Another oil spill happening in Egypt.

[FedUpWithIt All]

Egyptian media said Saturday the leakage has caused a 20-km- long spill along the coast of the Red Sea city, Hurghada, eastern Egypt.

http://english.cri.cn/6966/2010/06/21/1461s577867.htm

CAIRO — An oil spill off the Egyptian Red Sea coast of Hurghada threatening to damage marine life in the area has prompted environmental agencies to demand tighter regulation of offshore oil platforms.

Large quantities of oil have appeared in recent days around the resorts of Hurghada which draw millions of tourists who come to dive or snorkle, according to the Hurghada Environmental Protection and Conservation Agency.

"It started four or five days ago and the companies responsible didn't notify anyone. It is catastrophic," HEPCA Managing Director Amr Ali told AFP.

http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5gqsxgyBThOZBpk2qs2Xsudk8JI2A


Is it just me, or are their mine, natural gas well and oil leak disasters happening with increasing frequency?

[RoyGBiv]

1. It's partly you ...

"Hindsight bias is a close relative of the availability heuristic. You tend to believe anecdotes and individual sensational news stories are more representative of the big picture than they are. If you see lots of shark attacks in the news, you think, “Gosh, sharks are out of control.” What you should think is, “Gosh, the news loves to cover shark attacks."

http://youarenotsosmart.com/2010/06/14/hindsight-bias/

IOW, there are two things to notice here. One is that suddenly the news media has taken an interest in covering events that happen with a troublesome frequency. Second, oil spills happen all the time, and no one bothers to say squat about it until property values are in danger.