Humans are responsible for over 90% of the oil spills in the seas

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The total area of ​​the oil slicks is estimated at about 1.5 million square kilometers or an area more than double that of France.

The first world map of chronic oil spills in the seas and oceans of the planet, developed by Chinese and American scientists, reveals that 94% are due to human causes, a much higher percentage than expected. Previous estimates were that about half of the oil spills were man-made and the other half came from natural sources (but based on the new estimate this percentage does not exceed 6%).

The researchers from the Universities of Florida (USA) and Nanjing (China), who made the relevant publication in the journal “Science”, used more than 560,000 radar images from Sentinel satellites for over 450,000 oil slicks worldwidemost relatively small in size, which they analyzed with the help of artificial intelligence.

They found that most of the oil slicks are near the shores, half at a distance of about 40 km from them, while 90% at a distance of up to 160 km, mainly on the main shipping lanes. THE total area of ​​oil slicks is estimated at about 1.5 million square kilometers or an area more than double that of France.

The the main causes of oil spills are ships, the pipelines and the oil and gas exploration platformsthe pollution from coastal activitiesbut also the natural leaks from the seabed. The spots are thin layers of oil on the surface of the water, which are constantly moved by winds and sea currents, while they are broken by the waves.

Among other things, the spots have severe impact on phytoplankton which is the basis of the marine food chain. Also other large marine animals, such as turtles and whales, are severely damaged when they come in contact with oil slicks as they breathe.

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