BIO 220 Drilling for oil in the Arctic, off the coast of California, and in the Gulf of Mexico is a controversial issue

Drilling for oil in the Arctic, off the coast of California, and in the Gulf of Mexico is a controversial issue. Based on the 2010 British Petroleum (BP) oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, provide reasons both for drilling and against drilling in these locations. Which side of the argument do you find more persuasive? Why?

The northern Gulf of Mexico is home to 22 species of marine mammals, including manatees in coastal seagrasses and dolphins and whales in estuarine, nearshore, and offshore habitats.

Five species of sea turtles live in the Gulf of Mexico: loggerhead, Kemp’s ridley, green turtle, hawksbill, and leatherback. All of these species are protected under the Endangered Species Act. The Gulf of Mexico provides critically important habitats for sea turtle reproduction, feeding, migration, and refuge, including extensive Sargassum habitat in the open ocean that small juvenile turtles depend on for survival.

The consequences of the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico extended beyond the 11 fatalities and 17 injuries suffered that day. The 4 million barrels of crude oil that spilled into the ocean over the ensuing 3 months also carried a significant environmental impact, some of which is still being felt today.

Below is a brief look at those environmental impacts that resulted from the explosion aboard the oil rig Deepwater Horizon on April 20, 2010, which left an oil slick on the surface of the ocean 100 miles wide.

3 Major Areas of Impact After Deepwater Horizon Spill

BIO 220 Drilling for oil in the Arctic, off the coast of California, and in the Gulf of Mexico is a controversial issue

Effect on marine life

PAH, or polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, is a chemical that is carcinogenic in high concentrations and can interfere with biological processes. PAH was found up to 8 miles from the wreckage site and was later found to be causing cardiac arrest in fish. Additionally, pockets of methane led to oxygen-starved zones, which caused marine life to smother. Large numbers of fish kills in the area were reported.

Prior to the spill, only about 0.1% of fish in the Gulf of Mexico had lesions or sores. In the aftermath of the spill, that number spiked to 20%.

Pregnant dolphins in the Gulf of Mexico were found to have a higher incidence of in-utero infections, fetal issues, and late-term pregnancy failures. In fact, in the 6 years following the spill, over 170 stillborn and stranded juvenile dolphins have been found in Gulf waters, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Effect on birds

Effects were not limited to species who made their home in the water. According to the Audubon Society, over 1 million birds died as a result of the disaster. Oil inhibits birds’ ability to maintain body warmth, and many were found on shore still alive and seeking shelter.

Groundwater impact

Experts theorize that the use of dispersants after the spill caused the oil to sink even more deeply into beaches. They also suspect that it may have affected the groundwater supply in that area.

Cleanup

It took nearly 3 months for the oil leak to be fully capped before the cleanup effort could commence. Some 48,000 people were hired to assist with the cleanup, and all were required to complete HAZWOPER training classes in advance.

Those working on marine vessels underwent a 40-hour HAZWOPER training course and many also took an 8-hour supervisor course as well. Training consisted of both site-specific and classroom modules.

Aftermath

The environmental impact of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill is still evident a decade later.

There is some hope though. The fishing industry in the area has seen their catches return to normal levels. Oysters in many areas of the gulf are returning. Tests on edible seafood caught in that area do not show excess hydrocarbons in the food supply in the region.

However, other species and areas are not showing the same kind of promise. Dolphin numbers are down. As late as 2013, Cat Island, an important bird rookery, was still devoid of the mangroves that had provided shelter, leading pelicans and other birds unable to use the area.

According to research undertaken by Mandy Joye, an oceanographer with the University of Georgia, the oil from the spill has settled to the seafloor, concentrating in thin sheets in some areas and deep pools in others. Joye claims that the submerged oil continues to shift around, and that it is impossible to determine at this point what the long term impact will be.

In 2015, federal officials claimed that it was still too soon to make any judgments about the long-term effects of the spill and the success of the recovery process.

National Environmental Trainers trains people like you to be a part of the solution to environmental impacts like the ones resulting from the Deepwater Horizon oil spill. Sign up for training today to make a difference.

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Lopes Write Policy

For assignments that need to be submitted to Lopes Write, please be sure you have received your report and Similarity Index (SI) percentage BEFORE you do a “final submit” to me.

Once you have received your report, please review it. This report will show you grammatical, punctuation, and spelling errors that can easily be fixed. Take the extra few minutes to review instead of getting counted off for these mistakes.

Review your similarities. Did you forget to cite something? Did you not paraphrase well enough? Is your paper made up of someone else’s thoughts more than your own?

Visit the Writing Center in the Student Success Center, under the Resources tab in LoudCloud for tips on improving your paper and SI score.

Late Policy

The university’s policy on late assignments is 10% penalty PER DAY LATE. This also applies to late DQ replies.

Please communicate with me if you anticipate having to submit an assignment late. I am happy to be flexible, with advance notice. We may be able to work out an extension based on extenuating circumstances.

