0
How does petroleum (oil products) become a pollutant in the coastal and marine environment?
Accidental or deliberate, operational discharges and spills of oil from ships, especially tankers, offshore platforms and pipelines, is the most obvious and visible cause of oil pollution of the marine environment. As summarized by NOAA: "The kind of oil spill we usually think about is the accidental or intentional release of petroleum products into the environment as result of human activity (drilling, manufacturing, storing, transporting, waste management). Examples would be things like well blowouts, pipeline breaks, ship collisions or groundings, overfilling of gas tanks and bilge pumping from ships, leaking underground storage tanks, and oil-contaminated water runoff from streets and parking lots during rain storms".
However, oils enter the ocean from a variety of sources, and both natural sources (large quantities) and land-based sources account for a large part of the total annual input of oil to the marine environment.
Also, hydrocarbons enter the ocean not merely as "wet" oil products but also as gaseous air pollutants. Hydrocarbons from vapours deriving from the loading and unloading of oil at different stages from extraction to consumption, in the form of non-methane volatile organic compounds (nmVOCs), is one example. Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) from incomplete combustion (exhaust gases and flue gases) is another category of gaseous hydrocarbons that enter the marine environment as oil pollution.
ESTIMATES OF GLOBAL INPUTS OF OIL TO THE MARINE ENVIRONMENT
In a report published in 2002 by the National Research Council (NRC) of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the average total worldwide annual release of petroleum (oils) from all known sources to the sea has been estimated at 1.3 million tonnes. However, the range is wide, from a possible 470,000 tonnes to a possible 8.4 million tonnes per year. According to the report, the main categories of sources contribute to the total input as follows:
- natural seeps: 46%
- discharges from consumption of oils (operational discharges from ships and discharges from land-based sources): 37%
- accidental spills from ships; 12%
- extraction of oil: 3%
What else can I help you with?
What has the author PB Krauss written?
P.B Krauss has written: 'Oil pollution' -- subject(s): Environmental aspects, Environmental aspects of Oil spills, Oil pollution of water, Oil spills
What is the major environmental issue in Venezuela?
Oil pollution
What has the author E H Owens written?
E. H. Owens has written: 'Prince Edward Island' -- subject(s): Oil pollution of the sea, Oil spills 'The Canadian Great Lakes' -- subject(s): Oil spills, Oil pollution of rivers, harbors 'Coastal environments, oil spills, and clean-up programs in the Bay of Fundy' -- subject(s): Control, Oil pollution of the sea, Oil spills 'Field guide to the documentation and description of oiled shorelines' -- subject(s): Environmental aspects, Environmental aspects of Oil spills, Handbooks, manuals, Handbooks, manuals, etc, Oil pollution of soils, Oil spills, Shorelines, Terminology 'Canadian inland waters' -- subject(s): Environmental aspects, Environmental aspects of Oil spills, Environmental effects, Oil pollution of rivers, harbors, Oil spills 'Canadian coastal environments, shoreline processes, and oil spill cleanup' -- subject(s): Coastal zone management, Environmental aspects, Environmental aspects of Oil spills, Oil pollution of the sea, Oil spills 'Coastal environments of Canada' -- subject(s): Environmental aspects, Environmental aspects of Oil spills, Oil pollution of rivers, harbors, Oil pollution of the sea, Oil spills
What is the biggest cause of marine pollution?
Oil spills is the biggest cause of marine pollution. An oil spill can devastate and area of the ocean. Factories are another major cause of marine pollution.
What has the author Jenifer M Baker written?
Jenifer M. Baker has written: 'Impact of oil pollution on living resources' -- subject(s): Environmental aspects, Environmental aspects of Oil spills, Oil pollution of water, Oil spills
What can crude oil products cause?
It can cause pollution
Why does oil present the biggest problem?
I have included two links. Oil spills cause pollution, and can be injury or death to workers on rigs. Many spills are small, and do not cause wide spread environmental damage. See links.
What may cause water pollution?
It can cause marine dumping. It can cause global warming. It can cause sewage and wastewater. It can cause oil pollution.
Would oil cause pollution?
Yes
What has the author Shannon E Smith written?
Shannon E. Smith has written: 'Crude-oil spill research project near Bemidji, Minnesota--bibliography, 1984-1994' -- subject(s): Bibliography, Environmental aspects, Environmental aspects of Oil spills, Groundwater, Oil pollution of soils, Oil pollution of water, Oil spills, Pollution
What environmental changes are you facing today that may cause extinction?
pollution
How should you improve oil pollution problems in Venezuela?
Contaminated oil pits, which collect waste from oil wells, also threaten to seep into Venezuela's water sources. Venezuela's state oil company is working to clean up its oil pits, and has adopted an environmental policy to focus more closely on environmental protection.
