slow-motion train wreck.

This is one of six scenarios/animations released yesterday by NCAR. Be sure to scroll down the page to see them all, and don’t overlook the animations, as I did the first time. NCAR is continuing these studies to see what will happen to the oil in the Atlantic and to determine if and where the oil might eventually go ashore in Europe.

I made a promise to myself to stop dwelling on this BP thing, but it’s pretty hard not to think about it. I plead guilty to a great personal interest in earth sciences and studies like this, an interest you may not share. So if you want more details, see the NCAR news release.