Kuwaiti oil fires

[[File:USAF F-16A F-15C F-15E Desert Storm edit2.jpg|thumb|right|[[United States Air Force|USAF]] aircraft fly over burning Kuwaiti oil wells]] [[File:BrennendeOelquellenKuwait1991.jpg|thumb|right|The oil fires caused a dramatic decrease in air quality, causing respiratory problems for many Kuwaitis.]] The '''Kuwaiti oil fires''' were caused by [[Iraq]]i [[Military of Iraq|military forces]] setting fire to 700 oil wells as part of a [[scorched earth]] policy while retreating from [[Kuwait]] in 1991 after invading the country but being driven out by [[Coalition of Gulf War|Coalition]] military forces (''see [[Gulf War]]''). The fires started in January and February 1991 and the last one was extinguished by November 1991. The resulting fires burned out of control because of the dangers of sending in firefighting crews. [[Land mines]] had been placed in areas around the oil wells, and a military cleaning of the areas was necessary before the fires could be put out. Around {{convert|6|Moilbbl|m3|-4}} of oil were lost each day. Eventually, privately contracted crews extinguished the fires, at a total cost of [[US$]]1.5 billion to Kuwait. By that time, however, the fires had burned for approximately ten months, causing widespread pollution. The [[by-products]] of the [[petroleum]] burn caused pollution to the soil and air, and the oil fires have been linked with what was later called [[Gulf War Syndrome]]; however, studies have indicated that the firemen who capped the wells did not report any of the symptoms suffered by the soldiers. Whether this syndrome has been caused by the oil fires, by chemical attack, or other causes has not been determined, and the long-term environmental effects of the fires have yet to be fully understood. During [[Operation Desert Storm]], Dr. [[S. Fred Singer]] and [[Carl Sagan]] discussed the possible environmental impacts of the Kuwaiti petroleum fires on the [[ABC News]] program ''[[Nightline (US news program)|Nightline]]''. Sagan argued that some of the effects of the smoke could be similar to the effects of [[nuclear winter]], with smoke lofting into the upper [[Earth's atmosphere|atmosphere]], with global effects and that he believed the net effects would be very similar to the explosion of the Indonesian volcano [[Mount Tambora|Tambora]] in 1815, which resulted in the year 1816 being known as the ''[[Year Without a Summer]]''. He reported on initial modeling estimates that forecast impacts extending to south Asia, and perhaps to the northern hemisphere as well. Singer, on the other hand, said that calculations showed that the smoke would go to an altitude of about {{convert|3000|ft|m}} and then be rained out after about three to five days and thus the lifetime of the smoke would be limited. Both estimates turned out to be wrong, with the atmospheric effects remaining largely limited to the Persian Gulf region, but with smoke often lofting to over {{convert|10,000|ft|m}} and sometimes as high as {{convert|20,000|ft|m}}. , In retrospect, it is now known that smoke from the Kuwait Oil Fires dominated the weather pattern throughout the Persian Gulf and surrounding region during 1991, and that lower atmospheric wind blew the smoke along the eastern half of the Arabian Peninsula, and cities such as [[Dhahran]] and [[Riyadh]], and countries such as [[Bahrain]] experienced days with smoke filled skies and carbon fallout. The companies responsible for extinguishing the fires initially were [[Red Adair]] Company (now sold off to [[Global Industries]] of [[Louisiana]]), [[Boots and Coots]] (now Boots and Coots/IWC), [[Wild Well Control]]. Other companies including [[Safety Boss]], Cudd Well/Pressure Control, Neal Adams Firefighters, and Kuwait Wild Well Killers were also contracted. Two wells have yet to be successfully extinguished.