Preview

The Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
861 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
The Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill
The Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill commenced on April 20, 2010 and continued for next 86 days. It was devastating to the extent that it killed eleven men and seventeen people severely wounded. The total estimate of the crude oil spilled is about 4.9 million barrels. It was controlled later on but the devastating effects that last for a longtime, is was the contribution of the deterioration of air and water through pollutions. When the oil evaporation happens it creates very small particles called carcinogens and aerosols. These particles do not turn off for a long time. The effects of this is hazardous to one’s health heart and lungs.

Some other primary pollutants are hydrocarbons such as benzene, toluene and naphthalene are released to the atmosphere due to the oil evaporating from the water. While they are cleaning up the pollutants in the water, the air pollution happens do the soot and very large particles that float in the air and releases of NOx (generic term for mono-nitrogen oxides) which reacts to form ozone layer and turning into smog. These aerosols, soot and NOx (mono-nitrogen oxides) react with compounds in the atmosphere and sunlight and produces secondary pollutants like peroxyacetyl nitrate and ozone (O3) which are harmful to one’s health.

Water pollution happen due to the BP oil spill and due to all the vast amount of oil and gases that entered the ocean. The enormous effects it has on the marine life and it is all primary pollutant. The devastation does not stop at this point. It prolongs the curse to the wildlife and environment as a whole. It was found out by the LSU entomologist that the liquid, brownish-black oil still leaks out of the planet every day, which can be disturbing the food chain that the sea life thrives upon. While this may be for moment in time hurting, the horrific sight of natural gas piercing approximately a mile below the ocean surface we forever devastate the ocean life. All of this molded a combination which

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Bp Oil Spill

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages

    British Petroleum’s public image was damaged immensely by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill and its poor public relations management during the weeks that followed. BP created the “Gulf of Mexico Restoration” website to inform the public about its efforts in cleaning up the spill and to help restore public trust in the company again. BP’s “Gulf of Mexico Restoration” website uses these three strategies to try to repair its reputation: a section highlighting technological advancements for safer drilling, colorful graphics of bolded statistics that state the amount of money BP has spent on various efforts, and a collection of videos that explain what BP has done to repair the Gulf of Mexico and the states affected.…

    • 711 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Gulf Oil Spill took place in the spring of 2010 and is known as one of the most devastating environmental disasters in American history. The Gulf Oil Spill took place on the Deepwater Horizon/BP MC252 drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico which had an explosion and killed 11 workers and this caused the drilling platform to sink. The explosion caused oil to leak into the Gulf of Mexico and nearly 134 million gallons of oil was released into the Gulf. Oil traveled all the way to the coasts of Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. The marine life was severely depleted; the oil killed marine life, birds, and other animals who depend on the Gulf. This environmental disaster showed some major downsides to globalization, which is the…

    • 136 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    The Deepwater Horizon Disaster (also referred to as the BP oil spill, the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, the BP oil disaster, or the Macondo blowout) occurred on April 20th 2010. Methane gas from the Macondo wellhead (that was being closed off) leaked up onto the drill rig and exploded, killing 11 people and starting the largest ocean toxicology experiment in the world.…

    • 149 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory 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
  • Good Essays

    Exxon Valdez Oil Spill

    • 1180 Words
    • 5 Pages

    What does the safety legislation implemented after the Exxon Valdez oil spill say about the government’s changing role in protecting against environmental hazards and how have the laws since then become stricter?…

    • 1180 Words
    • 5 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
  • Good Essays

    This presentation had a deep impact on me because I had been living in Gulf Breeze, Florida at the time of the spill. Gulf Breeze is located 15 miles West of Pensacola and the reefs and beaches were severely impacted by it. Not only did the spill impact the environment but also the tourism which that city needed to thrive; in turn businesses closed and restaurants plundered. When I looked outside my bedroom window at the ocean, instead of seeing the bright blue colored ocean waves, I instead looked out at green murky foam covered waves and algae blooms. The sand got covered in black oil and impacted the sea birds that used the splashing waves to gather small fish and organisms. So, when I listened to this…

