Antarctica - Oil Spills

Can happen in various ways but the most common is when oil leaches from a leak in a large ship. In colder climate oil spills can have a greater affect on the environment then in warmer climates. Oil behaves differently at low temperatures: microbes take longer to degrade oil and the oil globules trapped in ice can take years to disperse. Due top limited resources is a large scale spill were to happen most of the oil would not be recovered.

To minimize the impact of an oil spill ships could use light fuels like diesel that evaporate and disperse much more easily than heavy fuel oils. Ships should be equipped with sophisticated navigation equipment and be ice-strengthened. There should also be a oil spill guideline procedure created to help with future spills