The Sea Empress oil spill and the BP oil spill have had major damages to their environment. In both cases, different species have been killed and endangered because of the now polluted waters. Industries, such as the fishing industries, have been closed down because of the oil flowing through the water.
However, the cleanup process for both spills were drastically different, and it lead to a completely different result. For the Sea Empress spill, people were dedicated to the cleaning up straight away, whereas in the BP spill, the company just neglected it and resorted to ignorant tactics such as throwing garbage in the sea in hope for it to suck up the oil, which didn’t work as they had hoped. As explained before, the Sea Empress didn’t have a drastically negative impact on the impact, but the BP oil spill left a huge scar on the environment and prevalent. Up to this day, oil is still found in the Bahamas and also in the fats of the fish that inhabit. The BP company itself weren’t responsible for the clean up, as they paid the government to do all the cleaning up. There are many criticisms towards BP. Many of the major oil companies that operate in the Gulf of Mexico distanced themselves from BP and criticized the design of Macondo well which was the initial reason for the
Because of the BP oil spill many of the working industries in the Gulf of Mexico were highly affected. Since a large portion of the marine life was affected a number of the oil fishing industries have been shut down. This is because the oil spill has caused mutations to start occurring in the water, thus creating problems for the future species. Fishing industries have had to shut down to prevent harm to any of their buyers. The lack of business success has ...
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...mental-friendly approach was made from the lessons learnt from previous spills. (picture of high pressure washing) such as that high pressure washing put together the problem of oil in sensitive habitats and
Environments, and prolongs the recovery time
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.
All the above stakeholders impacted by oil spill but differently unfortunately, the oil spilled into the ocean and killing all the fish and wash off the coast spread through rivers, affecting the fishermen and BP company affected by because they need to clean all this was to be able to cover the costs, and bad publicity the oil spill has affected governments w...
In 2010, there was a huge oil spill near the Gulf of Mexico that we now know as the BP Oil Spill today. The Spill sent about 170 million barrels of crude oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The spill killed 11 men aboard the deep-water Horizon. The BP Oil Spill impacted the environment very negatively. There were different types of environmental impact as a result of the Oil Spill, but the two that grabbed my attention the most are the Polluted Air and the Contaminated Food Chain. The first impact that grabbed my attention was the Polluted Air. Because of the Oil Spill, the air around the surroundings neighborhoods was polluted. All the lightest chemicals in the oil that had spill evaporated within hours of the incidence forming air pollution particles. These particles that are in the air poses significant threats to the human health from being inhaled. The chemical found in the particles that was formed is known as Volatile, which has been known to cause respiratory irritation and central nervous system depression (Solomon & Janssen, 2010). The second impact that grabbed my attention was the contamination of the food chain, specifically the food chain of sea animals that lives near the Gulf of Mexico. Scientists found traces of oil in zooplanktons; this could only mean that the sea creature has had contact with the spilled oil. According to the Staff at Houston Business Journal (2012), “Baby fish and shrimp feed on the tiny, drifting zooplankton, and then introduce contamination and pollution to the larger sea creatures in the food web.” With these findings, it isn’t going to take long before the baby fishes become grown and caught by fishermen and before we know it, it’s on our dinner plate. And here we are eating fishes w...
On April 20, 2010, the Macondo wellhead BP pipe leaked crude oil and gas on the ocean floor into the Gulf of Mexico 42 miles off the Louisiana coast (Gulf Oil Spill). This oil spill is known as the largest spill in U.S. history. The pipe was located 5,000 feet underwater where there are temperatures just above freezing and extremely high pressures (Gulf Oil Spill). Oil spewed from this pipe non-stop for 87 days (Gulf Oil Spill). About twenty percent of it ended up on the ocean floor or on the surface (Gulf Oil Spill). Since it’s hydrophobic, the oil on the surface spreads out and forms slicks. These slicks greatly affect ecosystems and animals. The oil that didn’t end up on the floor or surface hovered in the middle of the ocean, forming layers of oil (Gulf Oil Spill). All 200 million gallons of crude oil mixed throughout the ocean and affected coastal and deep-sea sediments (Gulf Oil Spill). Although the pipe was capped on July 15, 2010 (Gulf Oil Spill), much of the oil still remains on the Gulf floor today.
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.
