Preview

oil spills damage the environment

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
804 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
oil spills damage the environment
oil spill:
Oil spills happen when people make mistakes or are careless and cause an oil tanker to leak oil into the ocean. There are a few more ways an oil spill can occur. Equipment breaking down may cause an oil spill. If the equipment breaks down, the tanker may get stuck on shallow land. When they start to drive the tanker again, they can put a hole in the tanker causing it to leak oil.
When countries are at war, one country may decide to dump gallons of oil into the other country’s oceans.
Terrorists may cause an noil spill because they will dump oil into a country’s ocean. Many terrorists will do this because they are trying to get the country’s attention, or they are trying to make a point to a country.
Illegal dumpers are people that will dump crude oil into the oceans because they do not want to spend money on decomposing their waste oil. Because they won’t spend money on breaking up the oil (decomposing it) they will dump oil into the oceans, which is illegal.
Natural disasters (like hurricanes) may cause an oil spill, too. If a hurricane was a couple of miles away, the winds from the hurricane could cause the oil tanker to flip over, pouring oil out.

Cleaning up the oil on the beaches or the water after a spill:
There are many ways to stop the spread of oil in the ocean. Workers can place a boom around the tanker that is spilling oil. Booms collect the oil off the water. A boom may be placed somewhere before oil spill. They can be placed around an entrance to the ocean, like a stream. They also can be placed around a habitat with many animals living there. These booms will absorb any oil that flows around it.
The workers can also use skimmers. Skimmers are boats that can remove the oil off the water. Sorbents are sponges that can collect the oil. An airplane can fly over the water dropping chemicals into the ocean. The chemicals can break down the oil into the ocean.
They also can burn freshly spilled oil with fireproof booms to contain the

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Powerful Essays

    Acctstuff

    • 1954 Words
    • 14 Pages

    On April 1, 2011, the premium on a one-year insurance policy was purchased for $3,000 cash with the insurance coverage beginning on that date. Which of the following correctly describes the effect of the December 31, 2011 adjusting entry on the financial statements? (Assume that no adjusting entries have been made during the year.)…

    • 1954 Words
    • 14 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The oil spill was a terrible desaster that occurs when petroleum was accidentally released into the water and the environment. Oil spills normally take place on land and in the ocean. When the oil spills that occurs on land it can be cleaned up quickly if it is caught in a timely manner , the oil spill caused major damage to the environment and can also affect the animals which would cause the animals to get very sick and be very hazardous even dead due to the effects of the oil spill. When oil is leaked released into the water it floats on top of the surface and will after an period of time the oil does spread over the surface and it is then that the water becomes thin.When this happensThe oil spills takes along time to clean up and that’s because the large quanity of petroleum oil that was spilled in the ocean. The problem is that the oil is very thick and that means it will stick to the birds and mammals. All of the animals that come in contact with the the oil they are contaminated having breathing problem and can even get phemonia and cause death to occur. And also make the fish unable to reproduce. and it also affects the oyster beds and wild life.the resources become very limited and costly and an extremely amount of money was lost, due to the fact that the government waited so long to respond. The cause of oil spills is when something or someone accidently spill oil in the ocean. Oysters are one of the main seafoods ordered all over the world.Now everybody see what large impact the oil spill had on the environment and the economy along with the oyster beds.With the oil spill being so horrible and devastating with the fisherman not being able to work the restaurants were not able to get the oysters because of them being contaminated. This devastation cause famailys not to be able to provide for there familys properly.…

    • 513 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    When waste is spilled into the ocean it spreads throughout the water harming marine life and their habitat. It can affect their hearing, changes in their behavior and can even cause physical injuring or death. Much of the marine life is threatened by extinction. The oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico has threatens our planet with environmental damage. Oil spills like this fill the air with toxins that raise concern for many health problems. When oil is recovered from the ocean floor chemicals and toxins come to the surface, which are the released into the air. This is a growing concern and should not be dismissed.…

    • 527 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Sci207 Week 1 Assignment

    • 365 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The production of oil can cause severe damage to the environment. Oil waste dumping and oil spills cause serious damage on surrounding wildlife and habitat. The oil production has already harmed many land, air, and sea animal and plant species. The oil pollutes water and kills fish. The production of oil can also affect human life. The damage can include pollution of drinking water, livestock and health of the human body itself.…

    • 365 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Many people do not realize the impact of the oil spills that occur in the ocean. It is like putting water into a heated oil frying substance. It is quite catastrophic. With all the oil spills that have already occurred it is important to help clean ,and prevent oil spills from reoccuring. There is indeed a lot of reasons as to why we should clean and help prevent oil spills from happening but here are the three main reasons. First reason being oil spills cause immense harm to the marine habitats that intern affect the entire ecosystem disrupting its cycle. A second major reason being is all the things that the oil contains and where they go. The third reason we found that plays a major role involving…

