About Oil Spills

Oil spills are terrible environmental disasters that wreak havoc on marine ecosystems. International oil transports are vulnerable to extreme weather conditions, and human error can also cause spills. Because of the international desire to protect wildlife from oil spills, measures have been taken to prevent oil spills and develop better ways to clean the mess up after an oil spill occurs.

Significance

Oil spills often have a lethal effect on birds and marine life. The ingestion of oil often leads to dehydration, liver damage and digestive disorders in many animals. More terribly, many animals become coated with the oil. Ducks coated with oil lose their buoyancy and their ability to fly. Many marine animals lose their ability to insulate themselves, leading to hypothermia.

Considerations

Oil can be released into a marine environment by seeps in the ocean floor, but the majority of the worst oil spills are the result of oil tankers spilling oil accidentally. The worst accidental oil spill occurred in 1979, when an oil well experienced mechanical failure and discharged 480,000 tons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. The worst oil spill in history, though, was the Gulf War oil spill, in which 1,500,000 tons of oil were spilled. This oil spill occurred in 1991 when Iraqi forces dumped oil from several tankers in order to prevent marines from landing in the area.

Types

The majority of oil spills are caused by oil-tanker collisions, leaking or fire. On only a few occasions have oil pipelines and offshore oil wells been responsible for oil spills. Modern offshore oil wells are better designed and less likely to malfunction than older models. Plus, the majority of oil wells are onshore oil wells, since they are less costly.

Time Frame

The first oil spill happened in 1967, when a ship ran aground near Cornwall in the U.K, spilling 919,000 barrels of crude. Oil spills remained rare until 1989, after which at least one oil spill has occurred every year. Oil spills remained at one to three spills a year until 1993, which had seven spills. The number of oil spills jumped to 10 in 1994, then fell back down to one to three spills a year until 2000, when the number skyrocketed to 23. There were 22 spills on 2001, 11 spills in 2002, seven spills in 2003 and 11 spills in 2004.

Theories/Speculation

One possible reason for the increase in oil spills is that a large number of countries have entered the business of oil trading, which opens up more possibilities for accidental oil spills. Turkey, Bolivia, Taiwan, Ecuador, Denmark, Chile, Finland, New Zealand, Romania, Russia, Pakistan, Micronesia, Indonesia and Egypt all had their first oil spill after the year 2000.

Prevention/Solution

The cleanup of oil spills is very challenging and time consuming. Skimming can be used in calm waters to scoop the oil out of the water. If the oils are not denser than water, detergents can cause the oil to settle to the ocean bed. Microorganisms are sometimes used to break down oil spills. Controlled burning can reduce the amount of oil on the surface, but this practice can pollute the air. Dispersants break up oil spills into droplets, which are then widely dispersed by waves and currents.

Resources

• History of oil spills