Miles offshore for every minute of every day of every year, a large metal structure pumps a viscous black fluid into a large tanker ship. The extracted liquid is oil, or what some might say, “black gold”; because this liquid runs the world. From economic influence to producing products and generating power, oil is a part of everything in modern-day life. But how has this resource that is so valuable to humanity impacted the environment of the world?
Environmental Impacts
Offshore oil rigs have many different types of pollutants, being harmful emissions, light pollution, oil spills, and sound pollution.
Emissions
Offshore rigs emit many gasses, such as carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, particulate matter, carbon dioxide, and sulfur dioxide. Gasses such as carbon dioxide, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides. Nitrous oxides are 265 times more potent than ordinary carbon dioxide, in terms of climate change. Carbon Monoxide does not directly influence global warming, but as carbon monoxide levels increase it causes methane and carbon dioxide levels to increase as well. Particulate matter can be highly disruptive as it lowers air quality, posing various health risks to humans and also causing many pollutants to be transported through the air and transported very far.
Oil Spills
Oil spills are possibly the largest threat that oil rigs pose to the environment. Oil spills harm all forms of wildlife by destroying habitats, changing water composition, and damaging the body parts of animals. Furthermore, it takes ecosystems a very long time to recover from oil spills because of the sheer scale of these accidents. Many laws and guidelines have been put in place to stop oil spills, such as double hulls on oil ships, and regular equipment maintenance checks. While these efforts reduce the likelihood of oil spills they remain a possibility.
Light and Sound Pollution
When oil rigs burn excess natural gas found with oil, it produces a large amount of light that stimulates the eyes of organisms in the area and can cause them to think that the flame is the moon or the sun. This causes organisms to be very disorientated. Oil rigs also generate a lot of sound pollution when they use air guns and boring drills to explore oil fields. These sounds can cause confusion, death, or injury to animals that utilize echolocation or have sensitive hearing.
Conclusion
Offshore oil rigs are essential to human life, but the impacts they have on the environment are equally large. Methods to reduce these impacts have already been put into place, or are under development, but the best solution to these problems is to reduce our reliance on oil in general and seek alternatives to petroleum products.
Bibliography
https://www.wilderness.org/articles/blog/7-ways-oil-and-gas-drilling-bad-environment
https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/oil-and-petroleum-products/oil-and-the-environment.php
https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/oil-and-gas-development
The Green Analysis 
Leave a comment