There are many causes to petroleum in b the oceanic environment. Oil naturally seeps into the ocean but the natural concentrations have been greatly exceeded. Shipping oil from one place to another contributes the most to oil in the ocean. The crude oil from transportation b is discarded into the ocean while cleaning bilges, which are the lowest compartment in ships, and transferring oil from tank to tank at sea. “Disasters like shipwrecks, oil tanker accidents, and offshore oil rigs fires continue to this problem, as does the disposal of urban garbage into oceans, dumping of waste oil by passing ships, commercial coastal and off-shore entertainment, and deep-sea industrial and nuclear waste dumps”(“Marine Water Quality”). Another large polluter is the oil industry. Tanker ports and refineries are located by the coast for shipping purposes. The coastal areas receive considerable damage from the spills. “Large numbers of seabirds are killed annually, their oil-matted plumage making flight impossible and exposing them to hypothermia. Oil-soaked fur of marine mammals loses its water repellency, also leading to death by hypothermia. Ingestion of oil by fishes, birds, and mammals may also result in death”(“Marine Pollution”). Another source of petroleum pollution is from the city streets. Oil runoff from urban streets and sewers enter waterways and the ocean. Oil has a very long term ecological impact on the ocean and the marine ecosystems. “The presence of oil in marine waters severely degrades water quality by clogging an animal’s feeding - structure, killing larvae, and blocking available sunlight for photosynthesis”(“Marine Water Quality”). Petroleum pollution has been a large problem for a very long period of time. “As early as 197p, oceanographic ecologists noted that they could rarely pull a net through the surface of the ocean without collecting some form of tar or
Oil spills don't have a good impact on humans and the environment. There are many ways this problem has affected us. For example, when the BP oil spilled in the Gulf of Mexico, the fishermen there couldn't
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...
Throughout history there have been many environmental catastrophes that resulted in devastating destruction. The most recent one that took place five years ago, in the Gulf of Mexico, was the BP Oil Spill. This event caused eleven workers to be killed and over 8,000 birds, sea turtles, and marine mammals to be discovered injured or dead within six months after the spill occurred. Damage to the Gulf Coast is still taking place to this day. The aftermath effects sadly include certain species to become sparse of even extinct. Habitat rehabilitation and future reconstruction are positive steps in the right direction, but each action that has taken place will continually start a chain reaction; and whether they are positive or negative, only the
Oil spills make up about 12% of the oil that enters the ocean. The rest emanate from shipping peregrinate, drains and dumping.
The BP oil spill of 2010 was the worst in United States history and not the last. It is estimated that over 140 million gallons of crude oil was leaked into the gulf. The damage caused by the oil was immense, and it affected shorebirds, migratory colonial birds, fish, aquatic mammals and aquatic plants were all affected by the oil. Experts across the board agree that oil pollution adversely affects all aquatic life, however their opinions differ when it comes to the severity of the damage caused.
Today, many marine animals are in danger because of man’s greed for oil. Many people believe that oil spills should be monitored and that the oil company or person that are responsible for the oil spill, must pay a fine to clean it up. Even more Americans believe that oil spills could be reduced if we put limits on the number of drilling platforms and enforce stronger laws and punishments. Oil spills are a cause of accidents on oil drilling platforms, and these spills affect the environment, economy, and tourism industry. Therefore, because oil spills lead to animal deaths, tax increases, and negatively affect gas prices, we must limit oil drilling and increase oil drilling safety procedures to diminish oil spills. Both land and marine animals are immediately impacted by oil spills.
BP oil spill caused tens of thousands of barrels of oil a day to be dumped into the Gulf of Mexico (Schrope, 2010). The BP oil spill was one of the worst disasters that have taken place. It took BP three months to stop the flow of oil into the Gulf. The BP oil spill was a disaster that was being watched by many people in the world and everyone expected BP to provide detail information about the fix and a resolution to why the blowout happened. The community wanted to know what actions BP plan to put in place to make sure this problem do not happen again. The public wanted to know about the impact the spill was having on the organisms, fishes, and other animals living in the gulf (Schrope, 2010). The public expected briefings on the cleanup efforts that plan BP was putting into place when the oil reached the shores. BP did not utilize information technology to the extent that it was available because took too long to cap off the flow of the oil.
Oil spills and drilling has an effect on our environment. It’s estimated that since humans have first started drilling into the earth, we have drilled over 1700 holes into the ocean floor (Normile & Kerr 2003). Oil drilling can lead to oil deposits accumulating beneath thick layers of salt. Drilling at ~4,000m deep involves extreme conditions; the oil itself may be around 200oC, while the temperature of the ocean floor might be just above freezing. This would cause the pipe to burst, which has a high probability of leading to oil being spilled. The average number of marine spills per year has increased from 47 per year (1968-1977) to 188 ruptures and 228 leakages per year (Jernelöv 2010). Oil spills are detrimental to the environment, and every year, about 1% of the oil being shipped across the ocean (around 1.5 billion tons of oil) is spilled (Jernelöv 2010).
Levy, Eric M. "Oil Pollution in the World's Oceans." Springer 13.4 (1984): 226-35. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.
According to the article, “Beyond Catastrophic Oil Spills: Pollution In Our Oceans,” about 25 gallons of North America’s daily oil runoff is from our daily use. In particular, the oil going into our oceans affects marine life, humans, and the health of the ocean. In contrast, some people may argue they need the oil to run our cars and to do other things. But, do they really need to? Oil dumping and oil pollution should be prohibited around the world.