View Large SizeSusan Minnemeyer, World Resources Institute
Downloads
- Large Size
- Print-Ready Version (PDF, 1 page, 1.1 Mb)
Overview
Offshore oil production in the U.S. portion of the Gulf of Mexico represents 30 percent of total U.S. oil production, with 35.6 million acres (an area the size of Maine) under active lease. As oil reserves in shallow water are declining, production is moving into ever-deeper water, incurring greater risk. The Deepwater Horizon disaster illustrates the safety, economic, and environmental risks inherent in this trend. Likewise, it illustrates why lawmakers need to enact policies that move the United States in the direction of cleaner, safer energy sources and caps harmful pollution that causes climate change.
Data Sources
- Oil & gas platforms, pipelines, leases: US Department of the Interior Minerals Management Service
- State boundaries, rivers, urban areas: ESRI Data & Maps collection
Copyright
This work is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution License. Cite “World Resources Institute.”
Other Featured WRI Maps
- Forest Cover Loss to Development By County in the Southern United States (2001-2006)
- Global Map of Forest Landscape Restoration Opportunities
- Opportunities for Forest and Landscape Restoration in Africa
- The South's Last Wild Forests Face Human Pressures
- Hotspots of Urban Encroachment on Southern Forests (2000-2020)
- Dairy Development Hubs and Poverty Rate by Subcounty, Uganda
- Southern Forests: Protected Areas at Risk Due to Suburban Sprawl
- Land Use Classification and Logging Concessions in the Central African Republic
- Appalachian Forests Impacted by Coal Surface Mining (c. 2005)
- Forest Cover Loss in Indonesia, 2000-2005: The Starting Point for the Norwegian Billion to Reduce Deforestation
- Oil Spill Permeates the Gulf's Most Productive Environments
- A Storm Warning for the Deepwater Horizon Spill: Major Hurricanes in the Southern United States (1950 to 2005)
- U.S. Gulf Offshore Oil Production: Moving into Deeper Water Horizons
- The World from a Forest Landscape Restoration Perspective
Maps From Other Organizations
- NOAA Gulf Response portal
- New York Times Oil Spill Tracker
- ESRI Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill Portal
- Google Crisis Response: Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill
- Defenders of Wildlife Gulf Oil Spill Response and Recovery
This map is part of a continuing project to produce maps that shed light on significant environmental issues throughout the world.
1 Comment
Here’s a similar animated
Here’s a similar animated map showing the proliferation of oil rigs over time.