Allowing drilling in the Arctic Ocean would add new environmental stressors – from pollution, to noise and other forms of disturbance – to marine wildlife that are already feeling the brunt of warming sea and air temperatures.Apr 14, 2021
How does drilling affect the environment?
Exploring and drilling for oil may disturb land and marine ecosystems. Seismic techniques used to explore for oil under the ocean floor may harm fish and marine mammals. Drilling an oil well on land often requires clearing an area of vegetation.
How does offshore oil drilling affect the environment?
Toxic Pollution: Normal offshore drilling operations release toxic pollution into the air and water. Exploration and drilling at the platform, transportation via tankers, and refining the oil on land can all release volatile organic compounds, greenhouse gases, and other air pollutants.
How does oil drilling in Alaska affect the environment?
Oil development would bring roads, airstrips, heavy machinery, noise and pollution. This would damage the refuge's fragile tundra ecosystem and disrupt age-old migration and denning patterns for caribou, polar bears and other animals.
What are the problems with getting oil from ANWR?
It can be poisonous if ingested. It can also kill plants, and is very difficult to clean up. When companies are exploring for oil, they drive huge tundra tractors that can rip up vegetation and destroy permafrost. “You can still see the tracks decades later,” says Boelman.
How does drilling for natural gas affect the environment?
Well drilling activities produce air pollution and may disturb people, wildlife, and water resources. Laying pipelines that transport natural gas from wells usually requires clearing land to bury the pipe. Natural gas production can also produce large volumes of contaminated water.
Does drilling for oil cause pollution?
Oil drilling platforms, pipelines and refineries also create air pollution that threatens human health and contributes to climate change. Offshore platforms release methane pollution, a greenhouse gas 25 times as potent as cardon dioxide emissions.
How does oil drilling affect animals?
Oil destroys the insulating ability of fur-bearing mammals, such as sea otters, and the water repellency of a bird's feathers, thus exposing these creatures to the harsh elements. Without the ability to repel water and insulate from the cold water, birds and mammals will die from hypothermia.
How does oil drilling affect global warming?
Drilling in the remote Arctic is especially risky, as spills would destroy pristine habitats and be very difficult to contain or clean up. Also, the burning of fossil fuels is the leading source of carbon pollution, which contributes to global warming and ocean acidification.
What is the current environment issue concerning ANWR?
The agency estimates that drilling in ANWR could yield between 1.5 billion and 10 billion barrels of oil, which would increase emissions between 0.7 and 5 million metric tons of carbon dioxide. The high end is about 12% of Alaska's annual emissions.