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Oil Spills. Petroleum oil is a dark colored, flammable liquid found throughout the world in underground pockets in the earth’s outer layer of rocks.
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Petroleum oil is a dark colored, flammable liquid found throughout the world in underground pockets in the earth’s outer layer of rocks. • Refined petroleum oil has many uses including gasoline for cars; fuel for ships and airplanes; heating fuel for homes, schools, and businesses; the manufacture of plastic products; and much more. • Oil producers ship millions of barrels of petroleum oil around the world each day. • Oil tankers are huge ships that can carry more than 200,000 tons of oil. Petroleum Oil
Oil on the water’s surface can catch on fire and pollute the air. • Oil can sink to the ocean floor and destroy the habitats of sea animals. • Oil can react with oxygen in the air to form acids that are carried by wind and eventually fall back to the ground as acid rain. • Oil washes up on beaches and marshes resulting in life threatening habitats for wildlife species. • Sea turtles, birds, whales, fish, otters and other animals can become oil-soaked and die. • Dear, bears, wolves, dogs, and cats can die from eating oil-soaked beach plants and animal carcasses. Damaging Effects of Oil Spills
America’s Worst Oil Spill March 24, 1989 The Exxon Valdez oil tanker scraped along a rocky ocean reef in Alaska cutting open the hull of the ship. Thousands of tons of oil spilled into the ocean - enough to fill a football stadium.
The largest “oil spill” • The largest “oil spill”1991 - Gulf War: 9,000,000 barrels (378,000,000 gallons) • 1979 - Bay of Campeche, Ciudad del Carmen, Mexico: 140,000,000 gallons
Sekondi – Ghana @ sunset OIL & FISH
A ruptured pipeline burns in a Lagos suburb after an explosion in 2008 which killed at least 100 people