Oil Disasters And The Negative Impact On The World And Its Inhabitants

On April 20, 2010, one of the most horrific accidents occurred in regards to the oil and gas industry. An oil rig exploded not far off the coast of Louisiana. People were injured and even killed. Thick, brown oil gushed into the Gulf of Mexico, destroying beaches and wildlife. Researchers and scientists were forced to find new ways to clean up the oil, in a quick and efficient manner. The immediate and lasting effects of the BP oil spill having caused numerous issues both physically and emotionally. BP has faced consequences for their mistakes and they have since made multiple changes to better the safety and quality of their company to prevent problems like these to happen again. Society should take a look at what happened during and after the oil spill and learn from the experience. I learned a lot about the topic after writing this research paper, and I have a new respect for the people that work in the oil and gas industry. I had no idea how much they risk every time they step foot on an oil rig.

Still people make the argument that oil is just too important to stop drilling and that if anything we should drill more. Again author Margaret Haerens talks about how “According to the nation academy of Sciences, current cleanup methods can only remove a small fraction of the oil spilled into the ocean, leaving the remaining oil to continue affecting ocean ecosystems over time” (126). The long term impacts of offshore spills continue to corrupt the oceans and who knows when they will completely be gone. The effects of the oil directly on sea life such as sea birds, fish, shellfish, and other sea life are extremely dangers. “Studies have shown that tiny amounts of oil – as little as one part per billion – can harm pink salmon and cause their eggs to fail” (Haerens Margaret). Imagine swimming in the ocean when a large pool of toxic oils comes floating along right into you when you are trying to enjoy a day at the beach. Not only is offshore drilling have one of the longest lasting ecological impacts on society and living things on and off shore, it effects our economy as well.

Regardless of their attempt, the spread of the oil to the surface and shore of the ocean was inevitable. Therefore, all marine animals were affected by the oil contamination in the Gulf of Mexico. Oil filled the blowholes and entered the lungs of dolphins and whales. This made breathing almost impossible.

Everything in this world we use comes from the ocean in some way. The air we breathe, the water we drink, even the products we use day to day, would not be possible without the ocean. That's why the issue

This disaster of the BP oil spill has caused many deaths: 64 mammals, 2,919 birds, and 489 sea turtles according to National Wildlife Federation and these numbers are going to continue to rise year after year till all the oil is cleaned up. Also, the Gulf is home to endangered species. Kemp’s ridley sea turtles are currently listed as endangered, and could go to threatened in the next couple years. Another example is the Bluefin Tuna which is labeled as endangered and could send them to extinction due to the massive oil spill. This is one dire effect that is hurting our ecosystem, and this same instance happened in Alaska with the Exxon Valdez oil spill. A great example of how gruesome the oil has taken on wildlife, look at Fig. B where a there is an oil-soaked pelican. I believe the world should change its main source of oil to a different less destructing fuel.

Offshore oil drilling is a controversial topic because when oil spills, it does extensive amounts of damage to the environment. Countries capable of mining oil in the ocean reap the economic benefits in addition to reducing their dependency on external oil. While it is uncontroversial that offshore drilling is a

Pipelines are often viewed as a danger to the environment; this can be true as an oil spill can cause tremendous issues of toxicity and the death of wildlife. The companies who build pipelines are doing their best to ensure the safety of the wildlife and the environment. Preventative and safety efforts being made include leak detection systems and trenches that, if a leak were to occur, will keep oil from being carried away from the pipeline and contaminating the surrounding land (Congressional Digest, 2011). The United States has more than 2.4 million miles of energy pipeline; seventy-two thousand of which are crude oil lines used to supply oil to Americans (Kalen, 2012). Pipelines are something that already exist and

There are so many reasons why pollution in Oceans water are the worst in the world. Oil is a Natural resource that most people use, it is found on certain areas in the world such as the bottom of Oceans. Oils spills can be involved as the result of deliberate sabotage or illegal dumping. Depending on the location and the condition, they have several techniques can be used to clean up the oil spills. 37 million gallons of oils is spilled in the Oceans each year. Most consequences of water pollution is caused by mishandling of oil products Proper disposal and recycling of used oils can go along way to help to prevent oil pollution in the water. In conclusion oil spills are so dangerous animals and maybe peolpe could die of oil pollution in waters.

Throughout history, humans have had many adverse effects on the ocean. However, in the past century, a new threat to the ocean has arisen. Oils spills are one of the most dangerous human effects on the ocean, partly because they’re so difficult to reverse after they’ve happened, and because many

The oil industry, though it harnesses over hundreds of billions of dollars’ revenue worldwide, it provides many consequences to ecosystems. They have the potential to kill marine mammals and birds by Direct Toxicty, and weakens the organism’s immune systems. Offshore drilling affects the geological structure of the oceans as the

“The impacts of previous oil disasters show that wildlife in the gulf will continue to be affected by subsurface oil” The past oil spills are still contributing to the death of mammals in the area of the disaster. The NOAA says, “In total, we found the oil spill has likely harmed or killed approximately 82,000 birds of 102 species, approximately 6,185 sea turtles, and up to 25,900 marine animals including bottlenose dolphins, spinner dolphins melon-headed whales and sperm whales.” Plenty of animals die every day already from natural causes and overfishing, but oil is causing even more to die at an extreme rate. “The national Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said it had found 32 dolphins in the bay under weight, anemic and showing signs of liver disease. nearly half had low levels of stress hormones that help with stress response, metabolism and immune functions” The disasters are harming the mammals that live in the area of the spill, not only poisoning them but affecting them in the long-term and eventually adding to the already high number of deaths “... NOAA says 714 dolphins and whales have been found stranded from the Florida panhandle to the Texas state like, with 95 percent of those mammals found dead” Dolphins and whales are being hit hard by oil disaster and they turn up dead even after the oil has been cleaned up. From oil

Moreover, According to New England Aquarium (2016), when whales, dolphins and porpoises surface to breathe, oily water can cover their blowholes and enter their lungs, making breathing difficult. Oil can get into animals’ eyes, potentially causing

Oil drilling affects thousands of marine animals in their ecosystems and has caused massive damage before. For example, on April 20, 2010, 210 million gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico. It is considered the largest accidental marine oil spill in the world and the largest environmental disaster in U.S History. (“Deepwater Horizon.” Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 06 July 2017. Web. 06 July 2017.) “As the Deepwater Horizon disaster shows, it’s hard to contain and remove oil that is spilling into the ocean.” (Hamalainen, Karina. "DRILLING FOR OIL." Science World Sep 27 2010: 8,12,TE8. ProQuest. Web. 30 June 2017.) This clearly states the known severity of oil spills. Oil in the ocean is hard to clean up, imagine how the animals that live in the affected areas struggle to survive. It stays in the water for

Oil Spill Group 3 Vera Lois A. Decano Kriceal Viz B. Saldon Mia Tagle Sam John F. Luison Kathe Unabia Chayya Margaret P. Golez Dominic M. Concillo Oil Spill Introduction In the recent years there have been occurrences of oil spills in several locations within our country. Knowing that these have adverse effects on our environment and the ecosystem as a whole, we’ve always been in search of ways to counter this major problem. The damages we receive from an oil spill far exceed our expectations. Once oil contaminates our waters it takes time to clean up.

Oil contamination is devastating for an environment. The free release of oil into the water leads to a wide range of negative consequences, such as “the spread by wind and wave” (Bai & Bai, 2014, p. 363). The oil spillage from the Deepwater Horizon platform floating on the surface was spread by wind and sun, moving over the water’s surface. As a result, the oil spread affected the environment, including the wildlife.