Ashley North
Oil spills and other natural disasters that have affected the economy
Over the past few years, there have been some disasters that have happened that have devastated the
earth’s environment and economy. Different disasters that have occurred that have affected the Earth
include floods, earthquakes, wildfires, avalanches, tsunamis, volcanoes and oil spills. Even minor
disasters can cause major damage. Local economies must be able to absorb the cost of cleanup and
repairs. Most places don't expect to get hit with a major disaster, with nature as unpredictable as it is,
you never know when one will happen or where it will happen.
Floods are one of the biggest impacts on economy; they destroy drain systems inside city limits.
Buildings also can be damaged and sometimes even destroyed. Major effects on the environment
include many toxic materials such as paint, pesticide and gasoline being released into the rivers, lakes,
bays and ocean, killing marine animals. Floods also cause millions of dollars’ worth of damage and if the
damage is not repaired, it can lead to more frequent flooding. In 1928, the Saint Francis Dam in Los
Angeles was filled with 12.5 billion gallons of water. However, on March 12, 1928, the dam broke. 78
foot wall of water came crashing down on houses, ranches, automobiles, animals, and people,
obliterating them. An hour later, more than 500 people were killed and Santa Paula was overrun by
water. April 18, 1997, the Red River flooded over into Grand Forks, North Dakota. About 60,000 people
were forced from their homes and downtown Grand Forks was left in flames. The damage was so bad it
took weeks for people to return and rebuild their homes. One of the biggest floods happened on August
29, 2005. Hurricane Katrina covered most of New Orleans, leaving everyone without homes and some
without families. The aftermath was devastating, leaving New Orleans with violence problems
everywhere. The economy and environment were so bad, that it still hasn't been recovered and some
specialists say it might even take 25 years before New Orleans completely recovers.
Volcanoes fit into one of six different categories: Shield volcanoes, Cinder volcanoes, Stratovolcanoes,
Submarine volcanoes, Sub glacial volcanoes and Super volcano, the most powerful volcano. Volcanoes
occur most often near or on crustal plates. Shield volcanoes are large volcanoes that are built out of
fluid lava flows. It has sloping sides and is usually surrounded by gently sloping hills in a circular or fan
shaped pattern. Cinder volcanoes aren't famous because there eruptions usually don't cause loss of life.
They usually grow up in groups and occur on the flanks of stratovolcanoes and shield volcanoes. Cinder
volcanoes are built from lava fragments called cinders. Stratovolcanoes have steep sides with cones that
stick out like bumps. They get built up when eruptions of lava, tephra flows happen. To cause a
stratovolcanoe eruption, it would take thousands of years for enough pressure inside the volcano to
build up. Submarine volcanoes appear only under water. Submarine volcanoes are the least known
about, scientist still don't know much about them. A Sub glacial volcano is a volcanic form produced by
eruptions beneath a glacier. They are mostly found in Iceland and Antarctica. If the heat of the Sub
glacial volcano is high enough, it can melt through the ice layer but still assumes a more conventional
shape. The term "super volcano" implies eruptions of more than 1,000 cubic kilometers of magma are
erupted. A super volcanic eruption occurs somewhere in the world every 50,000 years or so. There are
about 40 known super volcanoes around the world, most which are extinct. One of the largest super
volcanoes in the world is at Yellowstone Park; the last eruption was 640,000 years ago. If the super
volcano erupted at Yellowstone erupted now, it would be the equivalent of 1,000 Hiroshima bombs
exploding every second. It is estimated that the total worldwide death toll if Yellowstone erupted now
has been estimated at 1 billion people. Temperatures would drop by up to 12 degrees in the northern
hemisphere and up to 16 degrees in the southern hemisphere causing mass starvation in both animals
and people. Most volcanoes in the United States occur in Alaska and Hawaii. Mount Shasta located in
California, has erupted at least 10 times in the past 3,400 years. Some of the world’s worst volcano
eruptions have occurred in the USA, including Mount St. Helens on May 18, 1980 in Washington State.
The eruption killed 57 people and caused almost 3 billion in damage. This was the most deadly volcanic
eruption in United States history. The damage of Mount St. Helens was horrific for all the wildlife and
water systems and took a few years to recover.
An Earthquake is caused by sudden, violent shifting of massive rocks called plates under earth's surface.
