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This disaster tops our list.
© AP Photo/Jack Smith, File
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On the night of April 20, an explosion ripped across the deck of the Deepwater Horizon drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico. Two days later, the fires were finally extinguished—and the platform sank into the Gulf.
SLIDESHOW: Gulf Oil Spill: Amazing and Devastating Photos
Since then, more than 3.5 million gallons of oil have leaked from the well, creating a now-massive cloud of oil that has already reached the shores of Louisiana and is threatening to move up the East Coast.
Though the scale of this tragedy defies comprehension, it has not reached the ranks of the top five worst oil catastrophes of all time...yet.
Count Down the Top 5 Worst Oil Catastrophes of All Time:
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Watch More Video: Our Dependence on Oil
5. Exxon Valdez
The full extent of the Gulf of Mexico oil disaster is still unknown but one thing is certain—it will certainly surpass our #5 worst oil catastrophe—the Exxon Valdez.
In 1989, Exxon's oil tanker Valdez hit a reef in a remote region off the coast of Alaska spill, spilling 10.8 million gallons (or 250,000 barrels). The long cleanup process and infamous images of animals coated in oil helped to rally environmentalists working to reduce oil consumption in the U.S.
4. Nowruz Platform
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The Nowruz oil field in Iran's Persian Gulf leaked some 80 million gallons of oil when it got hit by a tanker in 1983.
The incident happened at the height of the Iran-Iraq War when an oil tanker hit the Nowruz Field Platform, damaging the well underneath. The resulting leak of 1,500 barrels a day could not be capped for months because the platform was under constant attack by Iraqi planes.
3. Atlantic Empress
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In 1979 The Atlantic Empress collided with the Aegean Captain ten miles off the coast of Trinidad and Tobago, spewing 90 million gallons of oil.
The collision between the two fully loaded oil carriers took place during a tropical rainstorm. Both ships immediately caught fire and began leaking their contents in what would become the largest tanker-based spill ever recorded.
2. Ixtoc 1
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The Ixtoc I was an exploratory oil well in the Gulf of Mexico which suffered a blowout in 1979 to become the second largest oil spill in history.
Like the Deepwater Horizon spill, the Ixtoc 1 underwater leak proved extremely difficult to plug. It took experts and divers some nine months to contain and cap the well, by which time 138 million gallons of oil had escaped.
1. The Gulf War
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Our number one spot goes to The Gulf War Oil Spill where hundreds of millions of barrels of crude oil poured in the Persian Gulf during the Kuwait War.
The incident occurred when Iraqi forces were withdrawing from Kuwait, sabotaging hundreds of wells, oil terminals, and tankers, in part to thwart the arrival of US forces. It stands as the biggest oil spill ever recorded with estimates at more than 350 million gallons!
That's our Top 5 Worst Oil Catastrophes. Is the Gulf of Mexico oil spill poised to take top spot? Let us know by leaving a comment at the Planet Green You Tube page.
Read more about the Gulf Oil Spill on Planet Green:
Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill: The What, When and Where
Gulf Oil Spill: Amazing and Devastating Photos
Our Dependency on Oil (Video)
From Dispersants to Mushrooms and Hair: How to Clean Up an Oil Spill
12 Animals Threatened by the Oil Spill
Read more about the Gulf Oil Spill on TreeHugger:
BP Gulf Oil Spill Cheat Sheet: A Timeline of Unfortunate Events
Gulf Oil Spill: The Black and Oily Demise of Wildlife (Slideshow)
Will The BP Oil Spill Be Our Collective Zen Slap Into Eco-Realization? Let's Hope So
BP Oil Spill: Videos to Catch Up
Credits:
Diver Oil rig © Terje Rakke/Getty Images
Exxon Valdez Bird © AP Photo/Jack Smith, File
Exxon Valdez Seals © AP Photo/Jack Smith
Exxon Valdez ©AP Photo
Gulf of Alaska ©Hemera/Thinkstock
Gulf of Mexico ©iStockphoto/Thinkstock
Gulf Oil Slick ©NASA
Gulf War Troops © AP Photo/Julia Malakie
Iran Iraq War © AP-PHOTO/Zuheir Saade
Ixtoc1-2 © Photo by John Hoagland/Liaison/Getty Images
Ixtoc1 ©Photo by John Hoagland/Liaison/Getty Images
Kuwait map © Jennifer Thermes/Getty Images
Persian Gulf Map ©Hemera/Thinkstock
Oil Clean Up © AP Photo/Jack Smith, File
Oil Rig Fire ©Per-Anders Pettersson/Getty Images
Oil Tanker Fire ©iStockphoto/Thinkstock
Oil Tanker Sinking ©Getty Images
Oil Tankers ©Digital Vision/Thinkstock
