Location of BP Oil Spill

     The BP oil spill, or deep water horizon oil spill, occurred in the Gulf of Mexico. This extends to a regional scale as oil washed onto the coastlines of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. Because the ocean is largest ecosystem on earth, this issues has wide spread consequences. It has also become a huge impact to marine life including sea mammals and turtles, birds, fish and other aquatic species.

 

Photography from Plotmistress

Specifics of the BP Oil Spill

                On April 20, 2010 the deep water horizon oilrig exploded and more than 200 million gallons of oil was spilled. High-pressure methane gas from the well expanded into the drilling riser and rose into the drilling rig where it ignited and exploded. Oil flowed for 87 days and covered 180,000 km2 of ocean water. It has impacted over 8000 animal species as well as the global economy and policy.
We are affected by this economically because, the gas prices increase with the loss of so much oil that could have been used as gas. Politically this brings up questions regarding should we import oil from other locations instead of drilling in our own land or should we move away from oil into another way to make cars run. Methane from the gas also depletes oxygen from the ocean suffocating marine life. A total of 11 people were killed and 17 injured from this explosion. However it has shown that those who have come in contact with the toxics and contaminants have suffered long-term health consequences. Efforts have been made to clean up the oil spill including containment, dispersal, and removal.

   

     Reference:
"The 7 Stupidest Statements Made About the BP Gulf Oil Spill." TreeHugger. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2015.

Photography from Treehugger

Larger Consequences of the BP Oil Spill

           Besides the BP oil spill there have been 11 other oil spills in different locations around the world but, the biggest oil spill is the Kuwaiti Oil Fires. This oil spill lasted from January 16, 1991 to November 6, 1991 and spilled 42,000,000 gallons of oil in comparison to the BP oil spill which only lost a total of 172,000 - 180,800 gallons of oil (Oil Spill, 2010). A global consequence from all the oil spills has been the increase of gas prices, but most importantly the effects the animals living in the ocean and the animals that need the ocean to survive.  This eventually affects us as well because some of us eat the animals in the ocean, like fish and oysters. Eventually, due to oil spill the populations of these animals and other animals will decrease, which means that the animals we eat, there will be less of and thus more expensive. Even more importantly the ecosystems in the ocean will be disrupted because of all the animals that die due to oil spills and those that do survive will have a hard time surviving with low food supply.

References:
"Oil Spill." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2015.
"Kuwait Oil Fires & Oil Lake." Flickr. Yahoo!, n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2015.

Photography from Flicker

Oil spill comparison diagram

Solutions to the BP Oil Spill

             Some of the solutions presented to clean up the oil spill are to use floating booms, skimmers, sorbents, and dispersants (Ocean Portal, 2010). Floating booms are used ignored to keep the oil from spreading into other parts of the ocean. While the skimmers and sorbents remove the oil in the ocean, and dispersants break up the remaining oil particles down so they will be able to mix with the water. These methods are very effective in removing the oil, however it was not effective in restoring the ecosystem of the animals that live in the ocean which is causing some of the animals to die in rapidly increasing rates. Some animals who's population is rapidly decreasing are atlantic bluefin tuna, blue crab, bottlenose dolphin, brown pelican, common loon, coral, eastern oysters, foraminifera, gulf killifish and sea turtles. 

            Regardless, there were many organizations who helped in the cleaning up of the oil spill were  The National Wildlife Federation, Alabama Costal Foundation, and Bayou Land Resource Conservation & Development Council. The National Wildlife Federation is a nonprofit which educates and advocates conservation (National Wildlife Federation, 2010).  The Alabama Costal Foundation focuses to protect Alabama's environment and coasts (Alabama Costal Foundation, 2010 ). Finally, Bayou Land Resource Conservation & Development Council serves to promote and implement restoration and conservation in southeastern Louisiana ( Bayou Land RC&D Council, 2010).  

Reference: 
"The Alabama Coastal Foundation - Working to Improve and Protect the Coastal Resources of Alabama." The Alabama Coastal Foundation - Working to Improve and Protect the Coastal Resources of Alabama. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2015.
"Bayou Land RC&D Council - Home." Bayou Land RC&D Council - Home. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2015.
"Gulf Oil Spill." Smithsonian Ocean Portal. N.p., n.d. Web. 11 Feb. 2015.
"How NWF Is Helping Wildlife Impacted by the BP Oil Spill - National Wildlife Federation." How NWF Is Helping Wildlife Impacted by the BP Oil Spill - National Wildlife Federation. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2015.
"Who Pays for the Massive Oil Spill Clean-Up in the Gulf?" : The Consumer Warning Network. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2015.

Photography from consumer warning network

Conclusion of BP Oil Spill

Five years after the BP oil spill there is no more oil in the ocean, in large concentrations. According to Dynamics of Atmospheres and Oceans, the oil is controlled to below 800m. Which means that  the effects still remain a present  threat to the people who live around the gulf of Mexico and the animals in the ocean. Although, the oil is removed in a large concentration people who live around the gulf still have to be careful when they go to the beach. We still have to make more progress, but currently there are many barriers as to why we can not fully clean up all the oil spilled, but one thing that we can start to do is stop drilling for oil in the oceans. By not drilling in the oceans we can prevent from having another oil spill. It would be better if we could stop drilling for oil all together, but this is something that is a little out of our reach considering that the majority of people in this world depend on oil, especially for transportation. 

Reference:
"Download PDFs." On the Modeling of the 2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 Mar. 2015.

Photograph by Win McNamee, Getty Images. "Gulf Oil Spill Pictures: Birds, Fish, Crabs Coated." National Geographic. National Geographic Society, 08 June 2010. Web. 04 Mar. 2015.

Photography from national geographic