    • 830 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Oil spills can occur during transport of oil from the area. For example in 1989 there was a huge oil spill off the coast of Alaska when the exxon valdez oil tanker crashed. Over 40 million litres of oil spilled into the ocean and over 250 000 birds and fish were killed. Oil spills can occur if the pipelines leak between 1977 and 1994 there were on average 30 to 40 spills a year from the trans-alaska pipeline. Some of these were caused by intentional attacks and forest fires. Oil pipes have automatic shut off valves in order to minimise oil spills if the pipelines are damaged.…

    • 338 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Earth Science Study Guide

    • 1036 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Majority of the trash is from landfills toxic run off or from trash being dumped directly into the ocean.…

    • 1036 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In Alaska there have been some issues with the Exxon Valdez, the tanker was leaking oil.…

    • 332 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gulf Oil Research Paper

    • 923 Words
    • 4 Pages

    The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is considered to be the largest accidental marine oil spill in the history of the petroleum industry. The spill occurred in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, 2010. The spill was the result of the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling rig. When the rig exploded, it created a sea-floor gusher of oil that flowed freely for three months. It resulted in 11 people killed and 17 others injured. In addition to the injuries and loss of human life, there were detrimental impacts to the environment both long and short term. By the time the leak was capped, there had been 4.9 million barrels of crude oil released. The amount…

    • 923 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Oil is one of the many resources being dumped into the ocean. Approximately 8.8 million tons…

    • 717 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Bp Oil Spill

    • 475 Words
    • 2 Pages

    The Oil Spill, due to the mismanaged oil drilling by British Petroleum (BP), in the Gulf of Mexico, has turned into one of the worst environmental disasters to happen to an ocean ecosystem of all time. Although many people only notice the effects on the hydrosphere, which include the oil going almost a mile deep under the sea, destroying the sediment and rock on the ocean floor, as well as disrupting coastal patterns, many have not realized the drastic effects on the biosphere because of this catastrophic event. The BP oil spill is viewed as the largest decimation of ocean wild life known to man, as well as also killing human lives in the process. Entire ecosystems have been affected in the process, harming animals like whales, dolphins, fish species, pelicans, seagulls, sea turtles, etc., several of which are already endangered. This destruction of wildlife has also lead to a slowdown in many fishing industries, further affecting human life, and causing severe poverty for those who rely on such business to survive. Even if some of the animals did survive, the trauma faced from this experience will lead to reproductive problems, or most likely, death. Even though life is returning back to the Gulf, the damage done can never be replaced, and the area will never be the same.…

    • 475 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Bp Oil Spill

    • 1713 Words
    • 7 Pages

    The BP Oil Spill has been a huge environmental issue; it was the worst oil disaster in US history. The government estimated up to 2.6 million gallons per day with a total of 205.8 million got into the gulf. Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama and Florida all had miles on miles of surface oil problems. BP put nearly 2 million gallons of chemical “dispersants” into the ocean, which actually make the oil more toxic to ocean life. It’s considered and environmental issue because of its massive amount of damage and was caused by humans, the oil company. The spill made more than 1,000 miles of shoreline covered in oil.…

    • 1713 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Bp Oil Spill

    • 2831 Words
    • 12 Pages

    The match that lit the fuse of the gigantic spill was a massive explosion on April 20th, 2010, on the Deepwater Horizon oil-drilling platform that killed eleven workers. The spill had already been going on for three months, gushing crude oil into the gulf, before it was finally capped on July 15th, 2010. Even after it had been capped for forty days, the people whose environment was directly affected had not yet been notified of any type of oil spill. An article by World Book confirms how the spill was started: “The explosion of the Deepwater Horizon oil-drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico on April 20, kills eleven workers and creates the worst environmental disaster in US history. For nearly three months, as BP struggles to cap the leaking well, about 4.9 million barrels of oil gushes into the Gulf.” (World Book 2011) This explosion directly affected at least eleven families who lost loved ones at the beginning of an enormous environmental crisis…

    • 2831 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Oil spills can last for decades after the spill has occurred. They can affect plants and animals from the oil itself and from the response of cleanup operations. Spilled oil contains chemical constituents that are poisonous, which can harm living…

    • 496 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Gulf Oil Spill

    • 1478 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The effect on coastal environments such as beaches, marshes, and mud flats was catastrophic. According to the national commission tasked with analyzing the oil spill 650 miles of coastal habitat were affected. About 130 miles of this area was described as being moderately to heavily oiled. Clean up of these areas can be difficult as the oil can seep deep down into sand and silt and remain there for…

    • 1478 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays