Oil Spills and How They Affect The Environment

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Oil Spills and How They Affect The Environment

Oil spills, no matter how small or large, effect the worlds

environment by their destroying and poisoning any habitat they come in

contact with, mainly the water though. These spills can be

devastating because they disrupt what we know as the food chain. The

food chain starts with producers who are ate by small animals which

are ate by larger and larger animals until the top predator is

reached, humans. Oddly enough, humans are the main reason the food

chain is being destroyed. In our fight to reach economic prosperity

we rarely take in consideration the environment, which is partially

what life is based on. If one part in this chain fails they all fail.

Only environmentalists and earth protectors know that oil affects

anything. This is surely not the case at all. Oil spills can affect

any living thing. It can kill animals and plants. Mainly seagulls,

otters, seals, and whales are affect, but not in all cases. In the

Exxon Valdez oil spill of 1989[1] hundreds of bald eagles, which are

endangered in the US, were found dead, along with seals, and the usual

seagulls. Oil pollutes the water by putting chemicals into it that

affect animals.

There are hundreds of ships that run aground, which is the term

meaning hitting the bottom of a river, ocean, seabed, etc. One of the

most horrific and devastating spills happened in 1978, when the US

tanker, named the Amoco Cadiz, ran aground spilling over sixty-five

million gallons of oil into the water. Much of the oil sank to the

ocean bed causing sedimentation, which is when the oil mixes with clay

and other minerals on the seabed...

... middle of paper ...

...e are guests in

this world and we should treat it accordingly?

Bibliography

Environmental Protection Agency. 11 May 2004. US Government. 16 May

2004

.

Environmental Protection Agency: Oil Spills. 11 May 2004. US

Government. 16 May 2004

.

NMFS Alaska Office of Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (EVOS) Damage Assessment

and

Restoration. US Government, Alaska Regional Office. 15 Mar. 2004

.

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[1] NMFS Alaska Office of Exxon Valdez Oil Spill (EVOS) Damage

Assessment and Restoration. http://www.fakr.noaa.gov/oil/default.htm

[2] The Fate of Spilled Oil. http://www.epa.gov/oilspill/oilfate.htm

[3] Environmental Protection Agency. http://www.epa.gov

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