If you do not communicate with me before submitting an assignment late, the GCU late policy will be in effect.

I do not accept assignments that are two or more weeks late unless we have worked out an extension.

As per policy, no assignments are accepted after the last day of class. Any assignment submitted after midnight on the last day of class will not be accepted for grading.

Communication

Communication is so very important. There are multiple ways to communicate with me:

Questions to Instructor Forum: This is a great place to ask course content or assignment questions. If you have a question, there is a good chance one of your peers does as well. This is a public forum for the class.

Individual Forum: This is a private forum to ask me questions or send me messages. This will be checked at least once every 24 hours.

Important information for writing discussion questions and participation

Welcome to class

Hello class and welcome to the class and I will be your instructor for this course. This is a -week course and requires a lot of time commitment, organization, and a high level of dedication. Please use the class syllabus to guide you through all the assignments required for the course. I have also attached the classroom policies to this announcement to know your expectations for this course. Please review this document carefully and ask me any questions if you do. You could email me at any time or send me a message via the “message” icon in halo if you need to contact me. I check my email regularly, so you should get a response within 24 hours. If you have not heard from me within 24 hours and need to contact me urgently, please send a follow up text to

I strongly encourage that you do not wait until the very last minute to complete your assignments. Your assignments in weeks 4 and 5 require early planning as you would need to present a teaching plan and interview a community health provider. I advise you look at the requirements for these assignments at the beginning of the course and plan accordingly. I have posted the YouTube link that explains all the class assignments in detail. It is required that you watch this 32-minute video as the assignments from week 3 through 5 require that you follow the instructions to the letter to succeed. Failure to complete these assignments according to instructions might lead to a zero. After watching the video, please schedule a one-on-one with me to discuss your topic for your project by the second week of class. Use this link to schedule a 15-minute session. Please, call me at the time of your appointment on my number. Please note that I will NOT call you.

Please, be advised I do NOT accept any assignments by email. If you are having technical issues with uploading an assignment, contact the technical department and inform me of the issue. If you have any issues that would prevent you from getting your assignments to me by the deadline, please inform me to request a possible extension. Note that working fulltime or overtime is no excuse for late assignments. There is a 5%-point deduction for every day your assignment is late. This only applies to approved extensions. Late assignments will not be accepted.

If you think you would be needing accommodations due to any reasons, please contact the appropriate department to request accommodations.

Plagiarism is highly prohibited. Please ensure you are citing your sources correctly using APA 7th edition. All assignments including discussion posts should be formatted in APA with the appropriate spacing, font, margin, and indents. Any papers not well formatted would be returned back to you, hence, I advise you review APA formatting style. I have attached a sample paper in APA format and will also post sample discussion responses in subsequent announcements.

Your initial discussion post should be a minimum of 200 words and response posts should be a minimum of 150 words. Be advised that I grade based on quality and not necessarily the number of words you post. A minimum of TWO references should be used for your initial post. For your response post, you do not need references as personal experiences would count as response posts. If you however cite anything from the literature for your response post, it is required that you cite your reference. You should include a minimum of THREE references for papers in this course. Please note that references should be no more than 5 years old except recommended as a resource for the class. Furthermore, for each discussion board question, you need ONE initial substantive response and TWO substantive responses to either your classmates or your instructor for a total of THREE responses. There are TWO discussion questions each week, hence, you need a total minimum of SIX discussion posts for each week. I usually post a discussion question each week. You could also respond to these as it would count towards your required SIX discussion posts for the week.

I understand this is a lot of information to cover in 5 weeks, however, the Bible says in Philippians 4:13 that we can do all things through Christ that strengthens us. Even in times like this, we are encouraged by God’s word that we have that ability in us to succeed with His strength. I pray that each and every one of you receives strength for this course and life generally as we navigate through this pandemic that is shaking our world today. Relax and enjoy the course!

Hi Class,

Please read through the following information on writing a Discussion question response and participation posts.

Contact me if you have any questions.

Important information on Writing a Discussion Question

Your response needs to be a minimum of 150 words (not including your list of references)
There needs to be at least TWO references with ONE being a peer reviewed professional journal article.
Include in-text citations in your response
Do not include quotes—instead summarize and paraphrase the information
Follow APA-7th edition
Points will be deducted if the above is not followed

Participation –replies to your classmates or instructor

A minimum of 6 responses per week, on at least 3 days of the week.
Each response needs at least ONE reference with citations—best if it is a peer reviewed journal article
Each response needs to be at least 75 words in length (does not include your list of references)
Responses need to be substantive by bringing information to the discussion or further enhance the discussion. Responses of “I agree” or “great post” does not count for the word count.
Follow APA 7th edition
Points will be deducted if the above is not followed
Remember to use and follow APA-7th edition for all weekly assignments, discussion questions, and participation points.
Here are some helpful links
Student paper example
Citing Sources
The Writing Center is a great resource