A Richter scale is used to measure the amount of energy released by the earthquake. The severity of an
earthquake runs from 0 to 9 on the scale. Small tremors of earthquakes occur constantly, but every few
months a major earthquake occurs somewhere in the world. The biggest earthquake to happen in the
United States happened in Prince William Sound, Alaska on March 28, 1964. This earthquake also caused
a tsunami, which together took 128 lives and caused about 311 million in property loss. The earthquake
effects were heavy in many towns in the southern hemisphere of Alaska including, Anchorage, Chitina,
Glennallen, Homer, Hope, Kasilof, Kenai, Kodiak, Moose Pass, Portage, Seldovia, Seward, Sterling,
Valdez, Wasilla, and Whittier. Anchorage took the most severe damage to property. 30 blocks of
dwellings and buildings were damaged or destroyed in the downtown area. The schools in Anchorage
were almost devastated. The landslides in Anchorage caused heavy damage. The largest and most
devastating landslide occurred at Turnagain Heights. An area of about 130 acres had displacements that
broke the ground into many blocks that were collapsed and tilted at all angles. This slide destroyed
about 75 private houses. Water mains, gas, sewer, telephone and electrical systems were disrupted
throughout the area.
Oil Spills are one of the worst man-made disasters. An oil spill causes damage to the environment, to
nature, to the economy and to people. Oil spills are when careless people make mistakes and cause an
oil tanker to springe leak oil into the ocean. Besides the fact of careless people, there are a few other
ways that causes an oil spill. Equipment breaking down may cause an oil spill if the tanker gets stuck on
a shallow land and when they start to drive, they can put a hole in the tanker causing it to leak oil. When
countries are at war one country may decide to dump gallons of oil into the other country's ocean.
Illegal dumpers will dump crude oil into oceans because they don't want to spend money on
decomposing their waste oil. Natural disasters also can cause an oil spill, like a hurricane can cause an oil
tanker to flip over, even if it was a couple of miles away because of its winds. Oil spills have huge
impacts on animals. Birds die from oil spills if their feathers are covered in it.When a bird tries to clean
themselves they will get the oil in their system and get poisoned. Oil can also enter the animals' lungs or
liver and kill them. Oil can blind an animal, and can poison an animal.
When oil is leaked into waterways and the ocean it spreads very quickly with the help of winds and
currents. When oil starts mixing in water, it can change composition and become what's known as
"mousse". This is a sticky substance that clings to whatever it comes in contact with.
Even once the oil
has been dissipated; it can still lurk beneath the surface or beaches and sea beds, affecting marine
organisms that burrow, such as crabs. These burrowing creatures are also food for other animals, so the
cycle of poisoning continues for many years.
Ten of the largest oils spills have occurred in different places and different times. The Odyssey Oil Spill in
1988. 40 million gallons was spilled into the cost of Nova Scotia. In 1991, a tanker exploded and sank off
the coast of Italy and continued leaking its oil into the ocean for 12 years, leaving 45 million gallons into
the ocean. In 1991, a tanker in Angola exploded, leaving more than 51 million gallons into the ocean. In
1978, a tanker' rudder was broken in France during a severe storm, the ship ran aground and broke in
two, the entire load was dumped, in the English Channel leaving 69 million gallons . In 1983, a tanker in
South Africa caught fire and was abandoned before sinking 25 miles off the coast of Saldanha Bay,
leaving behind 79 million gallons. In 1983, a tanker collided with a drilling platform which collapsed into
the sea, and continued to spill oil into the ocean for seven months before it was repaired. Putting 80
million gallons into the Persian Gulf. In 1994, a broken pipeline in Russia leaked for eight months before
it was noticed and repaired, leaving behind 84 million gallons. In 1979, during a tropical storm off the
coast of Trinidad and Tobago, a greek oil tanker collided with another ship, putting 90 million gallons
into the ocean. In 1980, an accident in an oil well in Mexico caused an explosion which then caused
them to collapse. The well remained open, 30,000 gallons were spilled a day into the ocean for a full
year, and it is estimated that 100 million gallons was the total spilled into the ocean. In 1991, Iraqi forces
in Kuwait opened the valves of several oil tankers in order to slow the invasion of American troops. The
oil slick was four inches thick and covered 4000 square miles of ocean, leaving 520 million gallons spilled
into the ocean.
In 2010, the explosion of the Deep water Horizon in the Gulf of Mexico was tragic and experts estimate
that the massive spill will cost billions to clean up. Depending on how long it takes to clean up the gulf
oil spill, this accident may become the largest oil spill in U.S history. The amount of oil pumped into the
Gulf from the damage, is officially estimated at 210,000 gallons per day. The spill covers more than
4,000 square miles of ocean surface that is over ten times the area of New York City. The gulf oil spill is
the fourth major spill to occur in the Gulf of Mexico in the last 50 years.
In conclusion, the world has many different disasters happening and changing the economy, no matter
how devastating they are. No one can prepare enough for natural disasters, but the economy can
prepare for anything, any big changes that have happened in the past, they need to prepare for bigger
things. You never know what will happen, or when it will happen.