Chapter 4!!!!

Chapter 4!!!!• Culture-the way of life of a group of people w/

common interests, beliefs, & ideas• Culture also includes: How folks meet their needs,

history, gov, language, religion, etc.

Agriculture• Bout ½ the world’s pop still

make their living farming.• 2 ways to classify

farming/Agriculture– 1: Traditional Ag, (Subsistence

Farming) depends big time on human labor, animal power, & basic farm tools.

– Farmers usually grow just enough food for themselves & if lucky they can trade or sell their extra goods.

– 2: Commercial Ag- food crops & livestock used to make $$$$. Use modern tools like chemicals, pesticides, tractors etc.

Industry• Industry- any business

that produces goods & services.

• Countries that produce a large amount of goods through industry are known as developed or industrialized countries.

• These countries usually have a good economy, housing, food, health care, & education.

Industry• Countries where people continue to meet their needs

like their ancestors did are called developing countries.• Usually don’t have modern technology & industry.• They lack the $$$, resources, & skilled workers needed

for economic growth.

Population Growth & Distribution• World’s pop= around

700,000,000,000.• Growth rate isn’t the same

in all areas of the world.• All based on the birth &

death rates. • Fairly = in industrialized

countries. Not so much in others.

• However less industrialized countries are rapidly growing.

Population Growth & Distribution• Population

Distribution- population pattern that shows how & where the world is populated.

• Human’s really inhabit only a small % of earth.

• Population Density- average # of people in a square mile.

Environment/Pollution• No matter how hard we try, humans can’t control

the Environment. EX Hurricanes, tornados, Earthquakes etc.

• A big time problem for the world is pollution.• 3 types:– Air pollution= mostly caused by the burning of fossil

fuels.– Water pollution= caused by oil spills, industries dumping

waste, & people dumping garbage.– Land pollution= caused by garbage, industrial garbage,

(nuclear waste) but main one is fertilizers & pesticides.

BP Oil Spill• It is the largest marine oil spill in the history of the

petroleum industry.• Happened on April 20, 2010 when the oil rig the

Deep Water Horizon exploded killing 11 folks.

BP Oil Spill• The Deepwater Horizon was a 9-

year-old semisubmersible mobile offshore drilling unit.

• Owned by a company called Transocean & leased to BP.

• It was drilling an exploratory well 41 miles off the coast of Louisiana.

• The night of April 20 some workers started expressing some concerns about the control of the well.

• Methane gas from the well, under high pressure, shot all the way up and out of the drill column, expanded onto the platform, & then ignited & exploded.

BP Oil Spill• Efforts by multiple ships to douse the flames were

unsuccessful. • After burning for about 36 hours, the Deepwater

Horizon sank on the morning of April 22, 2010.

Volume & extent of oil spill• An oil leak was discovered on the afternoon of April

22 when large oil slick began to spread at the former rig site.

• The amount leaking ended up being about 53,000 barrels per day before it was capped.

Volume & extent of oil spill

• As oil started to come up it started to spread. It was aided by a strong southerly winds.

• By April 25, the oil spill covered 580 square miles & by April 30 total spread of the oil at 3,850 square miles.

• On May 9th the oil reached the loop current in the Gulf.

Efforts to cap the well• Several short term

options.• 1. Take a remotely

operated sub down & shut the emergency valves off. (Didn’t work)

• 2. Build a concrete box to place over the well that would pump the oil onto a containment barge.– Worked until ice

crystals formed blocking the oil.

Efforts to cap the well• 3. Tried to fill the well w/ cement called a “Top Kill”• 4. Did have some success: There was a stopper-like

washer around the tube that plugs the end of the riser and diverts the flow into the insertion tube connected to a wide pipe.– They pumped 22,000 barrels onto a ship.– The riser was damaged & had to be removed.– On June 16, a second containment system connected

directly to the blowout preventer became operational carrying oil and gas to a ship where it was burned.

– On July 5 BP was collecting 25,000 barrels of oil a day.

