Even though oil spills usually are of a detrimental effect to plant, animal and human life, these effects can be mitigated by the application of science alongside international resolutions with respect to the use of marine waters. On the contrary, conservationist quarters that do not approve of my thesis still have it in mind that environmental pollution negatively affects the future of the environment and further, that this compromises the sustenance of human as well animal forms of life. One of the major environmental hazards and one which courts negative reactions and reception concerns the matter of oil spills, especially in water bodies. There are numerous instances of excessive oil spills that have been experienced around the world. Oil spills are indeed hazardous to the marine-related environment and also to land. Further, oils spills have a detrimental effect to marine life, plant and animal life alike. Accidents that lead to these incidences may sometimes be so severe that they may lead to massive losses in terms of human lives and livelihoods as is the case with the oil spill that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico. Oil spills are caused due to a number of factors, some of which are unforeseen and unavoidable in the case of accidents, which sometimes too, are contributed to by carelessness and negligence on the part of the stakeholders involved. There are many negative implications that arise from incidences of environmental pollution and more particularly, oil spills. This not only directly affects the environment but also, other important aspects of life such as ordinary business activities that are marine-oriented are affected as well (Safina, 2011) . However, environmentalists and scientists, in their researches, usually put in mind the possibility of such accidents occurring and therefore, have put forward ways on how to handle such issues if and when they occur.
Scholars state that nature has a way of self-purification, a self-correcting mechanism that continuously tries to restore the environment to the period before its degradation. However, the time taken for this to occur is almost entirely dependent on the level of pollution that occurred in order to lead to the pollution in the first place. Over the history of mankind, there have been several tragic incidences that have occurred leading to intense pollution and harm of the environment over a large area, for example, the Brazil mining disaster which led to hundreds of miles of toxic pollution by iron ore. Scientists state that the rate of pollution should not exceed the rate at which nature undergoes self-cleansing. Over the recent past, industrialization has led to very high rates of environmental pollution, and this has caused concerns over the rate at which pollutants are being introduced to the environment. In the case of the BP oil spill, there have been tremendous efforts made by both the company and by environmentalists to try and correct the oil spill that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico region ( Griggs, 2011) . People only focus on stating criticisms in relation to the company’s complacency with respect to its operations, seeing as this was the initial influencer behind the massive pollution that occurred in the cited area. The BP Company has made great strides in trying to correct the harm that befell the environment as a result of this oil spill ( Safina, 2011) .
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Throughout human history, there have been hundreds of accidental incidences that have brought about pollution in the environment. This being one of the more recent ones, received criticism because of something that was probably not avoidable. Instead, people should have been grateful because the company opted to put efforts towards trying to correct their mistake by trying to control the level of pollution that it had caused. The company had the option of ignoring the incident and going on with life as usual, but instead it took the moral high ground in regards of opting to manage the aftermath of the pollution. There have been hundreds of other oil spills that have occurred in the past and this shows that mother nature has the ability to correct even these environmental faults that are experienced in the world today, provided, efforts are made to control any dangers already experienced and avoid numerous repetitions in the future (Colwell, 2014) .
Pollutions to the environment may take time to correct but the fact of the matter is, it is possible to handle the situation. For example, the Brazil mining disaster made hundreds of miles of land and ocean toxic. One of Brazil’s largest river was also toxic due to the accident that occurred in one of the iron ore dams. People in all these areas were left without water to drink and as well the land in the whole of this area was rendered agriculturally unproductive. Fish and all other marine life was killed along the entire river and in the ocean as well, leaving many people without jobs, homes, food and water (Colwell, 2014). However, scientists have stated that in due time, with numerous efforts from the government and other environment organizations, people would make efforts to clean up the environment and thus, would slowly recover the land and water bodies’ productivity once more. Instead of the people within this area concentrating on fighting the organizations responsible for the harm done, they acting in collaboration with the company, foster any conservationist programs that the company intends to introduce in order to mitigate the crisis at hand. Many people tend to focus on seeking monetary compensation in the aftermath of most of such like accidents (Adcroft et al. 2010). However, people should understand that at such like a time, the responsible company is under a lot of pressure not only from the community around but also from the government of the country and the world population at large. Also, people should bear in mind that accidents do happen, and as such, the affected company, together with the government, should work towards compensating the affected parties as much as possible and also, should be allowed ample time to undertake environmental restoration (Adcroft et al., 2010).
