What if one day you walked to the beach and saw not the beautiful blue ocean your use to but instead a sea of black sludge. Within that sea you see the bodies of once beautiful, graceful, and lively animals that are now nothing more than rotting corpses. This is an overview of what you’ll see when coming upon an oil spill as this horrific sight will make you wonder, “How did this happen?” Today I will tell you why oil spills are so dangerous as they have short term and long term effects that hurt everyone and I will urge you to maximize your efforts in eliminating this problem that is not only hurting the animals but also the environment, our home. For my first point, the oil spills aren’t just harming wildlife, but they’re killing them as …show more content…
Fishing industries, tourism, and other businesses are dramatically affected by oil spills as they suffer disruptions and can experience loss of earnings. For tourism, oil spills can disrupt outdoor water related activities. The long term effect is that these activities can be withdrawn for long periods of time until the spill is cleaned up. Fishing industries can be affected as their stocks, and disrupt their fishing. The number of factors from the oil spill will determine how hard the fishing industry will be affected. One major factor is when marine wildlife dies the fishermen might not be able to produce be able to produce the fish they’ve been hired to catch as this can result in deducted pay. Now as I know people with limited supplies I realize times can be hard as people drinking the oil polluted water are dealing with multiple health conditions like dehydration, cancer, organ failure, and many more health problems that may lead to death. This situation is further than the U.S. it goes to as far as Nigeria as in some communities they have no other option than to not only drink the polluted water but use it for everyday needs. This has tragic effects on people and the lives they live as with illnesses they may not be able to recover from this tragic
Because of BP oil spill all business around coastal beaches suffers a lot which are only depend on tourism and fishing. This destruction not only cause health problem, but also be responsible for millions of dollars in lost revenue.
Oil provides us with many necessities in our lives. Cosmetics, medicines, cleaning products, asphalt, food, plastic, and most importantly, petroleum. But of course, nothing comes without a price. The oil that makes our lives so much more convenient, is also ironically gradually killing the environment, this very Earth that we live in. One of the biggest environmental concerns come from oil spills. Oil spill is defined as “ the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially marine areas, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution.” Let’s look at some examples of these oil spills.
Smith Jr., Lawrence C., L. Murphy Smith, and Paul A. Ashcroft. "Analysis Of Environmental And Economic Damages From British Petroleum's Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill." Albany Law Review 74.1 (2011): 563-585.Academic Search Complete. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.
Ejikeme begins her article by asserting that every year for a half of century; the Nigerian residents living in the Niger Delta are suffering from the oil spill which is equivalent to one Exxon Valdez – it is one of the worst environment disastrous conditions to live in imaginable. The situation is getting more atrocious when the amount of oil spills does n...
Oil pollution has been a major environmental concern since commercial scale oil extraction began in the Niger Delta in the 1950s and it will be for as long as oil extraction continues. Since the 1950s because of the increasing demand for crude oil and the existence of large oil reserves, the Niger Delta has experienced what can be called an environmental disaster from oil pollution, which resulted in major consequences for the environment and for the indigenous people who depended on the region for their livelihood. A study on Ogoniland, located in the Rivers State of the Niger Delta, revealed that the soil, groundwater, vegetation, surface water and even the air had been contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbons, devastating aquatic and agricultural communities and causing serious health issues for many residents (Environmental Assessment 2011). Many historians, environmentalists, political theorists, and other parties have discussed and explored this disaster, leading to disagreement about who is to be blamed. Two general positions have emerged as a result: the first position, suggests the Nigerian State made the country ripe for such a disaster and that although multinational oil companies (MNOCs) like Shell might have played some role, the state that is primarily responsible for the environmental disaster in the Niger Delta because it is in control of rules, regulations, policies, and revenue. The second position argues that MNOCs themselves, with Shell being used as an example, are primarily responsible for the environmental disaster in the Niger Delta because they are in direct contact with the oil, equipment, and local people. Ultimately, the examination of popular and secondary research and of both positions outlined above l...
Because it is the most highly publicized of the different forms of ocean pollution, oil spills, oil leakages, and general oil contamination are something that we all seem to be aware of. Since the Exxon Valdez incident, the American public in particular has been more and more critical of oil companies.Each year, over 700 million gallons of oil end up in the ocean. Contrary to what you may have thought, most oil pollution doesn't come from tanker accidents. In fact, tanker accidents account for less than 90 million of the g...
