Oil Spills
The danger to our sea
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What are oil spills?
Oil spills also known as marine oil spills are where oil is released into the ocean or coastal waters, but the spills may also occur on land. Oil spills could happen due to releases of crude oil from tankers, offshore platforms, drilling rigs and wells, as well as spills of refined petroleum products. For example like gasoline and diesel fuel.
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How does Oil Spill effect our environment?
Oil spills have a number of effects on the environment and the economy. On a basic level of oil spill effects will damage the waterways, marine life, plants and animals on the land.
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Are there any benefits to oil spills?
there are environmental advantages as well. Most oil spills are not due to drilling but from natural seepage from the sea floor, and studies have shown that oil drilling reduces the pressure on those seeps and results in less oil pollution.
What's the biggest Oil Spill that happened in history?
The worst oil spill in history is the Gulf War oil spill. Oil spewed an estimated 8 million barrels of oil into the Persian Gulf after Iraqi forces opened valves of oil wells and pipelines as they retreated from Kuwait in 1991. The oil slick reached a maximum size of 101 miles by 42 miles and was five inches thick. The amount of oil that spilled was 1,360,000- 1,500,000.
What's the first oil spill and location?
The Torrey Canyon Oil Spill is on March 18, 1967 in Scilly Isles , U.K. The amount of oil spilled is 25-36 million gallons. The Torrey Canyon was one of the first big supertankers, and it was also the source of one of the first major oil spills. Although the ship was originally built to carry 60,000 tons, it was enlarged to a 120,000-ton capacity, and that’s the amount of the ship was carrying when it hit a reef off the coast of Cornwall. The spill created an oil slick measuring 270 square miles, contaminating 180 miles of coastland. More than 15,000 sea birds and enormous numbers of aquatic animals were killed before the spill was finally contained.
How do oil spills effect animals?
Oil spills affect marine life like filter feeders by concentrating in the flesh of these animals. Clams, mussels, and oysters may quickly accumulate toxins, which can kill the animals or be passed on along the food chain.
How do you clean up an oil spill?
We can clean up some oil spill by surrounding the oil with a boom which is a floating, physical barriers made out of plastic, metal, or other materials, which slow spread and keep the oil contained. They also use skimmers which are boats and other devices that can remove oil from the sea surface before it reaches sensitive areas along the coastline. Using aircraft or boats to apply dispersants (which are chemicals that disperse the oil into the water column, so that much less oil stays at the surface, where it could affect beaches and tideflats).
Nature-Inspired Material Cleans Up Oil Spills
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