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. Many sea creatures are harmed or found harmed each day due to the cause of the oil going in our oceans, as well as, plastic bags and bottles. For instance, oil destroys the ability for some animals to keep warm (NOAA). According to the, National Ocean Service, not being able to keep warm causes …show more content…
According to the article, “Beyond Catastrophic Oil Spills: Pollution In Our Oceans”, about 1.3 million gallons! The National Research Council estimated from 1990 to 1999 the amount of oil put in the Gulf of Mexico was around 375 million gallons. In particular, North America adds 47 gallons annually (Cooley). According to the article, “Beyond Catastrophic Oil Spills: Pollution In Our Oceans”, half is from oil seepage or leaks. Half of the oil in North America that ends up in the ocean starts on land (Cooley). For example, the oil that get changed in cars will most likely end up in the ocean (Cooley). According to the article, “Beyond Catastrophic Oil Spills: Pollution In Our Oceans”, the oil that drips from trucks and cars goes from land to ocean in a vast amount of time. In the same way, WWⅡtankers are also causing oil leakage (Cooley). According to the article, “Beyond Catastrophic Oil Spills: Pollution In Our Oceans”, hundreds of WWⅡat the bottom of the ocean are decomposing and releasing oil. Some people argue there is nothing people can do about the oil. However, most of the oil is from commercial ships, airplanes, or cars that are used everyday, but if we don’t use our cars that much and only when we need to not as much oil will be dumped. Because, the oil is polluting our water, the ocean life is being
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...
April, 20th 2010; The Gulf of Mexico was exquisite, marvelous, and teeming with life. An ominous and enormous drilling rig cruised across the sea. The vessel was collectedly searching for oil. The crew found a massive oiling spot, buried underneath the ocean. The crew hastily begins drilling without safety precautions, ignoring local wildlife and habitats nearby. After eliciting oil from underneath the ocean; the crew recklessly begun siphoning cement into the gaping hole. Suddenly, a vociferous boom arises from the ocean floor; the malodorous scent filled the air, as heaps of oil drifted to the surface. This oil polluted oblivious animals, looming coral and trees, and alluring shores; turning the once exquisite coast into a mung, oily marsh. Do you want more oil-based catastrophes such as the BP Oil Spill, to continue ratifying the environment?
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.
Every year, according to the U.S. Department of Energy, 1.3 million gallons of oil are spilled into U.S. waters from vessels and pipelines in a typical year. A major oil spill could easily double that amount (Thompson, "The Science and History of Oil Spills"). These oil spills not only destroy thousands of miles of oceans, they also cause billions of dollars worth of destruction to an economy. Oil spills occur when there is an accidental or intentional release of oil during any point in the oil production process. Oil spills are most common when a pipeline breaks, ships collide or are grounded, underground storage tanks leak, or when an oil rig explodes or is damaged (Thompson, "The Science and History of Oil Spills"). Another common, naturally
The 2010 BP oil spill ultimately affected both people and the environment, polluting and damaging large areas and vast populations of wildlife. The BP oil spill caused took a toll on marine life, human life, and the economy, including the fishing and tourism industry in the Gulf of Mexico. Many factors such as Petroleum toxicity, oxygen depletion, and much more can be viewed as the major sources of the disaster which led to the negative impact on wildlife. It is very clear that an oil spill is recognized to be a disaster for both for people and the environment, any tragedy of this scale would clearly bring forth regulations that will attempt to prohibit the same calamity from happening again.
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...
The Gulf of Mexico contains commercially important aquatic life, including blue crabs, squid, shrimp, and fish. Toxins in the oil can kill these species or cause injuries such as genetic damage, disease, cancer, and reproductive and immune system impairment. Marine mammals, fish, reptiles, and birds depend on clean, healthy habitats to provide food, shelter, and breeding grounds. The presence of discharged oil in the environment can cause decreased habitat use in the area, altered migration patterns, altered food availability, and disrupted life cycles. Plants affected by the oil could die, eliminating the roots that help bind and stabilize the soil in the ocean floor, leading to erosi...
BUSM3886 Business and Government in the Global Context Individual Essay Assessment. The oil spill had serious consequences for the ecosystem, it was found that the Gulf octant (the area of the oil spill from Deepwater Horizon) contained 8332 species of plants and animals. In the main taxonomy of animals at all depths of disaster, there are 1461 mollusks, 604 polychaetes,1,503 crustaceans, 1,270 fish, sea turtles, 218 species of birds and 29 species of marine mammals (Gulf of Mexico biodiversity Applications Deep Horizon oil spill MM Thomas C. Shirley, John W. Tunnell, Jr., Fabio Moretzsohn and Jorge Brenner, Harte Institute for Gulf of Mexico Studies, Texas A & M University - Corpus Christi, Corp Three months after the oil spill, it was observed that the water contained 40 times more (PAH) polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons than its previous contents. PAHs are often associated with oil spills, carcinogens, and provide different threats to the health of humans and marine life.
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
Nelson, A.N. 1971. Effects of oil on marine plants and animals. London: Institute of Petroleum.
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...
Levy, Eric M. "Oil Pollution in the World's Oceans." Springer 13.4 (1984): 226-35. Web. 16 Apr. 2014.
...e near the shore are harmed by oil. Climate changing affects plants and animals. Bird life can be increased if oil spills, greenhouse gasses, and air pollutants were put an end to.
The connection between an animal and its habitat is more complex than believed. If the habitat is damaged than it is very likely that harm will come to animals in a food chain, which will lead to harm to the animals higher up as mentioned. The placement of a habitat will determine what the effect of an oil spill will have on the organisms living in that habitat since oil spills and clean operations affects marine habitats in various forms. Mangrove trees are affected in a way that it might be fatal, and the process of growing a mangrove tree back takes a very long time so therefore the affect of the oil is grave. Coral reefs are exposed to the toxic components of the oil as well as being smothered by it and this causes great damage to the habitat and furthermore the inhabitants. Various types of animals depend on the coral reefs and if it comes to harm it will so will the animals depending on it, which will cause more trouble in the food chain. Since the oil will not dissolve in water, it contributes more to the damage of plants since it blocks the light from photosynthetic aquatic plants so that they eventually
Every year eight million tons of plastic get thrown into the ocean every year. Once there was a raccoon that had beer cans stuck to his paws. “The cans had been on his limbs for so long that he had tried to learn to walk with them, and both front limbs were completely damaged” (Johnson). There are more than twenty thousand oil spills per year. There is also not an exact number but millions of animals die from both litter and oil spills. This is a quote about the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, “Bluefin tuna spawn just south of the oil spill and they spawn only in the Gulf. If they were to go through the area at a critical time, that’s one instance where a plume could destroy a whole species”(Dr. Larry McKinney). This is my second reason why animals are the reason animals are the reason certain animals are near extinction or extinct.