It is indeed an indisputable fact that the discovery of oil has dramatically changed human life. Oil dominates our daily life in several direct and indirect ways in a variety of forms.
However, at the same time, petroleum and its by-products have become a major threat to the environment over the last two centuries. Most importantly, the spillages of oil from accidents involving tankers and oil rigs have polluted our seas as well as oceans and badly affected the marine ecosystem.
Over the period of the last two centuries, a number of accidents involving oil tankers and rigs have resulted in the spillage of millions of gallons of oil into our oceans.
Among the oil spills occurred in the last five decades, Exxon Valdez Oil Spill remains a prominent one. In the accident that took place almost 30 years ago, over 11 million gallons of crude oil was released into the waters of the Gulf of Alaska, hurting the ecosystem badly as it killed hundreds of thousands of species.
