Oil Drilling In The Arctic Essay

Oil drilling in the arctic has become a problem over the years. Big oil companies like Shell and Exxon have not helped the problem. They have started drilling for oil in the Arctic because it has lots of untapped oil. And is believed to have over thirteen percent of the wolds untapped oil. When there is oil drilling there is most likely going to an oil spill. And as if climate change has not been hard enough on the arctic.

The Arctic and all its inhabitants need a specific type of climate and ecosystem to keep it alive and around. The climate of the Arctic is, cold winters and short, summers. Some parts of the Arctic are covered by ice all year. Usually January temperatures in the Arctic are from −40 to 32°F. Winter temperatures can drop

In the time between 1995-2005 there has been more than 21 oil spills from polar cruises alone. In October of 2014 over 950 gallons of oil was spilled into the Arctic ocean of a barge in the Beaufort Sea.

When big corporations drill for oil in the Arctic oceans they are spilling a lot of the oil that they extract into the Arctic Ocean. Some companies try to clean up the spill and salvage the lost oil. But are unsuccessful to clean up all the oil that was spilled. So it is left there killing animals and destroying the ecosystem. No, not just one oil spill will not destroy the whole ecosystem, but a continuation of constantly spilling oil in the ocean will eventually kill it. Or damage it so much that it is uninhabitable and nonconsumable.

Not that Arctic oil drilling has been demolished or ever will. Greenpeace, an environmental organization and charity, has helped the cause by peacefully protested Against Shell and its oil drilling. They also collect donation to help put together anti Arctic oil drilling events, protests, and more. In 2015, the Obama administration announced plans to remove the Arctic from leasing opportunities for the next two years. This plan is contradicting what the Obama administration that said it was giving conditional approval to Shell Oil to drill up to six exploratory wells in the Chukchi Sea off Alaska. So that kept the Arctic safe from legal oil drilling for a few years. So that plan has helped