Oil Spills in the Gulf Countries - Math Problem Example

Name Tutor Course Date Oil Spills in the Gulf Countries Introduction The gulf countries comprise of Iran, Oman, Kuwait, Iraq and Saudi Arabia among others. The Persian or Arabian Gulf is found on the coast of these countries. The Persian Gulf is a semi-enclosed marginal sea that is linked to the Indian Ocean via the Strait of Hormuz (Chu, Williams, Clem, Haeger, and Ward 2). The Persian Gulf is about 990 km long and its maximum width goes up to 338 km. The Gulf has an approximate surface area of 239,000 km2. The volume of the gulf is 8,630 km3. There have several cases of oil spills and sea pollution in the Gulf. The biggest of these oil spills was the on that happened during the 1991 Gulf War. The Persian Gulf happens to be the most strategic water way on the globe because of its significance in the transportation of global oil (Chu et al 1). Because of war and the high rate of evaporation of the water, too much drilling and extraction of oil, pollution due to spilling of oil has gone up alarmingly. This paper will investigate the causes and effects of oil spills in the Persian Gulf environment. i) Objectives of the project The main objectives of this paper are: To find out the effects that oil spills have on the environment in the Gulf To find out the major causes of oil spills in the gulf countries ii) Questions to be answered The paper will therefore seek to answer the following questions: What are the effects of the oils spills on the environment? What are the main causes of oil spills in the gulf countries? Results and Discussion a) Causes of oil spills in the Gulf In the history of the Persian Gulf, there have been several major causes of oils spills. Among the causes of oil spills are war and the other is accidents. The main sources of oil spills are from ships, land based sources, dumping from aircraft and ships, exploitation and exploration of the sea bed and human activities involving oil. Oil spills resulting from war have not been many but a good example was the 1991 Gulf War oil spill (Chu et al 2). At the close of 1991, there were reports about a massive oil spill in the Persian Gulf. Iraqi forces deliberately opened the valves at the Sea Island oil terminal dumping oil from many tankers into the Persian Gulf. This was a strategy devised against the U.S forces. There have been a number of oil spills in the Gulf countries. However the biggest of them all was the Gulf War oil spill. It was the largest in history and it happened during the Gulf War in 1991. During this time, Iraqi forces dumped oil into the Persian Gulf. They ended up spilling about 11 million barrels. The Iraqi forces wanted to foil the landing of U.S Marines. U.S Forces also found it hard to commandeer oil reserves in the Gulf region (Chu et al 2). Another oil spill resulted from an accident. This happened in 1998 and the accident was caused by a barge full of crude oil originating in Iran. It was being towed by a tug boat registered in Dubai. The barge weighing 11,000 tons was on the verge of sinking about 8 kilometers from the coastline of the United Arab Emirates. About 4,000 tons of crude oil leaking has caused a lot of pollution in the sea on the Ajman coast. This has caused a big threat to the water supply of the region. The Persian Gulf region does not have a lot of fresh water sources and it depends on desalination plants which are used to make drinking water out of uncontaminated seawater (Chu, et al 2). Another spill occurred in 2000 when a Honduran flagged vessel sank 4 km from the coast of Abu Dhabi because of unfavorable weather. It had 980 tons of oil meant for fuel. This oil spilled into the sea. Another incident took place in 2001 when an Iraqi fuel tanker called Zainab carrying 1,300 tons of oil spilled part of it in the sea. It was on a smuggling mission before it encountered trouble. The spill polluted an area with a radius of 12 km which spread up to the reserved Island of Sir Bou Neair less than 100 nautical miles from the coastline of the Emirate of Sharjah (Chu et al 7). Oil spills are a big problem in the Persian Gulf since it is the busiest oil channel in the world. Another accident happened in July 1997 in which a barge loaded with diesel ran aground and more than 5,000 tons of diesels from the UAE emirate of SHARJAH got mixed with water supply in the local area. The worst United Arab Emirate oil spill took place in 1994 in a collision involving two super tankers off the Fujairah coast. The leakage from this accident was 16,000 tons of crude oil (Burger 23). Tanker washout and tanker collisions are some of the most illegal happenings in the Persian Gulf. Some of the oil spills in the Persian Gulf result from equipment faults in oil tankers. Oil tankers break down and get stuck on some shallow land. When people try to move these tankers to shallow land abrasion may result and cause a hole in the tanker that may cause huge amounts of oil leaking into the sea. Some of the oil spills in the Gulf region also result from human activities on the land and also from nature. Sometimes the oil seeps from geological seeps, natural seeps from the floor of the ocean and when products that use petroleum and different oil forms are used on the land (Burger 34). This oil is normally washed off into the seas. Other spills also result from water sports. Petroleum users in the sea normally release oil. This takes place when different water sports and water vehicles like motorboats and jet skis sometimes leak fuel into the ocean. Drilling works done in the sea normally use petroleum and oil and this oil is normally released in the sea and this amounts to oil spills (Ṣādiq & McCain, 66). Sometimes oil spills may result from very unlikely sources. For example, in 2012 October, German newspaper reported that Iran has threatened to deliberately disrupt shipping lanes in the Strait of Hormuz. If this happens it may be the cause of a large oil spill. Such an effort may be made to force the international community to remove sanctions from Iran’s energy sector (Ṣādiq & McCain, 44). b) Effects of oil spills on the Gulf environment Oil spills in the Persian Gulf have had various effects on the marine environment of that area. The oil spills affect wildlife the most. Many