Speculation about the amount of oil floating in the Gulf of Mexico continues to run rampant.

Ever since the National Incident Command released a report on the status of the oil in the Gulf on August 2, 2010, there have been public claims from the media and government bodies that 75% of the oil is gone.

A new report released by the University of Georgia and the Georgia Sea Grant states these claims are inaccurate.  According to the scientists who compiled this study and have interpreted the National Incident Command\’s report, less than 10% of the oil is gone, and up to 90% remains a threat to Gulf ecosytems.

The report goes on to conclude that only 5-10% (168,000-319,000 barrels) of the subsea oil has degraded; this is the equivalent of between 4% and 8% of the oil that leak from BP\’s Macondo oil well.

Charles Hopkinson, director of Georgia Sea Grant and a professor at the University of Georgia says, \”One major misconception is that oil that has dissolved into water is gone and, therefore, harmless. The oil is still out there, and it will likely take years to completely degrade.\”

Read the full story at Mother Jones: BP\’s Oil Still Present, Still a Hazard