An explosion… The oil rig Macondo located in the Gulf of Mexico exploded. It killed 11 workers and sent oil rushing into the water. It was said that the rig’s crew misread the pressure test and preceded to move ahead. The rig unleashed millions of barrels of oil into the Gulf. By the time they finally sealed the rig, months later, about 5 million barrels of oil had already been soaked into the water. The 5 million barrels is equal to around 200 million gallons of crude oil. The spill lasted 87n days and is still the biggest oil spill in U.S history. Around 16,000 miles of coastline was affected, including the coasts of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida. Not only had the spill effect humans, it effected tons of wildlife. In total it killed many plants, and animals. Approximately, 82,000 birds, which included around 102 species. 6,165 sea turtles, and up to 25,900 marine animals. That including, bottlenose dolphins, spinner dolphins and sperm whales, plus more. Even though the rig was capped in July of 2010, oil is still washing up on shores and has caused long- term damages to the people living in the area. Luckily, over 30,000 people responded to the spill and helped collect oil, clean up beaches, and attend animals. As of 2012 oil was still washing up on shores and polluting …show more content…
Even though there is a ban of ivory trade, Africans elephants are still being poached in large numbers. Around 10s of thousands of elephants have and are being killed every year, just for their ivory tucks. The people who poached will then carve the ivory into jewelry and other items, leaving the elephants left to die. China is one of the biggest consumers of the ivory market. The law stating that poaching is illegal was introduced in 1989 by the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora or CITES. After years of struggling to end poaching the law finally passed a few years later. In the 1980’s around 100,000 elephants were estimated to be killed per year. Around this time 80% of there population was