Oil spills often happen because of accidents, when people make mistakes or equipment breaks down. Other causes include natural disasters or deliberate acts . Oil spills have major environmental and economic effects. Oil spills can also affect human health.
What are the main causes of oil spills?
Oil spills that happen in rivers, bays and the ocean most often are caused by accidents involving tankers, barges, pipelines, refineries, drilling rigs and storage facilities , but also occur from recreational boats and in marinas. Spills can be caused by: people making mistakes or being careless.
What are the causes of oil spill and how it affects the environment?
When oils rigs or machinery malfunction or break, thousands of tons of oil can seep into the environment. Oil spill effects on environments and habitats can be catastrophic: they can kill plants and animals, disturb salinity/pH levels, pollute air/water and more . Read more about the types of oil pollution.
What are the two major causes of oil spills?
Anthropogenic causes – including accidental oil spills (such as the recent BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico) as well as leaks and spills due to a large variety of human activities related to oil refining, handling and transport , storage and use of crude oil and any of its distilled products.
What are the effects of oil spill?
Oil toxicity: Oil consists of many different toxic compounds. These toxic compounds can cause severe health problems like heart damage, stunted growth, immune system effects, and even death . Our understanding of oil toxicity has expanded by studying the effects of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill.
What type of pollution is an oil spill?
An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment , especially the marine ecosystem, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is usually given to marine oil spills, where oil is released into the ocean or coastal waters, but spills may also occur on land.
What are the effects of oil spills on humans?
Studies of biomarkers have uncovered irreparable harm to humans exposed to oil and gas from spills. These effects can be grouped into respiratory damage, liver damage, decreased immunity , increased cancer risk, reproductive damage and higher levels of some toxics (hydrocarbons and heavy metals).
How can we prevent oil spills?
- Tighten bolts on your engine to prevent oil leaks. ...
- Replace cracked or worn hydraulic lines and fittings before they fail. ...
- Outfit your engine with an oil tray or drip pan. ...
- Create your own bilge sock out of oil absorbent pads to prevent oily water discharge.
Where do most oil spills occur?
- Gulf of Mexico (267 spills)
- Northeastern U.S. (140 spills)
- Mediterranean Sea (127 spills)
- Persian Gulf (108 spills)
- North Sea (75 spills)
- Japan (60 spills)
- Baltic Sea (52 spills)
- United Kingdom and English Channel (49 spills)
Are oil spills natural disasters?
Storage tanks and pipelines can rupture causing catastrophic oil spills. Many of these spills can be caused by natural disasters , like earthquakes and hurricanes. Accidents can also cause oils spills and many of these are manmade, such as digging, trenching and mistakes in handling hydrocarbons.
How bad is oil for the environment?
Impact of oil spills. Spilt oil can pollute streams, rivers and, if it soaks through the soil and rock, groundwater. ... We must protect them both from pollution. Oil is toxic and harmful to plants and animals and a threat to their habitats .
Why is it important to clean-up oil spills?
An oil spill can quickly catch fire and create havoc . You need to call an oil spill clean-up team to remove any oil spilled in your home. Again, oil spill cleanup should be done as quickly as possible. It is similar to water damage and water cleanup projects.
How does oil spills affect the economy?
And while long-term damage estimates vary, a new study published in the Canadian Journal of Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences determined that over seven years, the oil spill could have a $8.7 billion impact on the economy of the Gulf of Mexico including losses in revenue, profit, wages , and close to 22,000 jobs.
How does oil spillage occur?
How Do Oil Spill Happen? Oil spills take place when there is failure of the oil drilling machinery , due to human error, carelessness, deliberate acts or mistakes, or because of natural disasters or marine accidents especially for refineries or tankers shipping any form of petroleum product.
How do oil spills cause pollution?
Oceans are polluted by oil on a daily basis from oil spills, routine shipping, run-offs and dumping. ... Oil cannot dissolve in water and forms a thick sludge in the water. This suffocates fish, gets caught in the feathers of marine birds stopping them from flying and blocks light from photosynthetic aquatic plants.
What is the biggest oil spill in history?
On April 20, 2010, the oil drilling rig Deepwater Horizon , operating in the Macondo Prospect in the Gulf of Mexico, exploded and sank resulting in the death of 11 workers on the Deepwater Horizon and the largest spill of oil in the history of marine oil drilling operations.