    • 637 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Bp Oil Spill

    • 2831 Words
    • 12 Pages

    “Thank God men cannot fly and lay waste to sky, as well as the earth,” said Henry David Thoreau on environmental damage. The BP, or British Petroleum, Gulf oil spill has been widely referred to as the biggest environmental disaster that the United States has ever faced, with over four million gallons of oil pouring into the waters off the Mexican Gulf Coast. The BP oil spill occurred in April of 2010. It was, and still is, the biggest oil spill in all of U.S. history. The massive spill wreaked havoc on Gulf Coast inhabitants, including animals, plants, and humans, in late April. Most of the sea life in the Gulf Coast waters perished, drowning in the oil that has monopolized the waters. The BP oil spill has been rated one of the biggest environmental disasters of this century. To examine what contributed to this title, and to stop another disaster like this from happening again, the public must look at how it happened and why, the economic and environmental impact, and the cost of cleaning it up.…

    • 2831 Words
    • 12 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Better Essays

    It is believed that 4.6 billion years ago our Earth was formed. And over 200 million years ago the great body of water on this planet, what we call the ocean, was able to be formed (History of the Ocean). For 200 million years our ocean has flourished with the life of all matters of creatures from some of the first ever cells to take life, to pre-historic dinosaurs, to the fish, plants, and mammals we see today. However, today we face a new point in the history of our ocean. Today we face the potential destruction of our beloved body of water.…

    • 1541 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better 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

    BP Oil Spill

    • 1500 Words
    • 6 Pages

    News broadcasts and radio stations ran rapid on April 20th 2010 releasing emergency news. News of eleven people killed and complete destruction of the oceans from a massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, perhaps the largest in history, spread expeditiously. Due to cameras, leaks in the pipe buried on the ocean floor had been discovered. By the time the pipe leaks had been revealed, barrels of oil had secreted into the Gulf ruining reefs, destroying habitats, and killing animals in its path that dispersed throughout the Gulf by the wind and waves. The BP Oil Spill, also known as the Deepwater Horizon Spill, has cost billions of dollars for rejuvenating habits, purifying the water, washing animals, and cleaning up the areas…

    • 1500 Words
    • 6 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
  • Good Essays

    The Gulf Oil Spill

    • 1276 Words
    • 6 Pages

    The Gulf oil spill exploded on April 20th, 2010. It is known as the worst oil disaster in U.S. history. 11 people died along with the sinking of the Deepwater Horizon oil rig. The oil pipe was leaking oil 42 miles off the coast of Louisiana and was estimated of leaking 3.19 million barrels of oil into the Gulf. The well was located 5,000 feet beneath the ocean surface. It took them 87 days to finally cap the well. At that point the damage had already been done. Oil reached the shores of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi and Florida. This essay investigates the causes of this explosion as well as the effect it had on the ecosystem along with the clean up methods used for this disaster and what we could have done to prevent this disaster.…

    • 1276 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill was one of the worst man made disasters in recent history. Back in 2010, an estimated 47,000 people and 7,000 boats/vessels were involved in the cleanup process. “It was estimated by a government-commissioned panel of scientists that 4,900,000 barrels of oil had already leaked into the Gulf.” (Pallardy) An excessive amount of oil has polluted the region. The government and BP had to take action as soon as possible, before the spill reaches further distances. The disaster affected all types of wildlife. More than 8,000 birds, sea turtles and marine mammals were found injured or dead in the six months after the spill. (National Wildlife Federation) Birds had their feathers coated in oil, which made it difficult for them to fly and regulate their body temperatures.…

    • 617 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Water Pollution

    • 1150 Words
    • 5 Pages

    Water is polluted by a lot of causes. First of all is the industrial waste. Industries cause huge pollution with their activities. These come mainly from sulphur, asbestos, lead and mercury, nitrates and phosphates, oils… Firstly, sulphur is a non-metallic substance that is harmful for marine life. Secondly, asbestos is the pollutant which has cancer-causing properties when inhaled, it can cause illnesses such as asbestosis and many type of cancer. Thirdly, lead and mercury are metallic elements and can cause environmental and health problems for humans and animals. It’s even more poisonous. It’s usually very hard to clean up from the environment once it gets into it because it is non-biodegradable. Beside, nitrates and phosphates are also the poisonous. There are found in fertilizers, are often washed from the soil to nearby water bodies. They can cause eutrophication, which can be very problematic to marine environment. Lastly, oil forms a thick layer on the water surface because it does not dissolve in water. This can stop marine plants receiving enough light for photosynthesis. It’s also harmful for fish and marine birds.…

    • 1150 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays