Essay On Oil Spills

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Billions of dollars can be spent on cleaning up oil spills. Oil spills can cause lots of damage though, if they aren’t taken care of right away, causing short term and long term damage. Although some say cleaning up the oil from the environment is costly, isn’t it worth it to make sure our environment is clean and functioning no matter the price? Oil spills can affect humans, animals, and the environment, and create lots of damage. Oil spills can affect the environment in many ways, like through pollution, habitats, and ecosystems. The petroleum from oil spills, when we move it produce it, or use it, harms the environment through air and water pollution. We use petroleum for many things, like fueling cars, airplanes, trucks, to heat our homes, and to make certain products such as medicines or plastics. Petroleum can make life easier for us, but when it is released into the environment, it can cause lots of damage. Petroleum causes problems because it contains lead, which could lead to serious health issues if encountered, gives off carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas, and also gives off particulate matter. 2 Also, oil spills can damage places like beaches, marshlands, or places with fragile ecosystems. Beaches can be a nice place to go, but…show more content…
Not only does oil affect the marine life, it can also harm mammals or nearby animals. Food chains, or food webs, could be ruined because one prey species may be affected by the oil and dies off, causing the whole food web to be off balance, since that animals predator has to find something else to eat. Not only does it mess up the food chains, but without the animals natural ability to repel water with its fur because of the oil, it can create many problems for these animals. Hypothermia, skin lesions, becoming an easy target for predators, inflammation and irritation, or losing weight are all consequences to the animals caused by oil.

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