The international community has a set of ethics that are applied in most parts of the world. For instance, if such a spill occurs and greatly damages the environment, the responsible party should take up the task of correcting the damage that it has caused (Colwell, 2014 ) . Therefore, in the case that occurred in the Gulf of Mexico, BP is on record for having tried to restore the environment, as much as possible, to what it had originally been ( ) . In as much as the company ought to take up the responsibility of correcting their error, it in equal measure should make sure that the necessary procedures are undertaken in order to achieve this goal. It should also not take too long, seeing as some companies may want to take advantage of the situation and undertake the corrective measures slowly (Griggs, 2011).
A company that takes up the responsibility of correcting any mess done in the environment and in the right way is thus, not regarded as a failure ( Griggs, 2011) . Many people, after a company has experienced a particular accident, tend to victimize the company and will usually want to associate it with negligence and disregard to the environment. People should be made aware that, after a company has experienced a drastic accident leading to the pollution of the environment, it is of no benefit to the environment to point fingers in negative criticism. What should be done is that companies should try their best to work with the communities and governments of the respective communities within which they operate so as to try and restore the environment. A company that is keen on doing this should be considered as one that has great respect for corporate responsibility due to its adherence to the ethical methods of handling the incident ( Colwell, 2014) .
Accidents and incidences that occur which harm the environment are also eye openers as to the things that people may not take seriously in the modern world. Care for the environment is something not many companies put in mind while undertaking their operations. For example, transport and manufacturing industries continuously harm the environment by emitting toxic gases into the atmosphere. Of these companies, those that have been compelled to contribute to conservation efforts, become more aware of the essence of corporate responsibility in as far as environmental conservation is concerned. This is a motivating factor for them to ensure the safety of the environment in terms of their company objectives in future making them advocates of responsible use of the environment. A company like BP has made great efforts towards cleaning up the crude that spilled in the Gulf of Mexico region and has ever since, been very vigilant on the good use of the environment. Their efforts to clean the environment have involved use of experts and professionals in the fields of biology and the biological sciences, who help study the environmental impact of oil spills and the best way to restore polluted areas to its natural form.
Such efforts by BP Company have greatly bore results and the environment has clearly been cared for ever since the accident ( Colwell, 2014) . Scientists can attest to the fact that the efforts have brought about great improvement in comparison to the pollution that had been done when the spill was experienced. The efforts by BP alone have ensured that more than half of the total amount of oil spill had been collected. This means that with the support of other companies, local communities, government and international organizations, more can be done in order to care for the environment whether an accident has occurred or not. It should be made aware that in case of such an incident by any kind of firm in future, investments made towards caring for the environment are not a waste but are worth since they help save a lot of animals, plants and also human lives, all who depend greatly on a healthy environment.
References
Adcroft, A., Hallberg, R., Dunne, J.P, Samuels, B.L., Galt, J.A, et al. (2010). Simulations of underwater plumes of dissolved oil in the Gulf of Mexico. Geophys Res Lett 37: L18605
Safina, C. (2011). The 2010 Gulf of Mexico Oil Well Blowout: A Little Hindsight . PLoS Biol 9 (4): e1001049. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001049.
Griggs, J. W. (2011).BP Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill. Energy Law Journal, 3 (57): 58- 68.
Colwell, R.R. (2014). Understanding the Effects of the Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill. Bio Science 64 (9): 755. doi: 10.1093/biosci/biu145
