An oil spill is the release of a liquid petroleum hydrocarbon into the environment, especially marine areas, due to human activity, and is a form of pollution. The term is usually applied to marine oil spills, where oil is released into the ocean or coastal waters, but spills may also occur on land. Oil spills may be due to releases of crude oil from tankers, offshore platforms, drilling rigs and wells, as well as spills of refined petroleum products (such as gasoline, diesel) and their by-products, heavier fuels used by large ships such as bunker fuel, or the spill of any oily refuse or waste oil.
Spilt oil penetrates into the structure of the plumage of birds and the fur of mammals, reducing its insulating ability, and making them more vulnerable to temperature fluctuations and much less buoyant in the water. Cleanup and recovery from an oil spill is difficult and depends upon many factors, including the type of oil spilled, the temperature of the water (affecting evaporation and biodegradation), and the types of shorelines and beaches involved. Spills may take weeks, months or even years to clean up.
Oil Spill Fact #1: THE 10 BIGGEST DISASTERS SPILLED OVER 5,613,000 TONNES OF OIL
- Gulf War Oil Spill, 1991 – 1,500,000 Tonnes
- Lakeview Gusher, 1909 – 1,230,000 Tonnes
- Deepwater Horizon, 2010 – 832,000 Tonnes
- Ixtoc, 1979 – 480,000 Tonnes
- Atlantic Empress, 1979 – 287,000 Tonnes
- Fergana Valley, 1992 – 285,000 Tonnes
- Nowruz Field Platform, 1983 – 260,000 Tonnes
- ABT Summer, 1991 – 260,000 Tonnes
- Castillo de Bellver, 1983 – 252,000 Tonnes
- Amoco Cadiz, 1978 – 227,000 Tonnes
Oil Spill Fact #2: VOLUME OF OIL SPILLED PER DECADE
- 1970 – 55.5%
- 1980 – 20.8%
- 1990 – 20.1%
- 2000 – 3.6%
Oil Spill Fact #3: CAUSES OF MAJOR OIL SPILLS
- 5% – Unknown
- 16.3% – Grounding
- 29.1% – Collision
- 12.4% – Hull Failure
- 8.1% – Loading and Discharging
- 7.2% – Fire and Explosion
- 0.9% – Equipment Failure
- 1.1% – Other Operations
Oil Spill Fact #4: WHAT IS THE VOLUME OF OIL SPILLED?
380 Million gallons of oil per year enters the oceans. About 55% of the oil entering the oceans are attributed to human activities. About 70% of this is spilled during petroleum consumption.
22% is spilled during the distribution of oil and 5% is spilled during oil production.
Fact #4: THE BIG DEEPWATER HORIZON OIL SPILL
The most recent disastrous oil spill occured on April 20th in the Gulf of Mexico. Some estimates placed it by late May or early June, 2010, as among the largest oil spills in the world with tons of millions of gallons spilled to date.