Efforts to cap the well• July 15, BP started testing the cap to the well by

shutting off pipes that were funneling some of the oil to ships on the surface, so the full force of the gusher from the wellhead went up into the cap.

Permanent Relief

• Transocean's Development Driller 3 started drilling a first relief well on May 2.

• Also drilled another relief well on May 16 but had to shut down.

• Both rigs cost 100 million• August 3, tested the strength of the well by

pumping drilling mud into the well. Finally stopped the flow.

• On August 19, some scientists believe it is possible that a collapse of rock formations has kept the oil from continuing to flow and that the well might not be permanently sealed.

Environmental Probs• 3 strategies to stop the oil.• 1: Contain it on the surface, away from the most

sensitive areas, • 2: Dilute & disperse it in less sensitive areas• 3: Remove it from the water.

Containment

• BP funded placing many miles of containment boom.

• Purpose is to either corral the oil, or to block it from a marsh, mangrove, shrimp/crab/oyster ranch or other sensitive areas.

Dispersal• Oil naturally disperses

via storms, and currents w/ time.

• Chemical dispersants speed the dispersal process, but could have negative side-effects.

• On May 1, two military aircraft started spraying oil.

• By July 30, more than 1.8 million gallons of dispersant had been used.

Removal• 3 ways: 1-burning the oil 2- filtering off-shore 3-

collecting • By May 25 BP stated that more than 215,000 barrels

of oil-water mix had been recovered.• By June 28, BP had successfully removed 890,000

barrels of oily liquid & burned about 314,000 barrels of oil.

• A government report August 4 said three-fourths of the oil has been cleaned up, dispersed or eliminated by other means.

• Scientists estimate that there is still 50-60 million gallons of oil still in the water.

Videos• http://video.foxnews.com/v/4303376/how-safe-are

-gulf-oil-spill-dispersants• http://video.foxnews.com/v/4307652/oil-spills-eco

nomic-impact• http://www.foxnews.com/search-results/search?&c

ontent=Video&q=oil+spill&mediatype=Video&start=30

Consequences• Over 400 species in the Gulf

have been effected by the spill & are @ risk.

• As of August 13, 4,768 dead animals had been collected, including 4,080 birds, 525 sea turtles, 72 dolphins

• Coral reefs & the animals that live on & around them have also been effected.

• The ecosystem could require years/decades to recover

Economic Effects• In BP's Initial Exploration Plan, dated March 10, 2009,

they said that "it is unlikely that an accidental spill would occur" & "no adverse activities are anticipated" to fisheries or fish habitat.

• On May 2 the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)closed commercial & recreational fishing in affected federal waters between the mouth of the Mississippi River and Pensacola Bay.

• The closure initially incorporated 6,814 square miles• By June 21 NOAA had increased the area under

closure over a dozen times, encompassing around 36% of Federal waters in the Gulf of Mexico.

Economic Effects• Initial cost

estimates to the fishing industry were $2.5 billion.

• Even though some of the area has been reopened, still about 1/3 of the gulf’s federal waters remain closed.

Economic Effects• People working in the oil industry could lose jobs.• The oil industry employs about 58,000 Louisiana

residents & has created another 260,000 oil-related jobs, accounting for about 17% of all Louisiana jobs

• The real estate prices & a # of transactions in the Gulf of Mexico area have decreased significantly.

BP’s Economic Status• Total losses could amount to $30 billion.• BP’s stock has fallen.• BP gas stations, the majority of which the company

does not own, have reported sales off between 10 & 40% due to backlash against the company.

• Some BP station owners that lost sales say the name should change oil companies.

• BP has agreed to allocate $100 million for payments to offshore oil workers who are unemployed cause of no drilling allowed in the Gulf.

• http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/deepwaterhorizon/video-seafood-inspect.html

• http://www.cnn.com/video/#/video/us/2010/08/18/tsr.feinberg.bp.claims.cnn?iref=allsearch

• http://bp.concerts.com/gom/brianbauernewcommander081010.htm

• http://bp.concerts.com/gom/hitt_marsh_washer_09082010.htm