BP oil spill exacerbated existing environmental problems

摘要

The BP Deepwater Horizon oil spill temporarily worsened existing manmade problems in Louisiana's salt marshes such as erosion, but there may be cause for optimism, according to a new study recently published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The report says that the 2010 spill killed off salt marsh plants 5-10 m from the shoreline and this plant die off resulted in a more-than-doubled rate of erosion along the marsh edge and subsequent permanent marsh habitat loss. Vegetation farther from shore was relatively untouched by the incoming oil. Researchers observed minimal oil on the surfaces of grasses located more than 15 m from the shoreline, indicating oil did not move into interior marshes in significant quantities.