Chronic oiling in global oceans

Abstract

Ocean oil slicks can be attributed to natural seepages or to anthropogenic discharges. To date, the global picture of their distribution and relative natural and anthropogenic contributions remains unclear. Here, by analyzing 563,705 Sentinel-1 images from 2014–2019, we provide the first global map of oil slicks and a detailed inventory of static-and-persistent sources (natural seeps, platforms, and pipelines). About 90% of oil slicks were within 160 kilometers of shorelines, with 21 high-density slick belts coinciding well with shipping routes. Quantified by slick area, the proportion of anthropogenic discharges was an order of magnitude greater than natural seepages (94 versus 6%), in contrast to the previous estimate quantified by volume during 1990–1999 (54 versus 46%). Our findings reveal that the present-day anthropogenic contribution to marine oil pollution may have been substantially underestimated.