Oil Spills
By: Savonnah Lewis
Main 2 issues concerning oil splls
1. When oil gets in contact/ingested by organism it can be very harmful.
2. After there is an oil spill the clean up process can be very dangerous concerning the organisms as well.
Information from: http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/oil-and-chemical-spills/oil-spills/how-oil-harms-animals-and-plants-marine-environments.html
The photo on the right shows how the BP oil spill affected this animal.
Picture from: http://dogtime.com/trending/3350-bp-oil-spill-help-animals
Negative effects of oil spills
The effect depends on many factors like the type of spillage and the amount of oil that spilled. Oil can contaminate many things under water, if marine life comes in contact that is contaminated it can be very harmful and possible kill them, the surviving marine life may have ad health afterwards. Oil spills can also effect organisms habitats.
Information from: http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/oil-and-chemical-spills/oil-spills/how-oil-harms-animals-and-plants-marine-environments.html
The picture above shows oil settling in the gulf. Picture from: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/energy/oilandgas/9109524/BP-close-to-14bn-settlement-over-Gulf-of-Mexico-oil-spill.html
The following link is to an article discussing the BP oil spill in the Gulf that caused lots of damage. http://insideclimatenews.org/news/19042015/bp-spill-9-million-acres-gulf-leased-drilling?gclid=CP3B2caEz8kCFQqPaQod0UAO6w
North America's most freqent oil spill occurence
The coastal regions of North America receive the most oil spill occurrence.
Information from: http://oceanmotion.org/html/impact/marine-resources.htm
The picture to the right shows the area of each NOAA oil response in 2014.
Picture from: https://usresponserestoration.wordpress.com/2015/01/ select edit to zoom in.
The wildlife that is most affected by oil spills
Marine plants and animals are most affected by oil spills.
The picture below shows 2 sea otters affected by an oil spill. Picture from: http://www.kidzworld.com/article/24170-oil-spills-sad-but-true
How the wildlife is affected by oil spills
Oil can destroy the fur of marine mammals of feathers of birds who came I contact, exposing them to the harsh elements. When this happens the animals don't have a way to protect themselves from the cold water, so they may develop hypothermia, and die. Also if an animal ingests oil it can poison them. Adult fish when exposed to oil may experience reduced growth, enlarged liver, and it affects their eggs and larval survival.
Information from: http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/oilimpacts.html
The picture below shows a duck affected by an oil spill, and is trying to get clean.
Picture from: http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/cleaning-oil-spill1.htm
Does oil spills affect us in League City? If not, could it ever reach our area?
Oil spills do not affect us in League City because there is no major body of water to spill oil in, or ships that ship oil across to a destination. We may lose oil from the spill that we could use, but it will not be able to reach our area.
The picture below shows a tug boat in Galveston responsible for a collision that lead to an oil spill. Picture from: http://www.galvnews.com/news/free/article_0118cdb4-0f87-11e5-af66-1f52456a0445.html
Are people affected?
Most people will not be affected, unless they are helping clean up an oil spill from another area, or they are worried for some reason of another oil spill that happened in a different location.
This video shows how we are affected by the Gulf oil spill and experiments are made to see how oil affects marine animals. https://youtu.be/SakDOUlDWDs
How oil spills happen
Oil spills are caused by people making mistakes or being careless, equipment breaking down, or natural disasters. Accidents can involve tankers, barges, pipelines refineries, drilling rigs, and storage facilities.
Information from: http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/training-and-education/education-students-and-teachers/how-do-spills-happen.html
Solutions to oil spills
There really isn't a way to prevent oil spills, but there are many ways to clean one up. For example scientists discovered a superabsorbent material that sops up to 40 times its own weight of oil. It can then be shipped to an oil refinery and processed to recover the oil.
Information from: http://www.acs.org/content/acs/en/pressroom/presspacs/2012/acs-presspac-november-14-2012/a-complete-solution-for-oil-spill-cleanup.html
The following link is to an article that discusses the material that is used in the superabsorbent material that can help for clean up on oil spills. http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ef300388h