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The Gulf of Mexico oil spill, mapped over your city

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Above, what the the Gulf of Mexico oil spill would look like if it were blanketed over Mexico City, as depicted in a Google Earth application found here. Awe-inspiring stuff. As you can see, the expanse of the spill would cover the entire Federal District plus parts of the states of Mexico, Morelos, Hidalgo, and Tlaxcala.

La Plaza found the application via the ex-pat blog Burro Hall, whose author placed the spill over his state of residence, Queretaro, shrouding it completely. If the Gulf spill has been an abstract, distant disaster to you, go in and try it for yourself, on Bogota, Sao Paolo, Buenos Aires, Santiago, or anywhere you choose.

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The British Petroleum spill is emerging as the worst man-made ecological disaster since the 1989 Exxon Valdez spill, an international crisis the likes of which the U.S. is only beginning to get a grasp on. You can follow developments on the spill at the L.A. Times blog Greenspace.

Mexico’s Navy expects that the spill will not harm Mexican territorial waters, for now. The start of hurricane season could cause the expanding spill to shift in other directions, the Navy said. If that happens, the environmental secretary said, Mexico is prepared to sue.

-- Daniel Hernandez in Mexico City

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