Oil Drilling in Arctic Ocean: A Push into Uncharted Waters

1.    What you already knew:

I knew that efforts by several oil companies, and those funded by governments themselves, to drill for oil in the arctic ocean has slowly been increasing as current oil fields are getting depleted. Some of these countries include the United States, Russia, and Canada. I also knew about the problems associated with drilling the in the Arctic, in addition to those normally seen. First, it is extremely expensive and different technologies are needed to drill in that kind of environment. The area is available for use for only around 4-5 months where there is enough light, and temperatures are not extremely low. 

2.    What you learned:

Microbes in warmer climates are able to break down hydrocarbons, helping to a small extent with cleaning up oil spills. It is unknown how these microbes work in the arctic ocean, or if they even exist there given the harsh conditions. 

Around 100 million gallons of oil are still missing from the deepwater horizon spill even after cleanup. A lot of this oil is expected to have settled on the ocean floor.

Only about 20% of oil from oil spills can be mechanically cleaned up without using harmful chemicals that damage ecosystems. In the Arctic, clean-up efforts would likely tend towards in-situ burning and the use of chemicals. 

3.    Relevance to this class or topic we are covering:

This directly related to our conversations about peak oil and oil reserves around the world. As existing oil fields start running out, we are either going to have to come up with new sources of energy or find new reserves of oil. Currently, a lot of oil reserves are estimated to exist in the Arctic. Until recently, these reserves were inaccessible because of ice but now with warming sea temperatures, this ice has started to melt away, allowing nations to drill for oil. 

4.    Thoughts:

I think that this article raises a lot of issues with drilling in the Arctic, specifically focusing on the difficulties that would be faced if there were ever to be an oil spill. I think this article could have looked into possible fixes for these issues in a little more depth. It does mention new research into technologies that would help detect oil in ice but does not divulge any more details. It would be interesting to see the results of those studies, now that it has been several years since the article was published.