At the end of May, a red discharge was reported in the banks of the Ambranaya River that spilled into Lake Pyasino, near the city of Norilsk in northern Siberia, Russia. About 20 thousand tons of oils (mainly diesel fuel) leaked from a fuel storage tank into the tributaries of the river. According to the reports, the leak occurred as a result of the thawing of "permafrost" - an underground layer of ice - which caused the ground to sink and become unstable
At the end of May, a red spill was reported in the banks of the Ambranaya River that spilled into Lake Pyasino, near the city of Norilsk in northern Siberia, Russia. About 20 thousand tons of oils (mainly diesel fuel) leaked from a fuel storage tank into the tributaries of the river. According to reports, The leak occurred as a result of the thawing "freeze until" (Permafrost) - an underground layer of ice - which caused the ground to settle and its instability, which in turn caused the entire storage to crack and the oils to leak. Despite attempts to stop and pump the oils, the leak penetrated the lake down the river and there is a fear that the contamination will later reach other bodies of water in the Arctic region.
Since then, the spill in Siberia has dropped from the headlines (and for a short time it was even replaced by reports of the heavy heat wave that plagues the region), but its severe negative effects on the environment and on humans have not disappeared.
The oils of the type that leaked in Siberia contain highly toxic aromatic carbon-hydrogen chains (PAH), and the exposure of these substances to solar radiation causes an even more significant increase in their toxicity.
Oils that leak into a watery environment (rivers, sea, lake, etc.) spread in space: float on the surface of the water, evaporate into the air, remain in the body of water and sink to the bottom. In each of these dimensions there may be harm to the local ecosystem: in the water and in the body of water harm may occur to fish, birds, mammals, insects, and animals and planktonic productions such as algae and tiny crustaceans that form the basis of the food web. In the bottom of the river, damage may occur to ground-dwelling fish and invertebrates such as crabs and molluscs. Aquatic and terrestrial animals (including humans) are exposed to contamination through breathing, contact or nutrition.
In the case of the spill in Siberia, the main type of oil that leaked into the environment was diesel fuel, which is lighter than crude oil, so a large part of it floats and evaporates into the air. On the other hand, the river water is cold, so the weathering processes are slower, So the infection may stay around longer.
Beyond the direct damage to the animals, the recovery time of various components in the ecosystem may take decades, And in some cases the system will not recover at all. For example, entire local herds of marine mammals (dolphins and killer whales) were completely destroyed after the Deepwater Horizon (Gulf of Mexico, 2010) and Exxon Valdez oil spills, and their population never recovered.
The pollution of the ecosystem also harms the provision of services that are important to man, such as oxygen production, carbon dioxide absorption, supply of clean air and water, stable land for construction, fish for food, as well as a place for leisure and tourism activities.
Oil contamination also damages the vegetation that stabilizes the soil, thus contributing to soil instability and erosion. Oil spills of this magnitude, together with the thawing of the permafrost and the fires that plague the region, emit huge amounts of greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, which accelerate global climate change (in Siberia it is particularly extreme), which in turn causes further thawing and increases the chance of similar events - so that in fact A feedback mechanism with an increasing negative effect on the environment.
Easy to pollute, hard to restore
To assess the degree of damage of such pollution to the environment, we must first know what the state of the environment was before the pollution. Norilsk, the area in Siberia where the spill occurred, Defined as one of the most polluted areas in the world even before the current leak, this is as a result of nickel mining and refining of other heavy metals that caused heavy environmental pollution that is felt up to a radius of about 100 kilometers. This contamination is probably also reflected in serious harm to the health of the local population, and it is A possible factor for the high morbidity and mortality rates in this region compared to the rest of the country. Further pollution, as has occurred now, may even worsen the environmental effects and lead the ecosystem to an environmental point of no return.
Treating such a spill and cleaning up the pollution it caused usually includes blocking the oils on the surface of the water and pumping them out, collecting contaminated soil, spraying chemicals to break down the oil, cleaning up contaminated vegetation and cleaning and treating the animals that were covered in oil. The degree of effectiveness of some of these actions is controversial, because cleaning up large spills usually removes less than a quarter of the amount of pollution, sometimes while causing irreversible mechanical or chemical disruption to the coastal systems. For example, a study that followed pelicans that were cleaned after an oil spill in California showed that most of the pelicans that were cleaned did not survive. And they did not reproduce in the period after the cleaning. In addition, collecting contaminated sediment with heavy mechanical tools obviously harms the flora and fauna of that environment. Also, the combination between the oil and the chemicals that are supposed to break it down It is significantly more toxic than the oil alone. The current contamination area is characterized by flat earth and slow flow through branched systems of water bodies and aquatic plants - something that may even complicate efforts to treat the spill. Not for nothing, the Russian government estimated the environmental damage at 2.1 billion dollars, an amount to be paid by Norilsk Nickel, the mining company responsible for the pollution.
Ecosystems damaged by pollution are considered more vulnerable to disturbances and prone to ecological collapse compared to natural and undisturbed areas. Therefore, in parallel with attempts to restore the damaged area, it is very important to preserve large natural areas nearby - areas that are a refuge area for animals at risk, and a source of supply for animals and plants to be able to rehabilitate damaged areas in the future. That is why the large arctic nature reserve located downstream of the polluted Piasina river mouth is of great importance. This importance intensifies in view of the Russian race to develop and industrialize the Arctic region, which includes massive construction on the permafrost. Satellite image of the affected area in Siberia. The combination of industrial facilities and extreme climate change is a ticking time bomb
prevent pollution in the Mediterranean Sea
The deadly combination of industrial facilities from the last century, with the extreme climate changes of the current era is a ticking time bomb and is a recipe for relapse and an increase in the frequency of similar events in the near future. This danger should be taken into account when calculating the "total price" of energy production, especially when examining the cost-benefit ratios of different development operations and comparing possible energy sources.
In Israel, for example, in recent years there has been an accelerated development of infrastructure for gas production in the Mediterranean Sea. So that an environmental disaster like the one that happened in Siberia does not happen here, there is a need for close supervision and prevention of possible contamination from these facilities. This matter receives wide public attention thanks to various environmental protection organizations and generates a healthy public debate. At the same time, there is an ongoing effort For the declaration of large marine nature reserves, which will be undisturbed areas that will preserve the marine environment and increase the resistance of the ecosystem to disturbances such as pollution, fishing pressure, and invasive species.
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