Scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research revealed this week that the reach of the oil gushing into the Gulf from the Deepwater Horizon spill site is likely to reach around Florida and flow up the East coast in a matter of months.

Synte Peacock, a member of the research team that used sophisticated computer models to map the projected flow of the oil, said in the statement: "Actually, our best knowledge says the scope of this environmental disaster is likely to reach far beyond Florida, with impacts that have yet to be understood."

The simulations (see below) indicate that if caught up in the Loop Current, oil could wrap around Florida's Atlantic coast and flow up the East coast as far north as North Carolina.

Although an unlikely worst-case scenario (though those seem to be coming to fruition more often these days) European scientists are beginning to investigate the impact the oil could on have their shores if it broke into the Atlantic.

Vaguely hopeful German researcher Martin Visbeck, also a member of the team, said "our assumption is that the enormous lateral mixing in the ocean together with the biological disintegration of the oil should reduce the pollution to levels below harmful concentrations. But we would like to have this backed up by numbers from some of the best ocean models."

Video courtesy of the National Center for Atmospheric Research.