Oil Spills

                                                         Oil Spills

           Oil is a fossil fuel that we use to heat our homes, for electricity, and to give us power. When oil accidentally spills into the ocean, it can cause big problems. Oil spills can hurt sea creatures, ruin a beach trip  and make seafood unsafe to eat.

Oil spills into rivers, bays, and the ocean a lot. This is caused by accidents involving tankers, barges, pipelines, refineries, drilling rigs, and storage facilities. Spills can be caused by people making mistakes or being careless. Spills can also happen by  equipment breaking down. 

Oil spills can have bad effects.These effects can depend on what kind of oil was spilled and where (on land, in a river, or in the ocean).   People who clean up the spill are more at risk for health problems and the people who live around the spill. Problems could include skin and eye irritation, neurologic and breathing problems, and stress. Not much is known about the long-term effects of oil spills.

Generally, oil spills harm ocean life in two ways: Fouling or oiling: Fouling or oiling occurs when oilharms a plant or animal. Examples are that Oil can coat a bird's wings and leave it unable to fly . Or the oil can take away the insulating of a sea otter's fur, putting it at risk of dying from cold.

What happens after an oil spill? Well, oil generally has to be gotten rid of in landfills, or broken down with chemicals, or burned. 

 Tony Hayward says, “The Gulf of Mexico is a very big ocean. The amount of volume of oil and dispersant we are putting into it is tiny in relation to the total water volume.” But even a tiny amount of oil isn’t good. Hopefully there will not be many more oil spills. 

Works Cited

“Oil Spills | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.” Www.Noaa.Gov, 1 Aug. 2020, www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/ocean-coasts/oil-spills. Accessed 22 Jan. 2021.

Wikipedia Contributors. “Oil Spill.” Wikipedia, Wikimedia Foundation, 17 Feb. 2019, en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_spill. Accessed 22 Jan. 2021.