Oil seems to be in a lot of places all over the world and largely contained in specific areas. Is there any evidence that oil has leaked naturally in large quantities into water or surface land enough to be comparable to the spills caused by humans? If not on the level of the Exxon Valdez or BP gulf spills, then a natural spill which has caused significant damage to the flora and fauna of the surrounding area?
I have no reason for wondering about this, it has juse been a question that has popped up in my head, so thanks to anyone who can help me find an answer!
Please feel free direct me to a different sub if there is a more relevant place for this.
Over long periods of time, natural oil seeps have definitely released more hydrocarbons into the environment than man-made disasters. Back in 2002, there was a pretty good paper that estimated the annual oil-seepage rate off North America alone is 48 million gallons.
In comparison, the Exxon Valdez was carrying 53,094,510 gallons of oil ─ about 11 million gallons spilled.
The difference is that natural oil seeps are spread over a geographically vast area. They are not point sources of pollution, as tanker accidents or well accidents are. Point sources of pollution are much more dangerous and harmful than distributed sources.
Ever hear the phrase "the solution to pollution is dilution"? That phrase came about in the middle of the 20th century when folks were trying to figure out how to resolve pollution issues. Rather than cut off pollution entirely ─ an act that would cripple any industrial economy ─ they set guidelines that limited it. Especially in water pollution, you're only allowed to have a certain level of contaminants in the environment.
If the level of contamination rises too high, you either tone back your pollution or spread it over a wider area, ensuring the pollutants are diluted by a larger amount of uncontaminated water, air or soil.
Here in Alaska, we see it every day with seafood processing plants. They're allowed to dump waste into the ocean, but it must be spread over a wide area. Fish guts and other leavings are natural to the environment ─ they decay over time ─ but if you dump a bunch of them in one area, you're going to choke the local environment.
As Rachel Carson wrote in Silent Spring, natural environments can recover from gradual change, as in natural seeps and natural deposits, but when "new situations ... follow the impetuous and heedless pace of man rather than the deliberate pace of nature," the environment doesn't have time to adapt. That's why man-made spills are so dangerous.