Amanda Thomas, Te Herenga Waka — Victoria University of Wellington; Gradon Diprose, Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research, and Sophie Bond, University of Otago
Over a decade of protest led to the banning of fuel exploration in New Zealand waters. As this extract from a new book explains, that ‘win’ is still precarious and may depend on the election result.
Stopping the expansion of offshore oil and gas extraction is a critical but often overlooked step towards achieving global climate targets and protecting our oceans and planet.
After the oil spill, the usual sight of families strolling by the sea was quickly replaced by volunteers working hard in a concerted effort to protect their coast.
Mauritians have been volunteering to help clear an oil spill from the MV Wakashio but have been told not to. It’s difficult when the threat of oil and inaction is what many have seen.
No one wants an oil spill in their backyard. Yet to understand the real-world fate and effects of diluted bitumen — a Canadian oil sands product — that’s exactly what some scientists did.
Climate change is thawing permafrost and increasing the risk of these accidents, and the region has fewer of the bacteria that can ‘clean up’ oil spills.
Oil spills from a project that’s designed to harness the economic potential of South Africa’s oceans are threatening the world’s largest remaining African Penguin colony.
In 2004 an underwater avalanche destroyed an oil platform off Louisiana, causing a 14-year spill. An expert on oil and gas seeps in the Gulf of Mexico warns that this could happen in other places.
A big spill in Michigan’s Straits of Mackinac could have devastating consequences. But does replacing the pipeline running beneath it make sense in a warming world?
Despite its magnitude, the response to the Montara oil spill did not receive the publicity of other offshore oil disasters like the Deepwater Horizon spill in the Gulf of Mexico.