WSNL98-1:Oil at Sea

WSNL 1998-1
Book Note

Oil at Sea - Catastrophes and Long-term Effects

van Bernem, C. & Lübbe, T. 1997. Öl im Meer - Katastrophen und langfristige Belastungen. Wissenschaftliche Buchgesellschaft, Darmstadt, 177 pages, ISBN 3-534-12135-X.

With this book, the authors are presenting an actual and comprehensive compilation of scientific knowledge on the effects of oil pollution on the marine ecosystem. After an introductory characterization of oil as a compound of different components, the book concentrates on the question of how large is the input of oil into the seas and by what sources oil reaches the marine environment, and it describes the behavior and degradation of oil in the sea. The main topics of the book are the effects of oil on animals, plants and communities; here, the authors distinguish clearly between "accidental oil spills" (e.g. by tankers, drilling platforms or the Gulf war) and the "chronic pollution". The following chapter is concerned with cleanup measures of oil spills and it makes clear that these measures also have negative effects on marine life. The book ends with an extended bibliography and a glossary.

This book is easy to read and needs nearly no chemical basic knowledge. Many figures and tables illustrate the text (in a new edition, there are some corrections to be made with the legends and the bibliography). The authors have not presented "a further book on oil pollution", but an excellent actual synopsis.

Eike Hartwig, Verein Jordsand, Hamburg