How the Gulf of Mexico oil spill damaged ecosystems

The Gulf of Mexico oil spill was an environmental disaster and the petroleum industry's largest marine oil spill, caused when the Deepwater Horizon platform exploded in 2010. The lessons answer how the spill caused damage and how recovery unfolded. They build understanding of ecological harm, response efforts, and the challenges of restoring affected areas.

2 articles, 1 video, 1 book · about 1 hr 50 min of reading and viewing

The reading path

1. Read
   

   The Gulf Oil Spill, Five Years Later - JSTOR Daily · JSTOR Daily · 2 min read

   The 2010 spill response built sand berms, restricted water flow into inlets, and diverted inland freshwater to keep oil slicks out of sensitive systems. Wetlands need a constant flow of water, so restricting or diverting it might be just as bad as the oil, and the impacts might even be worse because the modifications are permanent.

2. Read
   

   the impact of the oil spill in the gulf of mexico · Wikipedia · 60+ min read

   Relief well is a well drilled to help control the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. Transocean's Development Driller III started drilling one on 2 May 2010, and on 3 August 2010, first test oil and then drilling mud was pumped into the well-head at approximately 2 bbl (320 L) per minute. The National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and Offshore Drilling released a final report on 5 January 2011. The panel found that BP, Halliburton, and Transocean had attempted to work more cheaply and thus helped to trigger the explosion and ensuing leakage.

3. Watch
   

   Can the ocean run out of oxygen? - Kate Slabosky · YouTube · 6 min watch

   Kate Slabosky explains how the Gulf of Mexico is teeming with marine life for most of the year, but summer brings mass die-offs as creatures that cannot swim or cannot swim fast enough suffocate and die. The video explains how healthy marine ecosystems function and what creates the lethal conditions behind dead zones.

4. Book
   

   Oil on Water · Bookshop.org

   Oil on Water by Helon Habila follows two journalists trying to rescue a kidnapped European wife in the oil landscape of the Niger Delta, and documents the ecological and political consequences of oil conflict and petrodollars there.

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