What Are The Long Term Effects of Oil Pollution?

Oil Spills and The Disastrous Consequences

Oil pollution in our seas and oceans is primarily caused by accidental oil spills from tankers. While these events do receive a lot of media attention, few people will remember them later.

Unfortunately, the effects of oil pollution last so much longer than that. In fact, even when the oil spill itself has been cleared, there are still many side effects that will cause a lot of damage to marine life and to our waterways. The environmental threat is devastating.

In order to protect ourselves better from its long-term effects, it would be good to educate ourselves first as to what oil pollution is in the first place. Basically, this is the contamination of our waters due to different types of oils and their by-products. As mentioned, most of the pollution comes from oil spills but there are many other possible contaminants, as you will see further in this article.

Factors That Cause Oil Pollution

Although oil spills are arguably the most significant cause of pollution of our waters, there are many other major contaminants that need to be addressed as well. One of these is the illegal dumping of oil-based waste into our coastal waterways.

There are laws that prohibit such types of waste disposal but hundreds of factories around the world still dump their waste into rivers and seas, without giving a thought to the possible consequences their actions can entail.

There are also other factors that cause oil pollution that are purely accidental. Oil spills due to the collision of tankers fall under this category, as well as accidents that occur during the process of drilling for oil. When these accidents are dealt with immediately, the long-term effects of the spill may be minimized. Unfortunately, it usually takes a long time to stop the leakage. In the meantime, a huge area of the water will already be contaminated with oil.

Dire Consequences From Oil Spills

The contamination of the water may be the most obvious manifestation of oil pollution, but it is certainly not the most serious. Instead, the damage is felt most by the organisms that live in the water or use the water in their daily routines.

Oil pollution affects birds. When birds get in contact with the contaminated water, the oil will cause almost instant damage to their feathers. It diminishes their ability to fly, as well as to protect themselves from extreme changes in temperature. Natural instinct will tell the birds to clean off their feathers using their beak but this will cause them to ingest some of the oil, which will then damage their internal organs. So either way, the birds who get affected will have a very slim chance of survival.

Oil pollution affects marine mammals. Like the birds, marine mammals will have greatly reduced insulation ability due to the oil. Even those animals that have not been in direct contact with the oil will also be at risk by eating contaminated fish.

Oil pollution also affects humans. Just because we don’t live in the water doesn’t mean we are safe. Throughout the years, oil contamination has caused the shutting down of many beach resorts, as well as the demise of many fishing industries around the world.

As inhabitants of the Earth, it is our duty to protect the planet in any way we can. So even if we are not directly responsible for the oil pollution in our waters, we can still do our part by spreading the word and educating the people who may be unwittingly causing the problem.