Oil is a natural fossil fuel that we use to help us with essentially everything that we know of in the modern world; we use it to heat our homes, generate electricity, power vehicles, and power very large sectors of our economy. However, despite its use in advancing and fueling our society, our heavy use of it has created many consequences to the environment. One of which is the negative affects it has on our marine ecosystem. With most of the world needing access to oil to keep people alive, it would make sense why there would be a large market for it. This makes the transportation and production of it very important, but this has caused many problems throughout modern history. We make a mistake, and the environment has to suffer for it.
What are Oil spills and why do they happen?
There are many reasons why oil spills can happen, ranging from shipwrecks to oil rig accidents. Either way, all of it has caused many negative consequences to our marine environment. Oil spills are more common than you might think they are, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Over thousands of oil spills happen across the world every year. Most of these spills however are small and occur near ports during the refueling of ships. These spills, although small, can still cause major damage to the ecosystem, especially near more sensitive areas; like beaches, mangroves and wetlands. Large oils spills are major and very dangerous disasters. There are numerous ways in which these can happen; pipelines breaking, oil tanker ships sink, or drilling operations going wrong. Although these are quite rare occurrences, when it happens the consequences are so horrible that the affects on the ecosystem and economy can last for decades.
How does it harm or kill ocean life?
Generally, oil spills can harm the environment in two ways:
Fouling or oiling: This occurs when oil spills physically harm plants or animals. Oil can coat the wings of a bird, leaving it unable to fly and live its life normally. It can also strip away the insulating properties of a sea otters’ fur, leaving it unable to protect itself from the freezing temperatures of the ocean and putting it at risk of hypothermia. In general, oil spills reduce the chances for these animals and plants to survive.
Oil toxicity: Oil consists of many toxic components. These toxic compounds can cause many major health problems such as heart damage, stunted growth, immune system effects and even death. However, since the 2010 Deep-water horizon spill, scientists have extensively studied the effects of oil toxicity to living organisms, which can hopefully help us prevent and provide aid to those affected by it.
What can we do to prevent this?
Despite oil spills being very dangerous and hazardous to our environment, there are some ways in which we are able to prevent more oils spills from happening in the future. According to the Ocean Conservancy, one of which is by encouraging the Marinas and boaters around the world to do the following steps:
Boaters
Don't overfill fuel tanks - fill to a maximum of 90% capacity to reduce chances of spillage
Use oil absorbent pads in the bilges of all boats with inboard engines
Regularly inspect through-hull fittings to reduce the risk of sinking
Recycle used oil and filters
Marinas
Routinely inspect storage tanks as required by law
Keep spill control equipment readily available
Properly dispose of used oil and fuel absorbent materials
Use automatic nuzzle shutoffs to reduce the potential of overfilling fuel tanks
With all of these steps, we can hopefully prevent or reduce any more spills from happening in the future. The environment will stay thriving, while companies can save money from having to pay for the expensive clean up costs if an accident were to happen.