Gulf mexico oil spill

							The Gulf of Mexico Oil
Spill.
 The 2010 Gulf of Mexico oil spill has been
  described as the worst environmental disaster in
  US history. On the 20th April, the Deepwater
  Horizon rig blew up killing eleven workers. The
  subsequent oil spill affected hundreds of miles of
  Gulf coastline, causing serious economic
  damage to the region, both in terms of tourism
  and fishing. The oil spill flowed continuously for
  three months! It is till nowadays; the largest
  accidental marine oil spills in the history of the
  petroleum industry! Its impact still continues
  even after the well was capped. Its effect is still a
  problem till these days despite efforts to stem the
  leak and contain the oil on the surface, the slick
  has spread, threatening wildlife and closing
  down thousands of sq miles to fishing.
 The spill stemmed from a sea-floor oil gusher
  called The Deepwater Horizon that exploded in
  April 20, 2010 when methane gas from the well,
  under high pressure, shot all the way up and out
  of the drill column , expanded onto the platform,
  and then ignited and exploded. Efforts by
  multiple ships to stop the flames were
  unsuccessful. After burning for approximately 36
  hours, the Deepwater Horizon sank on the
  morning of April 22, 2010.The oil flowed
  continuously for three months till July 15 when
  the leak got stopped by capping the gushing
  wellhead, after it had released about 4.9 million
  barrels crude oil before it was capped!
 There are social, economic and environmental
  consequences of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill. It has a great
  impact on tourism, fisheries, wildlife and the health risks to
  those involved in the clean up operation. The disaster has
  caused massive environmental damage for hundreds of
  miles along the US coast. It caused massive damage to
  marine and wildlife habitats as well as to the Gulf's fishing
  and tourism industries. A huge area of the Gulf was closed
  to shrimping after tar balls were found in shrimpers' nets
  and fishing boats. Scientists have also reported immense
  underwater plumes of dissolved oil that were not visible at
  the surface, as well as an 80-square-mile "kill zone"
  surrounding the blown BP well where everything looked
  dead on the seafloor. Even the birds around there
  suffered. The oil penetrated into the structure of their
  bodies, reducing its insulating ability, thus making the birds
  more vulnerable to temperature fluctuations and much less
  buoyant in the water.
 It also impaired their flight abilities to escape
  from predators. When oil covered their
  feathers, it caused kidney damage, altered
  liver function, and digestive tract irritation. In
  addition to all that, the spill is still causing big
  pollution problems like polluting the air and
  people not being able to go on the beaches.
 Oil giant BP has acknowledged its absolute
  responsibility for cleaning up a huge oil spill after
  the explosion of its well. Emergency teams are
  using several methods in attempts to deal with
  the huge spreading oil at the surface, which has
  created a slick covering about 2,000 square
  miles. More than 275 vessels, including,
  skimmer ships, tugs, recovery vessels, floating
  containment booms, anchored barriers, sand-
  filled barricades along shorelines, and
  dispersants were used in an attempt to protect
  hundreds of miles of beaches and wetlands. A
  giant concrete-and-steel funnel has been placed
  over a blown-out oil well at the bottom of the Gulf
  of Mexico so that the oil leak can be contained
 Also, another company was contracted to drill
  the well and dispersant chemicals were used
  down at the leak site as well as on the surface to
  deal with that problem. These chemicals, rather
  like soap, are being sprayed from ships and
  aircraft in an effort to help break down the oil.
  Another method used to tackle oil spills is
  burning - although it can be tricky to carry out
  and has associated environmental risks such as
  toxic smoke. Both industry and government have
  also taken numerous steps to improve safety
  since the incident. Also, the federal government
  swiftly imposed new regulations on the offshore
  drilling industry after the spill.
 In addition to these steps, an internal affairs unit to
  expose improper relationships between companies
  and regulators was established. It has vowed to
  improve inspections and has issued new rules for
  new drilling proposals that have to undergo more
  thorough environmental reviews to meet new safety
  standards that apply to all deep-water operations.
  Thus, a massive operation is under way in and
  around the Gulf of Mexico to halt the leak from a
  blown-out oil well, prevent the spread of the slick and
  clean its mess. All that clean up business had cost
  enormous amounts of money. Economically the
  financial scale of the disaster was revealed, with the
  US Government asking for at least $20 billion
  compensation from BP. This led to a dramatic drop in
  the share price of the company.
 Thankfully, British Petroleum (BP) has finally
  capped the leaking well that has expelled
  millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf of
  Mexico. According to the BBC, a pressure
  test showed a cement plug put in place by
  BP to permanently "kill" the well was holding.
  Hopefully, this environmental disaster will be
  completely solved soon and life can go back
  to normal there. Oil is essential for modern
  life and it is the basis for petrochemicals
  industry.
 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deepwater_Horizon_
  oil_spill

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8651333.stm

 http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/8658081.stm

 www.videosurf.com/videos/oil+spill+gulf+mexico
  ?providers=156

 www.bbc.co.uk/news/10194335
 http://indolinkenglish.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/bp_logo
  1.jpg

 http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/jun/29/bp-oil-
  spill-timeline-deepwater-horizon

 http://www.thedailygreen.com/cm/thedailygreen/images/32
  /oil-dependence-earth-lg.jpg

 http://themostimportantnews.com/wp-
  content/uploads/2010/05/The-Oil-Spill-In-The-Gulf-Of-
  Mexico1.jpg



 http://www.alaska-in-pictures.com/data/media/17/steam-cleaning-
  beach_3252.jpg
 http://en.comunicas.org/files/2010/05/oil-
  bird.jpg

 http://www.propsgiven.com/wp-
  content/uploads/2010/06/exxon-valdez-oil-
  spill-clean-up-1.jpg

 http://cf.komonews.com/100604_gulf_oil_spil
  l_lg26.jpg