Every year in the U.S alone there are about 44 oil spills which are almost a spill every week. This number isn’t even including the little spills either. Actually, about 80 percent of spills aren’t even reported so imagine how much spills there really are every year. This begins to make me think about how much oil spills are there really a year. Oil spills are caused either by human activity or natural disasters. You can’t control natural disasters because it is unexpected. However, you can control human-made mistakes. These mistakes are caused by workers being lazy and not caring about the consequences of their actions. They do not realize that little mistakes end up leading to big problems. Just a tiny spill containing a few molecules of oil can kill fish and cause air-breathing sea animals to have health defects. Oil is a necessity during this time because it is used for many important things. Oil is the number one fossil fuel used for energy. Due to oils’ importance in our world, we can’t really afford to stop using it. We know that using oil comes with some consequences and we can prevent those consequences one step at a time. There are many factors to look at when trying to make oil safer to use. For example, how do we use the oil and how can we prevent it from polluting the Earth. Due to the fact that oil pollutes the Earth, we have to find ways to reduce pollution because we rely on the energy that oil provides.
Oil spills are one of the biggest causes of pollution. There are many ways that the usage of oil pollutes the earth and that is because there are different uses of oil. For example, oil is burned when it is used to provide electricity. When the oil is burned it releases a lot of toxins into the air which isn’t good for the atmosphere. According to the Union of Concerned Scientists, “In 2014, approximately 78 percent of US global warming emissions were energy-related emissions of carbon dioxide. Of this, approximately 42 percent was from oil”. This tells us that more than half of energy-related carbon dioxide emissions was due to oil. This also shows us that oil is a primary source of energy because of the quantity of carbon dioxide it produces. If oil was barley used you would see those statistics deplete. Oil is a primary source of energy for us because it is very efficient both in power and economically which makes it be used even more. With oil being so valued we can’t really replace it and we suffer consequences for that. ThoughtCo states that “the severity of environmental damage caused by an oil spill depends on many factors, including the amount of oil spilled, type and weight of oil, location of the spill, species of wildlife in the area, timing of breeding cycles and seasonal migrations, and even the weather at sea during and after the oil spill”. This shows that oil spills have an effect on almost everything. It all depends on location, type, and quantity, the more oil that is spilled the more catastrophic the effects are. Oil spills are mostly known for their impacts on the water. Oil is known to kill or harm many animals and that is why many organizations come together to prevent that from happening. Although it is mostly known for happening in the water it actually happens anywhere and depending on where it is the impacts vary. For example, if oil spills on land it can choke off plant life. Oil and living organisms don’t really correspond when it comes to oil spills. Oil spills are one of the most dangerous forms of pollution.
When the oil is spilled their effect can be catastrophic to some living organisms. Just like how oil is versatile when providing the energy it is also versatile in the way it destroys. Whether it be anything living, it’s habitat or the Earth, once that oil spills something is going to be destroyed. What some people don’t know is that the oil actually goes down into the water after time. When you think about oil and water you begin to think that oil floats because it’s density is less than water however this is not the case over time. According to ThoughtCo, “When oil eventually stops floating on the water’s surface and begins to sink into the marine environment”. This is terrible for marine animals because they can’t escape it nor do they know what’s coming to them. Due to human mistakes, thousands of marine animals either die become contaminated. Also, a big issue we face with this that is often overlooked is that a good portion of our oxygen comes from phytoplankton which are plants found in the ocean. Since oil is known to kill living organisms we know our oxygen making plant is no exception to this. Considering that these plants provide a lot of our oxygen we should be doing everything to protect it. Oil isn’t only taking our oxygen but it’s taking away our food too. Plants are not the only thing affected, fish are too and its deeper than just that. Jason Chavis, a writer for Sciencing, states that “If a fish consumes a small amount of oil, it can survive, but may pass on that oil to another animal far away from the site, causing its death”. This shows that if fish takes in just a small portion of oil it might survive. However, this survival would now impact whatever consumes it. The fish would carry around that oil and its predator could end up dying. This also shows that oil could potentially give fish the same effect carrying venom or other toxins would. This isn’t a great though, if the fish doesn’t find a way to dispel the oil from its body then it’ll die in some time. Oil spills aren’t good for anyone, at the end of the day all it does is harm something one way or another.
Oil spills are inevitable and cost a lot to clean up. You can’t really predict an oil spill because if you can there wouldn’t be any spills. There would be procedures to prevent that from happening. However, you can’t control everything. Natural disasters are sometimes unpredictable and can cause catastrophic effects to take place. These effects come with hefty price tags. In 2010 an unpredicted catastrophic event occurred when a deepwater horizon oil rig exploded. It killed 11 workers and expelled oil into the water for 87 days. According to AP News, “BP estimates cost of 2010 Gulf oil spill at $61.6 billion”. This was a recent oil spill that was so big that is cost the company not millions but tens of billions of dollars. This event happened not even a decade ago with modern technology. This shows that even with modern technology we still have no control over the unexpected. The unexpected also leaves us with a big financial dent. Not only was money lost because of the oil but money was needed to clean up. There were 87 days of oil leaked into the gulf which is way too much and also why it is seen as one of the largest oil spills in history. Due to it being BP’s fault since it’s their rig they have to clean it. The Washington Post stipulates, “Three years after the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, BP announced Monday that the U.S. Coast Guard is ending its clean-up effort”. 3 years after the incident and cleaning the gulf, BP thinks it’s clean enough to move on. This spill took 3 years to clean and it’s probably not even cleaned properly. On a larger scale of thinking, what happened to marine life in that area? 3 whole years the gulf was being cleaned up for which also means that for 3 years oil flooded those waters. BP would have to spend more money to properly clean the whole gulf of all the oil they spilled and they already spent billions of dollars. Cleaning up oil spills is not only expensive but it’s a hard task to complete due to the complications of removing oil from water.
Others may say that oil is only harmful when it is being produced because of bad practices. Some people take their job seriously at the oil rig while others do not. With this being said, with extra supervision and proper work being done then oil spills would be reduced. White House Reporter, Ayesha Rascoe, states that “The commission’s investigators said BP workers failed to ask a knowledgeable company engineer who was visiting the rig about unexpected results from a critical negative pressure test on the rig”. This shows that it was the worker’s fault for not informing the company engineer of issues that resulted in the rig exploding. This could have been avoided if the workers had more sense. However, although this can be avoided it never will be. This has been an ongoing issue and it has never changed. For example, the 3rd worst oil spill happened in 1979 because of pressure buildup which could have been avoided and in 2010 an oil rig exploded in the gulf due to no one reporting issues. These were in the top 3 worlds worst oil spills and it was caused by workers not paying attention to their job. The worst spills the world has seen was caused by workers. So these spills are inevitable and not only bad practices are the cause of this. Spills will happen whether it is man-made or it happens naturally.
In conclusion, oil has been out for over 100 years and is now a primary source of energy even though it pollutes the Earth. Oil is basically bad for the environment but it is hard to stop using it. This is because oil is a convenient and reliable source of energy. Oil can be manipulated in various ways for energy and that is why it is sought out. Since oil causes so many issues we should take a major negative impact of oil and fix it which are oil spills. If we fix oil spills from happening we can save a lot of money and life. You have to start somewhere to see good results and this would be a great place to start.