Is Australia doing enough to protect its citizens from shark attacks? Let me make it clear, I am not here today to express how the culling of sharks and installation of nets around our bay has its advantages, however, I am here today to criticize the Australian and State Governments for not doing enough to protect its citizens from shark attacks which left Zac Young praying to God while his friends were left to carry the upper half of his body back to the shore after he was mauled by a tiger shark. It is clearly evident that more needs to be done to protect us. I am going to be honest with you, it is going to cost money, but how can you put a price on the 26 un provoked shark encounters and 3 fatalities that occurred in our waters last year? The government needs to invest more money to protect its citizens from these avoidable
Although no one can say for sure how much oil was spilled into the waters of the Gulf of Mexico, one thing is certain: The victims of the oil spill are widespread and vary greatly. One group significantly affected by the oil spill is all of the onshore businesses along the Gulf that rely on the tourism as a source of income. This group includes hotels, restaurants, resorts, and novelty shops dependent on tens of thousands of tourists who head down to the Gulf for vacation each year (Segal 2). Another group greatly impacted by the oil spill is the off-shore businesses who rely on the Gulf waters and its re...
“Since oil was found, tens of thousands of acres of wetlands have been devoured by the ocean. Sixty percent of Louisiana vanishes every year due to oil companies” (Grisham 257). “In 1970, the Fish And Wildlife Service listed the brown pelican as an endangered species throughout its range”
Most people believe that one man-made natural disaster would teach us to be better, but we have learned that history repeats itself. The Exxon Valdez oil spill (in 1989) and the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, or BP oil spill, (in 2010) were both devastating oil spills that shocked the nation. The Exxon Valdez oil spill occurred due to a tanker grounding. The BP oil spill was caused by an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform. These two oil spills were both disasters and had greater effects in certain categories. In this essay, I will be comparing the cause of both oil spills, the damage/effect of both oil spills, and the cleanup of each oil spill.
One of the bad effects was the spill of the oil in the open ocean. The oil spill in water affected the environment killed so many water animals and it also affected the people who are living on the shoreline. The oil has polluted the water and now that water can’t be used to for any purpose. It also affected to the shoreline which was connected to the gulf water. The oil spill reached the shore and people can’t go near the affected area because of its hazards affects and it also causes skin diseases and many other problems. The spill also damaged so many small tropical islands in the area. It is also
Gasoline plays an incredibly monumental role toward humanity in this day and age. It is used throughout the world in many different ways, from simple tasks like transportation, to more complex tasks like goods production. The recent fluctuating gas prices have made things very difficult for many, especially when gas prices went up to highs like $5 per gallon. However, Congress has recently passed legislation on the implementation of price controls on gasoline in order to combat this growing crisis. The responsibility of allocating gas to consumers was placed into the hands of the US Department of Energy.
" Oil is the life blood of our modern industrial society. It fuels the machines and lubricates the wheels of the world’s production. But when that vital resource is out of control, it can destroy marine life and devastate the environment and economy of an entire region…. The plain facts are that the technology of oil-- its extraction, its transport, its refinery and use-- has outpaced laws to control that technology and prevent oil from polluting the environment…" (Max, 1969). Oil in its many forms has become one of the necessities of modern industrial life. Under control, and serving its intended purpose, oil is efficient, versatile, and productive. On the other hand, when oil becomes out of control, it can be one of the most devastating substances in the environment. When spilled in water, it spreads for miles around leaving a black memory behind (Stanley, 1969).
The Gulf of Mexico oil spill has had an extremely negative effect on the surrounding wildlife and ecosystem. The oil spread across the gulf contaminating any living organism that came into direct or indirect contact with it. The oil cuts off the ability of oxygen from the air to move into the water which directly harms fish and other marine wildlife that require that oxygen. The dispersant that the BP is using to try and break up the oil moves the slick into the entire water column which contaminates the ocean floor which would most likely not have seen any damage if it wasn’t for the use of these dispersants. More than 400 species that live in the Gulf Islands and marshlands are at risk and as of November 2 s...
One of the most famous pollution threats of the bay was the Oil Spill of 2007. A tanker hit the wall of the bay, and a total of 58,000 gallons of oil was spilt into the water of the San Francisco Bay Area. The spread of the oil was so severe that the governed of the States came to see the progress that he inducted during the cleanup. Initial investigation of the extent to which the spill had affected the ecosystem of the San Francisco Bay area took twelve hours. There are the different conclusion that was arrived at after the