I dont think anybody said it end the world as we know it nor does the earth just clean its self up
http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/oceanography/great-pacific-garbage-patch.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exxon_Valdez_oil_spill
Oil still remains
The oil that has spilled into the region is claimed to be just as toxic as it was 20 years ago. Due to its toxicity, the oil is still killing many birds and marine life to this day.[
citation needed] Sea otters and other marine life have a small region for gathering food and living. The oil spill has affected many of the hunting and living areas of many marine animals, and has forced animals to migrate to other areas that have a sustainable living area. Some species have been drastically affected by this oil spill.[
citation needed] In particular a bird species by the name Kittlitz's Murrelets have declined 99% from 1974 to 2004.[
citation needed] The accelerated rate of bird deaths was due mainly to the oil spill destroying the animals habitat.[
citation needed] Species such as the Pigeon Guillemot and the Marbled Murrelet have also decreased in numbers due to the oil spill.[
citation needed] Oil has also extended to the Kenai Peninsula, which is located 450 miles away from the site of occurrence, destroying even more natural habitats that once belonged to a wide range of wild life.
The spill is the "worst environmental disaster the US has faced", according to White House energy adviser Carol Browner.
[243] Indeed, the spill was by far the largest in US history, almost 20 times greater than the
Exxon Valdez oil spill.
[244] Factors such as
petroleum toxicity,
oxygen depletion and the use of
Corexit dispersant are expected to be the main causes of damage.
[245][246] Eight U.S.
national parks are threatened.
[247] More than 400
species that live in the
Gulf islands and marshlands are at risk, including the endangered
Kemp's Ridley turtle, the
Green Turtle, the
Loggerhead Turtle, the
Hawksbill Turtle, and the
Leatherback Turtle. In the national refuges most at risk, about 34,000 birds have been counted, including
gulls,
pelicans,
roseate spoonbills,
egrets,
terns, and
blue herons.
[69] A comprehensive 2009 inventory of offshore Gulf species counted 15,700. The area of the oil spill includes 8,332 species, including more than 1,200 fish, 200 birds, 1,400 molluscs, 1,500 crustaceans, 4 sea turtles, and 29 marine mammals.
[248][249] As of November 2, 2010, 6,814 dead animals had been collected, including 6,104 birds, 609 sea turtles, 100 dolphins and other mammals, and 1 other reptile.
[250][251] According to the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, cause of death had not been determined as of late June. According to NOAA, since January 1, 2011, 67 dead dolphins have been found in the area affected by the oil spill, with 35 of them premature or newborn calves. The cause is under investigation.
[252]
In May, 2010,
Duke University marine biologist Larry Crowder said
threatened loggerhead turtles on Carolina beaches could swim out into contaminated waters. Ninety percent of North Carolina's commercially valuable sea life spawn off the coast and could be contaminated if oil reaches the area. Douglas Rader, a scientist for the
Environmental Defense Fund, said
prey could be negatively affected as well. Steve Ross of
UNC-Wilmington said
coral reefs could be smothered.
[253] In early June Harry Roberts, a professor of Coastal Studies at Louisiana State University, stated that 4 million barrels (640,000 m³) of oil would be enough to "wipe out marine life deep at sea near the leak and elsewhere in the Gulf" as well as "along hundreds of miles of coastline." Mak Saito, an Associate Scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts indicated that such an amount of oil "may alter the chemistry of the sea, with unforeseeable results."
[254] Samantha Joye of the
University of Georgia indicated that the oil could harm fish directly, and
microbes used to consume the oil would also reduce
oxygen levels in the water.
[255] According to Joye, the ecosystem could require years or even decades to recover, as previous spills have done.