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Transcript

What is the Problem?

Oil spills that happen in the Niger River Delta go straight to the Gulf of Guinea, which is connected to the Atlantic Ocean. When there is an oil spill in the delta, much more than just the delta is affected. These chain reactions have terrible affects on the ecosystem. If you saw what the BP oil spill did to the Gulf of Mexico, imagine that, but happening almost weekly. That is what the Niger River Delta is like.

Here's what will happen to the environment:

Oil that leaks into the Gulf of Guinea goes straight to the Atlantic Ocean, which, goes to other Oceans and seas and Gulfs. If you have a huge spill in Nigeria, some of the oil from there could wash up onto the east coast of the U.S. The oil in the delta is causing plants and animals in the marshes to die or become mutated. Unable to survive the ecosystem starts to die. The oil in the water also contribute to ocean acidification, which depletes calcium deposits in the water and makes it difficult for coral to build their outer 'shell' and in all survive. Animals in the actual delta get coated in oil, some parts of the water are so thick that the water has turned black and thick. This seems to be an extremely big problem.

Here's the water in the river delta

Where is this?

The Niger River Delta is in Nigeria, which is located near the 'hump' of Africa. The river delta is in southern Nigeria (it is split into 3 main parts: east, west, and south). A majority of the oil spills are in or near the Niger River, namely the river's delta. The oil then empties out in to the Gulf of Guinea; which is connected to the Atlantic Ocean.

Who's mainly responsible for this?

My solution:

A lot of oil spills occuring in the Niger River Delta are caused by Dutch Royal Shell. There have been cases of Exxon oil spills, although Shell has the most recorded oil spills. Shell has also been accused of not paying the nearby villages enough, the communities of Bodo claim that shell has only paid them in total of £3,500, 50 bags of rice, 50 bags of beans, and a few pounds of sugar, tomatoes, and groundnut oil. They were rejected but later accepted for legal matters. But the chiefs of Bodo had said that the offer seemed "beggarly and insulting.".

I propose that regular pipeline check ups are required, so that holes or bursts in the pipe doesn't result in oil leaking out for weeks. I also propose that the people who lost their jobs to Shell and the oil spills could be hired to help clean up the spills and people (mostly the government) take more notice of the consequences that result in leaving the oil spills unnoticed.

This is how it's happening:

Most of the time, oil spills in the Niger River Delta are because of pipeline failures, holes, or bursts. Lots of times when these things happen they go unnoticed for weeks, spilling oil everywhere. Holes almost always are caused by people drilling into the pipes with out proper equipment and a way to seal the hole back up again. These people then sell the oil they have collected to make money. These large oil leaks could be reduced by making sure that there are no leaks in the pipes. I'm sure that Shell takes notice of how much oil comes in a day or even a week. If the amount of oil coming in from one pipe is too low (unnaturally low) then they could take a look and see if said pipe had a leak. If so, then it can be quickly fixed. Voila, problem sort of sloved.

So, think about my solution and the problem at hand. Do you think it could work? I think that it could help prevent oil spills in the Niger River Delta, and potentially solve other ecological problems in the world.

Oil Spills in the Niger River Delta

By Mia Karras (the ecologist)

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