Essay On Negative Effects Of Oil Drilling

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Negative Effects of Oil Drilling
Issues facing the marine environment regarding oil pollution in water have always been a problem, but more recently it has been becoming more common. Because oil drilling harms the marine life, it raises the question: is oil drilling really the best idea? There is research out there that proves that marine oil spills are extremely harmful to both sea creatures, and the earth. There should be an alternative to oil drilling in the marine environment, due to potential marine oil spills that can occur and harm the many living creatures of the ocean.
First, it is important to understand what oil drilling truly is and why it is necessary. Offshore oil drilling is the process through which oil is extracted from wells using sonic equipment in order for us to be able to use the oil for things such as our factories, power plants, homes, and transportation. The United States produces, distributes, and consumes large quantities of …show more content…

It only takes one small mistake, and we’re dealing with oil spills. Oil spills can occur both on land, and in the marine environment, but this paper is going to specifically focus on the harm of marine oil spills. The largest United States marine oil spill took place in April of 2010, lasting until July of 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico. This explosion became known as the Deepwater Horizon oil spill (or the BP oil spill), and it amounted to up to 9,000 barrels of oil filling our ocean and harming the ocean wildlife (Sylves and Comfort, 84). Also taking the lives of 11 rig workers and injuring 17, this explosion has been called “the worst environmental disaster in US history.” According to Drew Griffin, Nelli Black, and Curt Devine of CNN, “For 87 straight days, oil and methane gas spewed from an uncapped wellhead, 1 mile below the surface of the ocean.” One can only imagine how the many species of the ocean were harmed during this

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