Oil formed from buried marine plankton

• Diatoms are a great example of oil-producing marine plankton
• The plankton must have anoxic burial
• Once formed, oil rests in the pore spaces of rocks 

 "Conventional" oil is running out

• California was once a leading producer of conventional oil
• Early California oil exploitation set the stage for the modern petroleum world

Most new oil exploration is "unconventional"

• These oils are low-energy and emit more greenhouse gases
• They aren't liquid

The Athabasca Tar Sands are some of the most important "unconventional" oils

• Athabasca holds the 4th largest oil reserves in the world
• Mining there has been expanding dramatically
• Athabasca mining pollutes the waterways
• ... with carcinogens like Naphthalene
• ... and dramatically alters the region's cultural dynamics
• Yet media coverage of Athabasca issues has ignored Indigenous voices

Burning fossil fuels has serious consequences for Earth and its climate

• Here are collaborative data art projects that illustrate some of these consequences
• Here are a collection of student data art projects that illustrate some of these consequences