OIL SPILLS IN THE GULF AND ITS IMPACT ON THE CLIMATE AND THE MARINE AND WILD SPECIES

Oil Spills In The Gulf and Its Impact on The Climate and The Marine and Wild Species

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Oil Spills In The Gulf and Its Impact on The Climate and The Marine and Wild Species

Oil spills are defined as the leakage of water into seawater due to human activity or any other accident which results in the contamination of water. It is well known that among all the energy sources oil is the most common and important source, and it is also a well-known fact that it is not evenly distributed around the world , therefore, it is transported on daily basis to various parts through ships and also with the help of pipes across the globe. Due to the continuous transport sometimes accidents occur ad this oil is mixed with water or earth’s crust. These spills contaminate the shores thus resulting in serious health conditions and also they are harmful to the environment and water bodies ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"EkX0Q733","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Atlas, 1991)","plainCitation":"(Atlas, 1991)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":1519,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/4C6u8dIT/items/G7PHSGAH"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/4C6u8dIT/items/G7PHSGAH"],"itemData":{"id":1519,"type":"article-journal","title":"Microbial hydrocarbon degradation—bioremediation of oil spills","container-title":"Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology","page":"149-156","volume":"52","issue":"2","author":[{"family":"Atlas","given":"Ronald M."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["1991"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Atlas, 1991).

Oil spills are harmful to the environment, marine life and also human beings. when exposed in the ocean then the oil coats the fur of various animals like seal and otters which results in the reduction in the insulating effects which further results in the fluctuations of body temperature and causes hypothermia. Oil is also harmful to animals because it can make an animal blind thus leaving it defenceless. Oil prevents the birds from flying so many birds end up drowning, even if they survive they end up having various disorders of lungs, liver and also nervous system.

So far, oil spills are considered as the biggest human-induced environmental disasters. Oil spills have destroyed the ecosystem, it has also ruined some beautiful landscapes and also caused extensive economic loss. It has a detrimental effect on both the marine organisms and also on the animals that live near the shores. It can not only damage the population of certain animals but also causes slow and painful deaths to the rest of the population. There are a number of ways through which the oil spills affect the environment and some of them include disruption of the food chain, poisouning of seafood and also by causing health issues for volunteer who put their safety at risk in order to clean up these oil spills ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"ZrM568el","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(\\uc0\\u8220{}How Do Oil Spills Affect The Environment?,\\uc0\\u8221{} n.d.)","plainCitation":"(“How Do Oil Spills Affect The Environment?,” n.d.)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":1514,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/4C6u8dIT/items/BX6MYWYJ"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/4C6u8dIT/items/BX6MYWYJ"],"itemData":{"id":1514,"type":"webpage","title":"How Do Oil Spills Affect The Environment?","container-title":"WorldAtlas","abstract":"Oil spills have widespread and long-lasting impacts on the environment. Learn more about the effects of oil spills on marine life and coastlines.","URL":"https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/how-do-oil-spills-affect-the-environment.html","language":"en","accessed":{"date-parts":[["2019",4,15]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} ("How Do Oil Spills Affect The Environment?" n.d.).

As the impact of oil spills on the environment is huge therefore there are various preventive measures that are taken in order to prevent it. If oil spills are caused by some leakage in the boat then it must be checked that all the fuel lines and tubes are in good condition. At home the pipes and also the oil tanks must be checked for any type of corrosion and also over-pressurization, if there are some damaged parts then they must be replaced by new ones. Installing an oil safety valve on the supply line of the heating system is another good option to prevent oil spills because this way it will stop automatically if the lines are broken. Using dispersants is another option to clean oil spills, these are chemical agents just like soaps which breaks down the oil slick into smaller drops, through this method smaller oil particles are biodegraded ADDIN ZOTERO_ITEM CSL_CITATION {"citationID":"Wu0NmNRb","properties":{"formattedCitation":"(Kingston, 2002)","plainCitation":"(Kingston, 2002)","noteIndex":0},"citationItems":[{"id":1518,"uris":["http://zotero.org/users/local/4C6u8dIT/items/5KMK3B3M"],"uri":["http://zotero.org/users/local/4C6u8dIT/items/5KMK3B3M"],"itemData":{"id":1518,"type":"article-journal","title":"Long-term environmental impact of oil spills","container-title":"Spill Science & Technology Bulletin","page":"53-61","volume":"7","issue":"1-2","author":[{"family":"Kingston","given":"Paul F."}],"issued":{"date-parts":[["2002"]]}}}],"schema":"https://github.com/citation-style-language/schema/raw/master/csl-citation.json"} (Kingston, 2002).

Due to the advancement in science and the efforts of various environmentalists, it is now possible to clean the oil spills. There are various chemical methods ad certain preventive measures that can be used in order to clean the oil spills. Although the damage to the environment cannot be reimbursed it is possible to take measures in order to minimize the effects of oil spills. This can be done by completely cleaning all the oil spills by adopting the right option to clean it and by breeding those birds which are near to extinction due to the hazardous effects of the oil spills.

References

ADDIN ZOTERO_BIBL {"uncited":[],"omitted":[],"custom":[]} CSL_BIBLIOGRAPHY Atlas, R. M. (1991). Microbial hydrocarbon degradation—bioremediation of oil spills. Journal of Chemical Technology & Biotechnology, 52(2), 149–156.

How Do Oil Spills Affect The Environment? (n.d.). Retrieved April 15, 2019, from WorldAtlas website: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/how-do-oil-spills-affect-the-environment.html

Kingston, P. F. (2002). Long-term environmental impact of oil spills. Spill Science & Technology Bulletin, 7(1–2), 53–61.