Oil Spill in the Arabian Gulf Resource - Research Paper Example

? Oil spill in the Arabian Gulf Resource Introduction Oil, as a natural resource, is an important factor in the growth of any economy. Oil extraction and its use have earned many countries foreign exchange, thus providing many employment opportunities to the citizens of these countries thus raising the living standards of these people. However, oil mining has many negative impacts commonly brought about by oil spillage and the management of oil as a natural resource. Oil mining may lead to the addition of toxic in water when oil seeps into the water thereby developing marine traffic problems when oil spills are available in the sea water. Discussion Oil spillage has extreme negative impacts on the environment in terms of pollution. This affects the communities that heavily depend on water for their lively hoods and their survival. The most directly affected by oil spills are the marine plants and animals because they live in the same environment that spillage takes place. Spillage can be as a result of oil seeping from the underwater reservoir, accidents of ships carrying oil and also from land sources. The sea animals are subject to both indirect and direct repercussions of oil spillage. According to Neff (2002), some of the direct effects include; inhalation problems, which commonly affect whales, dolphins and sea turtles. These animals require oxygen for their survival. They animals usually come to the water surface constantly to inhale oxygen. The inhalation of dangerous materials can cause irritation, pneumonia or inflammation of their respiratory organs. Negative impacts can also be felt on their digestion mechanisms where these animals are unable to either digest or absorb food. Human beings are also directly affected by oil spills. When oil spills, it creates a vapor in the air which is as a result of evaporation of oil in the air since oil is a semi –volatile product. The inhaled vapor causes Inflammation of the respiratory system in human causing vomiting, breathing difficulties, headache and nausea on the gulf coast as a result of the oil spill. Oil spillage also causes a risk of miscarriage to expectant women and it has also been associated with causing cancer. Coasts are severely affected by oil spillage where oil soaks into gravel and sand which is a habitat for some organisms thus affecting their food chain as well as their life. Oil spill also affects mangrove trees whose rate of growth tends to be slow when their prop roots are covered with oil (Burger, 1994). Oil spillage has posed a very significant challenge on fisheries which also acts as a food reservoir. Oil spills has affected the genetics of some fish which has affected their egg bearing. Oil spillage may also lead to extinction of certain types of fish in the sea in the near future which may lead to the closure of fisheries if several types of fish become extinct in the sea. Oil spills may cause loss of color on fish and lead to their loss of weight the reasons that may cause fishing to be closed for some time because this fish will be unfit for human consumption thereby causing food shortage (Neff, 2002). Boats and other sea vessels are prone to destruction because of running on viscous and thick layers of oil which have resulted from oil leaked from pipes in the underwater. Some thick oil globules present in the water due to oil spillage may be sucked in the boat’s systems, which definitely affect the functioning of the boat due to the fact that all systems draw water into the boat near the surface. For it to function well, a very strategic cleanup process is used to disperse and manage the mess. Many ships, boats and other sea vessels may tend to avoid their travelling schedules until the oil spillages under control thus causing congestion of traffic and goods to be transported (Burger, 1994). Trade may also be adversely affected by oil spillage due to various factors. One of factors may be due to interruption of transportation lines where boats and other marine vessels may fail to operate due to oil spills in the water which serves as their medium of transportation due to the fact that the oil spills have effects on the boat’s systems. Oil spills have effects on human beings. Sicknesses caused by oil spillage may infect trade operators in the sea region which may lead to closure of the business operations as a result of sicknesses. Fishing is another activity meant for trade in which oil spillage may lead to stoppage of the trade when oil spillage has affected fish in the sea and thus becoming unfit for human consumption and thus fish trade stops until when the situation is under control (Flaherty & ASTM, 1989). The Arabian Gulf has been experiencing spills of crude oil of around 700,000 tons into the sea as a result of the drilling platform located in the offshore. Chemicals usually used in the cleanup process of oil related disasters which helps to make the oil more soluble in the water and hence remove it from the water surface. The solubility of oil has consequently increased mitigation costs especially in the cases related to health, where people who usually come in contact with water in which oil has dissolved in gets affected and thus infected with various diseases, this will thus call for an extra cost for treatment (Flaherty & ASTM, 1989). The oil solution in water also increases mitigation cost by affecting the water resource as well as affecting desalination of the sea water which acts as the main water source. Water in which oil has dissolved in becomes harmful to human consumption by posing health threats to water consumers. This causes an increase