Getting it into proportion

The BBC's Q&A on the BP oil spill is full of large numbers

'The first estimates from US officials on 26 April put the flow at 1,000 barrels per day. BP then put that up to 5,000 barrels but then revised its estimate upwards: 12,000 to 19,000 barrels flowing out of the oil spill every day. The latest figures, from the US Geological Survey, say it could have been as much as 40,000 barrels a day before the blown-out riser pipe was capped on 3 June. '

And all of these figures seem huge, add that to the BBC's report that: 'The Gulf of Mexico oil spill is the worst environmental disaster the US has faced, a senior official has said.' and that 'At least 20 million gallons have now spilled into the Gulf of Mexico, affecting more than 70 miles (110km) of Louisiana's coastline. ' and that '"More oil is leaking in the Gulf of Mexico than at any other time in our history. It means there is more oil than the Exxon Valdez (in Alaska in 1989)." ' and this seems unprecedented... But it's not.

The current Deepwater Horizon is estimated to have spilled around 68,000 tonnes of oil, coming up for twice the amount spilled by the Exxon Valdez tanker in 1989. However the IXTOC 1 oil platform leaked 480,000 tonnes of oil into the Caribbean in 1979, the same year that the Atlantic Empress tanker leaked 287,000 tonnes. A year earlier the Amoco Cadiz tanker spilt 223,000 tonnes into the sea off Cornwall. There have been other 200,000 tonne+ leaks over the years, none of which have been as catastrophic as predicted at the time. However the biggest of all is the estimated 1,500,000 tonnes of oil spilt in the Gulf War of 1991.

Why are the BBC not giving this sort of perspective?