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Environmental Effects of 1991 Kuwaiti Oil Fires (April 4, 2003, Two)

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Program Summary

Images from the current war of burning Iraqi oil wells bring back memories of 1991 Kuwait, when retreating Iraqi soldiers blew up scores of oil wells and poured 240 million gallons of oil into the Persian Gulf, causing in some areas irreparable damage to the Gulf environment. Ira’s guest, Farouk El-Baz of the Boston University’s Center for Remote Sensing, presents the findings of a three-year study of the disastrous ecological effects of this sabotage.

The oil well fires, which burned for months, produced thick, black clouds of smoke so extensive that they could be seen from space. The immediate result was the pollution of the entire region’s atmosphere, making for spectacular sunsets and serious health hazards. The oil dump, 20 times the size of the Exxon Valdez spill in Alaska, held severe consequences for the Kuwaiti coastal region, killing off wildlife and fouling beaches. The counterclockwise movement of the currents in the Persian Gulf then carried the oil south along the Gulf’s west coast to Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Qatar, and the United Arab Emirates, threatening desalination plants and permanently polluting beaches. The oil has also strangled large areas of coral reef by coating the coral and blocking it from sunlight and food. This, in turn, has led to the disappearance in those areas of the fish and shellfish that populated the reefs. Some success in clearing the spill in a few areas has been achieved with the use of oil-eating bacteria.

Equally dramatic is the effect the oil spill has had on the Kuwaiti desert. The desert is normally covered with a protective layer of pebbles that prevents sand from being blown about and formed into dunes by the wind. In many places, however, oil sprayed from exploded wells soaked into the desert surface and hardened, combining with the pebbles to form a new, hard-as-rock substance dubbed “tarcrete” by Mr. El-Baz. Leaks from wells that didn’t catch fire seeped into the soil with the same result, creating a subsurface layer of tarcrete as deep as nine feet. All vegetation in those spots was permanently destroyed, as new growth is unable to push their way through the concrete-like material. El-Baz has recommended that the tarcrete not be removed; removal would expose the sand beneath and lead to the creation of huge, traveling dunes that would engulf everything in their path. He also recommends that the coalition forcesreturn the landscape to its former condition before leaving the region, filling in trenches, smoothing out berms, and recovering the surface of the desert with gravel to protect the sandy layer below.

Guests

Farouk El-Baz, director of the Center for Remote Sensing at Boston University in Boston

Related Links and Resources

Star.com (“Toronto Star”), March 23, 2003: “Precious Environment Is Another Casualty of War”
Goddard Space Flight Center Top Photo, March 23, 2003: 1991 Kuwait Oil Fires
ScienceinAfrica.co.za, March 2003: Threats to the environment posed by war in Iraq
ScienceNews.org, August 9, 1995: Plants recruit oil-detoxifying microbes

For Discussion:

• How do oil spills affect the environment?
• What have the Kuwaiti oil fires done to the desert and the Persian Gulf?
• What is tarcrete?
• How are oil spills cleaned up? Can they be cleaned up completely?
• What steps have been taken to restore the Gulf environment? What recommendations does Mr. El-Baz make for restoring the Kuwaiti desert? Why does he make those recommendations?

Activities

It’s a dirty job. Pollution Solution is a lesson plan based on the Smithsonian’s Ocean Planet exhibit. Clicking the icon on the lesson plan page links to background and activities, downloadable in Adobe Acrobat Reader. A role-playing exercise has students taking on the persona of reporters, government officials, ship crew members, and others in an investigation into a fictional oil spill.

Sticky situations. The oil-mopping activity found at KIDSNET’s SeaWeb site demonstrates how difficult it can be to clean up different types of oil messes. From this page, students can link to Real Player recordings covering many spill-related topics. A similar activity at NASA Quest: Oil and Water Don't Mix...or Do They? shows the effect that oil has on animals, birds, and sea life. Save the Bay, an activity developed by the Gulf of Maine Aquarium, adds the issue of weather as it affects oil clean-up and the use of satellite imagery to track spills. Links to NASA and the Tromso Satellite Station provide actual satellite pictures of spills.

Read all about it. Oil Spill!, an outstanding Newspapers In Education lesson plan, examines the case of the Prestige oil spill off the coast of Spain in November 2002 and compares it to the Exxon Valdez spill. It then thoroughly covers the far-reaching consequences of spills and clean-up efforts. The “Cleaning Up the Mess” section starts the student on an exploration of oil spills, linking to an excellent site from the United Kingdom.

The wow factor. The National Center for Atmospheric Research has several eloquent photographs of the Kuwaiti oil fires at Pollution and Its Effects. Divide the class into two-person teams to research, write, and photograph a local pollution story.

Use the search box below to perform a Google search within any of the specifc sites or general domains mentioned in this Activities section.

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