in cases of sicknesses thus increasing the medication cost and an increased cost of water desalination. Desalinated water is used for human consumption, agricultural activities and industrial purposes. Oil spills, greatly affects the water desalination process by fouling the piping system of the desalination plant, surface exchange performance is also reduced and fresh water gets polluted if part of the fresh water comes into contact with the oil spill. Oil spills may also cause inner parts of desalination machines to get damaged from time to time and thus the plant incurring extra maintenance costs from time to time (Al-Azab et al, 2005). Oil spillage may cause some damages to the plant/machinery using oil as well as an oil refining plant. One of the possible damage that is likely to happen is complete destruction of the plant due to fire. Since most of the oil products are highly inflammable, oil spill may thus cause a massive damage to the planet if it may come into contact with any igniting material and thus causing the plant to be completely damaged by fire. Plant or machinery is also in danger of corroding due to oil spills. Oil products may cause cases of corrosion to some materials. When these materials come into contact with oil spills, they may get damaged after being corroded by oil products (Al-Azab et al, 2005). Oil spill may also cause some effects on water supply and rationing in a given region. Oil spillage leads to water contamination thus causing lack of clean and reliable water fit for human consumption. This problem will, disrupt water supply and rationing especially when the oil spillage may happen unexpectedly, and thus water supply may seize for some time as collective measures will be taking place to manage the problem. Oil dissolved in water may also cause damage of water supply pipes which will affect the water supply until the distribution pipes are repaired when the continued supply and rationing of water would come back to normality. Oil spillage may cause mechanical problems on water desalination plants thus leading to halting of water supply since there will be no fresh water for human consumption (Flaherty & ASTM, 1989). Solution A very effective planning team made by the right people needs to be established which will be ensuring that the very correct decision in the early stages which will be of great help during later stages of cleanup process and thus help to control the massive hazard that might have occurred in case of delayed response. Recommendations Oil is a very important commodity in the human life. It brings about the economic growth as well as enhancing people to carry out their day to day activities however if it is not carefully handled it can cause disasters. It is highly recommendable for companies to develop safe disposal measures of oil byproducts. This will ensure that pollution does not occur as a result of oil mishandling thus making the environment suitable for all living creatures. It is also necessary to maintain the mechanical means used in oil mining this reduces the possibility of oil spillage due to leakage. By reducing cases of leakages, it helps to maintain a clean environment suitable for all human activities. Conclusion In conclusion, the environmental conditions will highly determine the health conditions of people living in it. By pulling their efforts together, all the stakeholders should be able to make sure that oil spillages are reduced and effective measures are put in place to make sure that in case of oil spillage, the problem is controlled early enough. The governments and other stakeholders need to put in place strict rules on oil spillage to avoid reckless oil spillage of oil by the industries. References Al-Azab, M., Al-Ghais, S., & El-Shorbagy, W. (2005). Oil pollution and its environmental impact in the Arabian Gulf region. Amsterdam: Elsevier. http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=JRVgGfG_m3cC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Oil+pollution+and+its+environmental+impact+in+the+Arabian+Gulf+region.&hl=en&sa=X&ei=wq-eUqKBEKup7AaZn4CYDg&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Oil%20pollution%20and%20its%20environmental%20impact%20in%20the%20Arabian%20Gulf%20region.&f=false Burger, J. (1994). Before and after an oil spill: The Arthur Kill. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers Univ. Press. http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=ZPAJHHkxSiIC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Before+and+after+an+oil+spill:+The+Arthur+Kill&hl=en&sa=X&ei=7q-eUqqpDcKI7AbqgIE4&ved=0CCwQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Before%20and%20after%20an%20oil%20spill%3A%20The%20Arthur%20Kill&f=false Flaherty, L. M., & ASTM Committee F-20 on Hazardous Substances and Oil Spill Response. (1989). Oil dispersants: New ecological approaches. Philadelphia, PA: ASTM. http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=Ot-o2wTnhX0C&pg=PA46&dq=oil+spillage+in+the+middle+east&hl=en&sa=X&ei=udagUoi3AdKShgeZzYGwBw&ved=0CDgQ6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=oil%20spillage%20in%20the%20middle%20east&f=false Neff, J. M. (2002). Bioaccumulation in marine organisms: Effect of contaminants from oil well produced water. Amsterdam: Elsevier. http://books.google.co.ke/books?id=ABIQ_FGKOZcC&printsec=frontcover&dq=Bioaccumulation+in+marine+organisms:+Effect+of+contaminants+from+oil+well+produced+water.&hl=en&sa=X&ei=D7CeUpCsPIWe7AbZ0IDIBg&ved=0CC4Q6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Bioaccumulation%20in%20marine%20organisms%3A%20Effect%20of%20contaminants%20from%20oil%20well%20produced%20water.&f=false Read More