Over the weekend, BP's oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico more than tripled in size to 4000+ square miles--about the same size as Chesapeake Bay. The slick is so big, it is visible from space:

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© NASA
NASA's Terra satellite captured this natural-color image of the expanding slick near the Mississippi Delta on May 1st. The outskirts of the spill are now reaching sensitive Gulf shore wetlands where the ecological impact could be severe. According to some estimates, as much as 210,000 gallons of crude oil a day are leaking into the Gulf, so the slick is only going to grow larger. Satellite images of Earth are usually beautiful. This is a rare exception. Check NASA's Earth Observatory for updates from orbit.

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