Oil Spill: Simple Graphs Explain Spill Size, Wildlife Recovery Time, & More

By Alisa Opar

Features Editor, Audubon Magazine

Published May 11, 2010

When it comes to the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, I'm feeling overwhelmed by all of the numbers being thrown around. Luckily, David McCandless over at Information Is Beautiful has transformed that barrage of data into easy-to-understand graphics. Take a look below. If you'd like to see where McCandless got numbers, click here.

[Note: While a barrel is 42 gallons, 1 barrel of crude oil, when refined, produces about 19 gallons of finished motor gasoline.]