animals die as a result of oil pollution in the seas. For example, the Gulf War oil spill resulted in a lot of damage to Wildlife especially around Kuwait and Iraq. Oil spills cause a lot of pollution in the sea water, the marshlands and in the marsh tidal flats where some oil settles. Mangroves and the sandy beaches also get polluted with oil. The long term impact of oil spills in the Persian Gulf is evident under the intertidal sediment where it has sunk for about 2 feet. Pollution from oil spills in the mud tidal flats and marshlands has been so huge that even 10 years after the Gulf War oil spill, they still had huge amounts of oil (Burger 67). It is estimated that their total recovery will take decades. According to a German geographer called Hans-Jorg Barth in his 2001 report, many coastal areas in the year 2001 were still showing large oil impacts from the 1991 oil spill and other coastal areas were far from recovery. From previous studies in the Persian Gulf, oil spills have been found to destroy marine habitats in large areas. Previous oil spills have killed birds, fish and other sea animals. Oil kills birds and marine animals by causing hypothermia. Oil mixed with water tends to stick on the fur of sea animals and feathers of birds. The feathers of a bird have air spaces that insulate the body of the bird to keep it warm. When oil covers the feathers they lose their ability to insulate and the bird is killed by hypothermia. This is what happens to the many birds that have been killed in the Persian Gulf as a result of oil spills. In the same way the oil coats fur and the fur becomes matted with oil and this makes it to lose its ability of insulation. Young animals including se pulps are always vulnerable from this (Burger 55). Oil also causes poisoning and internal damage to marine animals. This normally results from ingesting the oil. As a result the birds and animals die from ulcers and damage to the internal organs such as the liver, red blood cells, the kidneys and the immune system. Oil can injure the lungs and eyes as well and the vapors can make the animals and birds drown from sleepiness. Oil also causes effects on animals up the food chain. For example those animals feeding on fish can be affected by the oil in the bodies of the fish. Some birds and animals may drown or be destroyed by predator especially when their fur and feathers are covered in oil. The oil also affects the eggs of sea birds and animals leading to reduced reproduction. Oil spills affect the onshore and offshore ocean habitat in the Gulf countries. Before the oil spill gets to the shore it poisons pelagic marine life and planktons (Ṣādiq & McCain 88). The Persian Gulf is currently among the most sensitive marine ecosystems. It has many coral colonies and species of plants that need good protection due to its important role in the earth’s life supporting phenomena. The impacts of industrial pollution the oil spills are forcing people in the Persian Gulf to direct attention to the problem and the importance of conservation. The Avecina and the mangrove plants are some of the sea resources provide a perfect living environment for shrimps. The plants that live on the sea beds near the shore support marine life like turtles and dudongs. Oil extraction and transportation in the Gulf coasts is causing too much pollution. The Iraq war against Kuwait and Iran that went on for 8 years caused a lot of damage on the Persian Gulf and the biological resources found there. Many sea birds and other types of marine life have died from the millions of tones of crude oil that enter into the Persian Gulf. Since the Persian Gulf ecosystem is highly vulnerable, cooperation among the different states in the region is desperately needed. There is need for the formation of regional organizations to protect the coastline as well as the marine environment (Ṣādiq & McCain 80). Due to rampant pollution from oil spills, the marine life and biodiversity of the Persian Gulf must be closely monitored. Oil spills in the Persian Gulf affect many areas. For example the Gulf War oil spill the waters of Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Iran were fouled. The largest damage occurred in Saudi Arabia. The damage affected the Saudi fisheries industry which is worth millions of dollars. The surrounding areas were also affected and this included Medina al Jubayl. The highest pollution levels were experienced in Abu Ali Island and many bird species lost their lives. The beaches are also affected by oil spills. In the Gulf War, beaches on the whole of Al Jubayl coastline were covered in oil and tar balls. The oil spills in the Gulf have also affected the quality of water, human health, and vegetation. These are the main sources of damage to the environment (Chu et al 7). Conclusion and Summary The Persian Gulf is a very busy waterway and this is why incidences of oil spills have been reported on many occasions. However, not all t he oil spills result from normal operations. One of the worst oil spills in the region was as a result of the 1991 Gulf War. Other causes of oil spills in the Gulf waters include ships, land based sources, dumping from aircraft and ships, exploitation and exploration of the sea bed and human activities involving oil. Oil spills also result from the leakage of sporting vessels such as motorboats. Oil spills in the gulf have resulted in many negative impacts on the environments. Oil spills pollute the beaches, kill animals, birds and destroy the beauty of the coastline by making the waters foul. The problem of oil spills in the gulf must be tackled by all the countries found in the region with the help of organizations and institutions at the global level. If this does not happen, then the region and the world as well will not escape the effects on these oil spills. Works Cited Burger Joanna. Before and after an Oil Spill: the Arthur Kill. Rutgers University Press 1994. Chu Peter, Charles L. Williams, Travis Clem, Steven D. Haeger, and Mathew Ward. Environmental Impacts on Chemical/Oil Spill in the Persian Gulf. Retrieved 31 May 2013 from http://faculty.nps.edu/pcchu/web_paper/proceedings/wit/coastal_08_chu.pdf Ṣādiq Muhammad & John Charles McCain. The Gulf War Aftermath: An environmental Tragedy. Springer 1993. Read More