Short Term and Likely Long Term Effects of the 2010 Oil Spill in the Gulf of Mexico

Abstract

The Gulf of Mexico deep water horizon blowout occurred on April 20, 2010 and released about 4.6 million barrels (205.8 Million gallons) of light sweet crude oil. It arises from a well-controlled event which allowed hydrocarbon escape from the Macondo well located in Mississippi Canyon block 252, about 41 miles off the Louisiana Coast. The oil was released on to Transoceans deep water resulting in the expulsion and fire on the rig. The blowout was aided by the extreme conditions in terms of pressure (approximately 2240 psi), temperature (approximately 39oF) and flow. It's a hotspot of biological activities and supports a lot of industrial activities from fishing to tourism to oil and gas exploration. Some of the short term effects associated with the spill include damages to the environment, biological life (a large number if sea birds, fishes, mollusks, crustaceans, sea turtles, and marine mammals) and wildlife communities. The likely long term effects are dependent on the physical environment of the spill area as well as the extensive clean up processes employed. The effects are associated with chronic toxicity that is the long term sub-lethal effects of acute exposure.