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Waste and Energy Paper

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Submitted By brantking2000
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Waste and Energy Paper
Team A
ENV 100
February 13, 2012
Instructor - Onesimus Otieno

Waste and Energy Paper
Oil is formed when large quantities of dead organisms, usually zooplankton and algae, are buried underneath sedimentary rock and undergo intense heat and pressure. Petroleum is recovered mostly through oil drilling. Oil is then refined and separated into different products – such as gases, jet fuel, heating oil, diesel, and asphalt. Oil is also used to make petrochemicals, compounds used to make products such as fertilizers, plastics, paints, pesticides, medicines, and synthetic fibers (Berg & Hager, 2009).
Most environmental problems associated with oil are caused by burning and transporting it. Burning oil produces carbon dioxide, which is a greenhouse gas, so it contributes to global warming. It can also lead to acid deposition because the combustion of oil is the leading cause of nitrogen oxides. Nitrogen oxides inhibit plant growth and they are involved in photochemical smog and acid deposition (Berg & Hager, 2009). They can also lead to acidification of soils, affecting the plant varieties that are able to grow in the soil. This leads to a decrease of diversity in the environment. Plants that cannot handle acidic soils die off. In turn, animal species in the area decrease as only the species that can live off of those particular plants will thrive. Others will move on to new areas looking for plants that they have become accustomed to.
Another way oil is detrimental to the environment is from oil spills and oil dumping. Before its affects were known, oil was commonly dumped down gutters, poured out in the dirt, or even poured down the drain. It polluted the water and people became ill. This has been given much attention over the last few decades and now most oil is disposed of properly. There are oil disposal sites in

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