What is an oil spill? It’s spilling oil into or around an ecosystem. Oil spills aren’t always like you see on the news, big petroleum oil tankers on fire and spilling oil into the ocean. It’s any kind of oil that is harmful to the environment. Oil spills in the ocean affect all living things in the water, sometimes even affecting humans. All oil spills pose a long-term threat to the ecosystems affected.
Two examples of major oil spills are the Exxon Valdez oil spill and the Deep Water Horizon oil spill. Exxon Valdez occurred when an Exxon oil tanker ran aground in Prince William Sound, Alaska. The incident caused 11 million gallons of oil to be spilled resulting in one of the largest ecological disasters in US history. Deep Water Horizon occurred when the oil spill prevention system malfunctioned leading to an explosion on the oil rig, causing 28 casualties. The spill also resulted in 210 million gallons of oil being spilled, making it the worst oil spill to ever happen.
Oil spills destroy the local wildlife and ecological balance of the ecosystems. Oil destroys mammals’ fur and birds’ feathers resulting in death from hypothermia. Baby sea turtles can ingest or get stuck in the oil. Eventually, the oil from the surface sinks to the bottom through the water columns, contaminating underwater sea life. When fish are exposed, it causes catastrophic damage to them. Reduced growth, enlarged livers, fin erosion, eventually leading to their deaths.
Oil spills also cause catastrophic damage to humans. It mostly depends on the properties of the oil, but the higher the viscosity, the greater long-term damage occurs. Oil spills can impact humans when contamination of drinking water occurs. Emulsions can also form, it happens when oil and water mix and can last for many years. Oil spills cause debilitating effects on humans when exposed over long periods. Ailments include Respiratory damage, liver damage, decreased immunity, increased cancer risk, reproductive harm among many others.
Although oil spills are terrible, technological advancements have helped aid in the control and eventual cleanup of oil spills. There are many methods of cleaning up the spills. Deploying booms help with containing the spill. Booms are long, floating barrels which encircle the spill. Once the oil is contained, you can then start removing the oil. Skimming is one option, people literally skim the surface of the water scooping the oil out. You can also burn the oil off the surface of the water. Sometimes clean-up crews deploy dispersants to break down the oil, like Corexit 9500. They also use sponges that repel water but absorb the oil. Although we have all these ways to clean up oil spills, sometimes manual removal causes more damage than the spill itself.
Overall, oil spills are a terrible human caused tragedy that can easily be prevented with more research and fail safes. Through research and development of new technologies, we as a species will hopefully be able to create a way to clean up oil spills without further damaging the ecosystems involved. Maybe even get rid of the use of oil for an alternative source of power for all.
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