Gulf War Oil Spill ;

The Gulf War oil spill is regarded as the largest oil spill in history, resulting from the 1990 Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, or the first Gulf War.

It caused considerable damage to wildlife in the Persian Gulf especially in areas surrounding Kuwait and Iraq. Estimates on the volume spilled range from 42[citation needed] to 462 million gallons;[1] the slick reached a maximum size of 101 by 42 miles (4242 square miles) and was 5 inches thick in some areas. Despite the uncertainty surrounding the size of the spill, figures place it 5 to 27 times[citation needed] the size (in gallons spilled) of the Exxon Valdez oil spill, and more than twice the size of the 1979 Ixtoc I blow-out in the Gulf of Mexico.

According to a study sponsored by UNESCO, Bahrain, Iran, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and the United States, the spill did little long-term damage. About half the oil evaporated, a million barrels were recovered and 2 million to 3 million barrels washed ashore, mainly in Saudi Arabia.[2]