It is known to be the biggest oil spill of all time. Nobody knows the exact amount. But the number is thought to be in between 300 million and 500 million gallons of oil. For comparison, the second largest was the famous Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. That spill was between 150 and 200 million gallons. But this was a strategic oil spill. It was not on accident.
In an American offensive against Iraq, the Iraqi forces made a desperate move to slow the US and prevent a beach invasion. The move was to dump 300 million gallons of oil into the water to slow American forces. The strategy failed and resulted in polluted waters.The cleanup process wasn't able to start immediately because there was still a war going on. Once it did, billions of dollars were lost. Because it started so late, it took much longer to finish. Even today the cleanup isn't finished. And the environmental consequences are severe.
Although not as much wildlife was killed in comparison to the Deepwater Horizon spill, the area that was covered was vast. More than 800 miles of the Kuwait and Saudi Arabian beaches were oiled 4 inches thick. Many waters were uninhabitable to the point where there was no comeback.
http://www.counterspill.org/article/gulf-war-oil-disaster-brief-history
http://www.environmentandsociety.org/tools/keywords/gulf-war-oil-spill-man-made-disaster
I find it interesting that the Persian Gulf War Oil Spill was on purpose. I didn't realize that countries would actually intentionally spill oil into the Ocean as a military tactic. The consequences of this oil severe was severe as an estimated 30,000 water birds were killed by the oil. In addition, many fish eggs and larvae were killed by oil slicks, reducing the population growth of that year by 50%.
ReplyDeleteAmazingly, the recovery of this oil spill was remarkably quick. By 1994, fish and bird populations had risen back to pre oil spill levels.
https://www.cnn.com/2010/WORLD/meast/06/04/kuwait.oil.spill/index.html
I found your post and the topic you chose really interesting. I found it really interesting that the oil spill was deliberate. At the same time, however, I find that it could also make sense that the largest oil spill would also be on purpose, given how destructive humans can be when they want to be destructive. When one compares this incident to other incidents and environmental disasters caused by humans, it really shows how much control humans have over the environment and nature, yet also a lack of control. Chernobyl, for example, where thousands of people died from deaths related to the incident and the radiation released as well as a 770 mile wide exclusion zone had to be created. We as humans seem to have an incredible ability to destroy and warp the environment, but a rather poor ability to fix it or change it back to the way it was before.
ReplyDeleteSource:
https://www.history.com/topics/1980s/chernobyl