I got curious about this. Here’s what WikiPedia says:
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| Spill / Tanker | Location | Date | Tons of crude oil | Reference |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gulf War oil spill | Persian Gulf | January 21, 1991 | 1,360,000–1,500,000 | [19][20] |
| Ixtoc I oil well | Gulf of Mexico | June 3, 1979–March 23, 1980 | 454,000–480,000 | [21] |
| Atlantic Empress / Aegean Captain | Trinidad and Tobago | July 19, 1979 | 287,000 | [22][23] |
| Fergana Valley | Uzbekistan | March 2, 1992 | 285,000 | [20] |
| Nowruz oil field | Persian Gulf | February 1983 | 260,000 | [24] |
| ABT Summer | 700 nautical miles (1,300 km) off Angola | 1991 | 260,000 | [22] |
| Castillo de Bellver | Saldanha Bay, South Africa | August 6, 1983 | 252,000 | [22] |
| Amoco Cadiz | Brittany, France | March 16, 1978 | 223,000 | [20][22] |
| Amoco Haven tanker disaster | Mediterranean Sea near Genoa, Italy | 1991 | 144,000 | [22] |
| Odyssey | 700 nautical miles (1,300 km) off Nova Scotia, Canada | 1988 | 132,000 | [22] |
| Sea Star | Gulf of Oman | December 19, 1972 | 115,000 | [20][22] |
| Torrey Canyon | Scilly Isles, UK | March 18, 1967 | 80,000–119,000 | [20][22] |
| Irenes Serenade | Navarino Bay, Greece | 1980 | 100,000 | [22] |
| Urquiola | A Coruña, Spain | May 12, 1976 | 100,000 | [22] |
a One tonne of crude oil is roughly equal to 308 US gallons, or 7.33 barrels.
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News reports say the current Gulf of Mexico well is leaking 200,000 gallons a day, which comes to 650 tons. Do that for a month and it’s about 20,000 tons.
And did I just miss it, or was there essentially no mainstream coverage of the Gulf War oil spill?
The Exxon Valdez spilled about 37,000 tons.
I’m wondering: how much was spilled during the Battle of the Atlantic in WWII?