Assessing the Impact of Oil Disasters on the Environment - Essay Example

Chapter 2: Literature ReviewThe following chapter contains a review of the literature on topics that include the environmental impacts of the oil industry, environmental disasters, and their long-term impacts on life. In addition, an examination is made about the environmental policies of the oil industry and the technologies that can support socially responsible oil production.The oil industry has the potential to impact the environment in several diverse ways. The process of scoping and discovering oil and oil extraction, the oil transportation operations, and the oil usage activities – all have the potential to leave a detrimental impact on the environment. 2.1 Oil Extraction Leads to Disturbing the Natural Environment Oil Extraction is associated with various issues that are often debated between the industry and environmentalists.

For example, in the case of Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR), which is expected to yield 21 Billion Barrels over the next few centuries (EIA 2009) for the domestic use of the USA, there are concerns about the destruction of the local habitat of the caribou, bears, wolves, and moose, thus upsetting the balance of nature. There has been a fierce debate over the fact that the US government does not sanction oil extraction in the ANWR region and instead continues to import 60% (EIA 2009) of its oil needs from others due to the environmental impact that such extraction may have.

In Tobasco, the oil extraction has brought about the destruction of the local community and robbed them of their livelihoods that depended upon fishing and agriculture. Oil drilling and extraction have led to detrimental changes in the Carmen-Pajonal-Machona system of lakes. The lakes have been rendered inhabitable for the fishes and other aquatic organisms due to an excessive increase in salinity levels. There is also an accumulation of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in the tissues of several kinds of fish and shrimp (Global Exchange,2010).