{{Dubious|date=April 2011}}{{Citation needed|date=April 2011}} ==Motives== By the eve of the Iraqi invasion, Kuwait had set production quotas to almost {{convert|1.9|Moilbbl/d|m3/d}}, which coincided with a sharp drop in the price of oil. By the summer of 1990, Kuwaiti overproduction had become a serious point of contention with Iraq. Some analysts have speculated that one of [[Saddam Hussein]]'s main motivations in invading Kuwait was to punish the ruling al-Sabah family in Kuwait for not stopping its policy of overproduction, as well as his reasoning behind the destruction of said wells. ==Environmental impact== ''see also: [[Nuclear Winter]]'' [[File:Kuwait burn oilfield.png|thumb|left|An oilfield on fire]] [[File:Mummified Bird.jpg|thumb|right|A 2008 picture of the mummified remains of a bird, encrusted within the top hard layer of a dry oil lake in the Kuwaiti desert.]] Immediately following Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait, predictions were made of an environmental disaster stemming from Iraqi threats to blow up captured Kuwaiti’ oil wells. Speculation ranging from a nuclear winter types scenario, to heavy acid rain and even short term immediate global warming were presented at the [[World Climate Conference]] in Geneva that November. Nearly 700 oil wells were set ablaze by the retreating Iraqi army and the fires were not fully extinguished until November 6, 1991, eight months after the end of the war. The fires consumed an estimated {{convert|6|Moilbbl|m3}} of oil daily. Their immediate consequence was a dramatic decrease in air quality, causing respiratory problems for many Kuwaitis. The sabotage of the oil wells also impacted the desert environment, which has a limited natural cleansing ability. Unignited oil from the wells formed about 300 oil lakes that contaminated around 40 million tons of sand and earth. The mixture of desert sand with the unignited oil and soot formed layers of "tarcrete" which covered nearly five percent of the country. Cleaning efforts led by the [[Kuwait Institute for Scientific Research]] and the Arab Oil Co., who have tested a number of technologies including the use of petroleum-degrading bacteria, produced significant results. According to a 1992 study from [[Peter V. Hobbs|Peter Hobbs]] and Lawrence Radke daily emissions of [[sulfur dioxide]] were 57% of that from electric utilities in the United States, emissions of [[carbon dioxide]] were 2% of global emissions and emissions of [[soot]] were 3400 metric tons per day. Scenarios that predicted serious environmental impact on a global level did not happen, though regional and long-lasting impacts, as noted above, were serious. At the peak of the fires, the smoke absorbed 75 to 80% of the sun’s radiation. The particles rose as high as {{convert|20,000|ft|m}}, but were scavenged from the atmosphere relatively quickly. Vegetation in most of the contaminated areas adjoining the oil lakes began recovering by 1995, but the dry climate has also partially solidified some of the lakes. Over time the oil has continued to sink into the sand, with as yet unknown consequences for Kuwait's precious groundwater resources. ==Popular culture== The fires were the subject of a 1992 [[IMAX]] [[documentary film]], ''[[Fires of Kuwait]]'', which was nominated for an [[Academy Award]]. The film includes footage of the Hungarian team using their jet turbine extinguisher. The Kuwaiti oil fires are also featured in [[Werner Herzog]]'s 1992 film ''[[Lessons of Darkness]]''. There was also a flyover as well as some ground shots of the oil fires in the movie ''[[Baraka (film)|Baraka]]'', which was shot on 65mm. The oil fires and black rain were also featured in the 2005 film ''[[Jarhead (film)|Jarhead]]'', as well as the video game ''[[Eternal Darkness]]''. The Discovery Channel filmed a documentary series about "The Inventors" which interviewed [[Branko Babic]] about his Displacement Tube and Counter Pressure Plugs, patent applied for inventions designed to contain the burning oil wells. The 2004 remake of ''[[The Manchurian Candidate (2004 film)|The Manchurian Candidate]]'' included a scene set in Kuwait in February 1991, with burning oil fields visible in the background. In the season 2 episode "[[One of Them]]" of the hit TV series ''[[Lost (TV series)|Lost (2004)]]'', the last flashback of the episode features the character [[Sayid Jarrah|Sayid]] near the end of the Gulf War with a depiction of the oil fires in the background. ==External links== [http://www.envirosagainstwar.org/know/read.php?itemid=3782 US Special Forces Member Admits US/UN Set Kuwaiti Oil Fires in 1991] [http://www.envirosagainstwar.org/know/read.php?itemid=3782] http://www.envirosagainstwar.org/know/read.php?itemid=3782 * [http://www.gulflink.osd.mil/owf_ii/owf_ii_tabc.htm Fighting the Oil Well Fires] * [http://www.evidence.org.kw/search.php?page=1&search=oil+fires&mode=thumb Oil fire photographs taken by a Kuwaiti journalist in 1991] * [http://www.scribd.com/doc/4960296/The-Kuwaiti-Oli-Fires The Kuwaiti Oil Fires] {{coord missing|Kuwait}} {{DEFAULTSORT:Kuwaiti Oil Fires}}