Voilà un article de la BBC faisant état de la marée noire avec une image
radar à l'appui. Elle s'étend sur une distance considérable le long du
littoral libanais.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5255966.stm

*'Cancer risk'*

The United Nations Environment Programme (Unep) issued a warning on
Tuesday that the raid on the Jiyyeh Power plant in mid-July could pose a
cancer risk to people living in the area.
Simonetta Lombardo of Unep's Mediterranean Action Plan said the spill of
fuel oil was a "high-risk toxic cocktail made up of substances which
cause cancer and damage to the endocrine system".
UN experts warned that the first people at risk from the "toxic spray"
were the two million inhabitants of Beirut.

/Oil Spill/ selon wikipédia: (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_Spills)

«It is now thought that the impacts to marine life can be evident at
less than one part per billion petroleum hydrocarbons. The lighter
fractions of petroleum, such as benzene
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzene> and toluene
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toluene>, are more toxic, but are more
volatile and evaporate quickly. Heavier components of crude oil, such as
polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polynuclear_aromatic_hydrocarbons> (PAHs)
appear to cause the most damage; while they are less toxic, they persist
in the environment much longer than volatile components.»


Et finalement, voici une carte identifiant les principaux déversement de
pétrole depuis 1960:
http://www.lastingnews.com/maps/oilspill.php

Selon cette dernière source, la quantité de pétrole déversée il y a une
vingtaine de jours équivaut à 280 000 barils de pétrole. Sachant que un
baril équivaut à 42 gallons US, soit 158,99 litres,
(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Barrel#Oil_barrel), il y aurait donc
environ 44 517 200 litres de pétrole en mer actuellement.

Joël