(Source: Google Image)
What is Oil Spill?
The reason why oil spills happen is because people carelessly causes an oil tanker to leak oil into the ocean. There are a few ways an oil spill can occur as well. For example, equipment breaking down may cause an oil spill. If it breaks down, the tanker may get stuck on land. When people start to drive the tanker again, they have to put a hole in the tanker which is why it is causing the oil to spill out.
Illegal dumpers are also contributing to oil spills. These people dump crude oil into the oceans because they are not willing to spend money on decomposing their waste oil. By dumping oil into the oceans is illegal. This is a very inconsiderate way as it will cause many problems to the marine life as well as human health.
Another way of oil spill is that terrorists may also cause it by dumping oil into a country’s ocean. The reason why they will do this is because they are trying to get the country’s attention, before they start on any terrorist activities.
Lastly, natural disasters such as earthquakes and hurricanes, can also cause an oil spill. If a hurricane were to happen in a country, the winds from the hurricane can cause the oil tanker to flip over, thus pouring oil out to the sea causing an oil spill.
What are the dangers/effects of Oil Spill?
(Source: Google Image)
Seabirds and sea mammals are at risk when facing oil spills because they are the most likely of all sea life to run into oil floating on the water. Oil reduces the amount of insulation an animal can get from its fur or feathers, so seabirds and sea mammals often die of hypothermia. Birds that get a lot of oil on them also cause them to have trouble flying thus, leading them to drown to death. Also, these animals often end up ingesting oil when they try to hunt for food, which can kill them quickly or can cause them to become very ill and die slowly.
An oil spill may appear to clear up after a bit of time, but some spills cause oil to remain in the water for many years. Even if the immediate visible effects of an oil spill dissolve, a single spill leaves a very strong and lasting impact on the creatures' habitat in the ocean. Therefore, its affecting the entire food chain, which causes population structures to shift and species' diversity and abundance to change forever. Oil spill can lead to extinction of animals as well.
There are also significant health risks caused by oil spill and the risks aren't just to marine life, they are also to us, humans.
- Health and safety issues related to the people involved in the clean-up
- Potential exposure to the general public
- Potential contamination of the food supply (such as seafood)
The following table was quoted from http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0215471/oil_spills.htm.
It shows the animals that are not recovering, recovered, recovering, and that the recovering is unknown. Oil spills sometimes are the reason for animals becoming endangered. This means that a certain type of animal is in danger of becoming extinct.
The Gulf of Mexico Oil spill 2010
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