Speeding up nature's oil spill cleaners
Thursday, September 11, 2014 - 07:10
in Earth & Climate
Imagine if oil spills could be completely cleaned up soon after a marine accident. And this could be made possible thanks to none other than warrior microorganisms who attacked and completely broke down the oil. The latter might sound like a science fiction movie, but it actually happens in nature. Regardless of human methods used to deal with oil spills, the sea has its own self-cleaning abilities. Bacteria naturally appear in the sea wherever there is an oil leak and eat most of the pollution. But once crude oil is spilled in a pristine marine environment, it takes at least one week before such biodegradation processes begin to take effect.
