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An Essay on Ocean Pollution
Consequences of ocean pollution
Ocean pollution environmental issue
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Oceans are the largest water bodies on the planet Earth. Over the last few decades, surplus human activities have severely affected the marine life on the Earth’s oceans. Ocean pollution, also known as marine pollution, is the proliferation of harmful substances in the water and is the primary cause of dead for many species whom live in there. Therefore, ocean pollution has various ways to enters to the ocean such as: sewage, large scale of oil spills and littering.
To begin, sewage has a strong effect on the ocean. Sewage or polluting substances flow through sewage, rivers, or drainages directly into the ocean. This is often how minerals and substances from mining camps find their way into the ocean. Because of the release of other chemical
Ocean Pollution is a serious issue in today's global politics. The delicate balance of Earth's ecosystem is put in jeopardy when the ocean is not clean. Problem evolving from ocean pollution directly harm marine life and indirectly affect human health and the Earth's many valuable resources. Ocean Pollution is a Broad term that encpompasses any and all foregin matter that directly or indirectly makes its way into the ocean. This includes everything from the extreme: oil spills, Toxic Waste dumping and industrial dumping-- to the small scael: human activities and basic carelessness. Because the oceans and all other water bodies are invariably, somehow connected, and because they account for 3/4 of the Earth's surface, they are an ideal method of transportation for pollution, allowing the rapid spread of seemingly far away toxins into a river near you! It is increasingly important that we educate ourselves as to what, exactly, ocean pollution is, so that we can identify the causes at their source and take action in small and large ways, and hopefully, prevent this terrible form of pollution from getting any worse than it is today.
"An Ocean Of Trash." Scholastic Action 33.12 (2010): 16. MasterFILE Complete. Web. 31 Jan. 2014.
The ocean is an abundant source of life. It is home to thousand of different creatures, provides a great source of food, and provides the earth with about one half of the oxygen needed to sustain life. (National Geographic) Pollution especially plastic, is a catastrophic problem. Ironically plastic, which is a material designed to last forever is generally used for things we tend to throw away. Every year about one hundred to two hundred billion pounds of plastic are manufactured. Only 31% of that plastic is actually recycled. Biomass packaging estimates 10% of that plastic ends up in the ocean annually. About 20% of it coming from ships and other platforms, and the other 80% coming from land derived sources, such as international garbage dumping, winds or tides either way it finds its way to the ocean.(Biomass Packaging Co., et al)
The article indicates that the influences of oceans pollution that made by humans and caused by a phenomenon called “dead zones”. First of all, there is a great amount of plastic in the ocean which causes massive consequences for animals of the entire marine food web. On the other hand, “Dead zone” also affect Earth’s oceans. “Dead zones” can formed by many causes, such as natural causes, climate change, along human activities and industrial waste. These is a national problem and humans need to have some regulatory mechanisms. Therefore, it can helps the “dead zones” reduced. The author mentions that the US Environmental
Ocean acidification causes many problems with marine life. It affects both shelled and not shelled life in a negative way. With more acidity in the water, coral and shelled animals cannot build their shells or skeletons. Animals without a shell have interference with some basic bodily functions like growth and reproduction. The acidification of the ocean is caused by carbonic acid, which is formed by CO2 reacting with seawater. In fact, the ocean reduces global warming by absorbing one third of carbon dioxide. In recent studies, the acidic levels have increased by six percent in the last 15 years. There has not been a rapid shift in pH in millions of years and the marine life is not accustomed to it. Paleontology studies show that with a significant change, it usually led to huge losses of sea life. Due to the acidification, marine
"Ocean Pollution." MarineBio Conservation Society ~ Marine Biology, Ocean Life Conservation, Sea Creatures, Biodiversity, Research... Web. 19 May 2014.
There are many different ways the ocean can become polluted. One major way would be man-made pollutants such as pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, detergents, oil, sewage, plastics, and other solids, finding their way into the ocean and collecting at the ocean's depths. In fact, this makes up 80% of the ocean's pollution. At the depths, they are consumed by small organisms that introduce the pollutants to the global food chain. Many of the pollutants are released into local streams, rivers, and groundwater and are eventually deposited into estuaries, bays, and deltas. This can cause massive amount of algae to grow, taking oxygen from the water and places marine life can exist. In the past 2 years, these dead zones have increased by 1/3. Scientists have discovered around 400 dead zones in world.
Ocean Acidification is the process where Carbon Dioxide (CO2) is absorbed by the ocean, causing water to lower in pH making the water it more acidic. The result of CO2 being released into the atmosphere in such large quantities, as a result of anthropogenic global warming, is causing the ocean to slowly become more acidic over time.The world’s oceans absorb about ¼ of all the world’s carbon emission yearly as a result of anthropogenic climate change. Since the Industrial Era, the oceans have been reducing in pH by 0.1 every year. It is estimated that by the end of the 21st century, if carbon emissions were to continue as they are now, the ocean’s coral reefs will disappear as a result of Ocean Acidification.
The Earth's surface is roughly 70% covered by the ocean. Little did we know that the ocean is a vital aspect of our lives. The ocean plays a crucial role in maintaining the biogeochemical cycle, and it contributes the most to the aquatic life biodiversity. However, many people aren't aware that their activity on land is also affecting the ocean. The pollution produced from factories and motor vehicles contribute the most to the output of carbon dioxide gas into the air. Over time, this gas will be accumulated in the air and will then be absorbed by the ocean. Recently, environmentalists are raising concerns about Ocean Acidification. Ocean Acidification is a sudden decrease in the pH of the ocean water over an extended time. The decrease in pH is due to the reaction between water and the dissolved carbon dioxide which forms a carbonic acid and hydrogen ions. When at high concentration, this acidic
The ocean is a vital part of the world's ecosystem, it regulates weather around the world, supplies nutrients to billions, even trillions of organisms, and covers roughly seventy percent of the earth. The unfortunate thing is that the state of the ocean is degrading and becoming a danger to many organisms who depend on it, the acidification of the ocean is causing many organisms to become poisoned or die. Global climate change is hurting the environment, especially the ocean, and is actively deceiving that fact that its current status is not improving. Human impact on the oceans and atmosphere is real, coral reefs around highly populated areas are becoming bleached, and the impact humans have needs to be minimized.
Non- governmental marine based organizations aim to improve, protect and conserve the planet’s marine life and ecosystems. Two of these notable organizations are Oceana and the Ocean Conservancy. Both of these groups operate worldwide and solely base their work and focus on oceans and aquatic ecosystems. They also share one main objective out of many, to protect and improve marine biodiversity. Even though Oceana and the Ocean Research and Conservation Association share some similar aspects, they both have different approaches and differ in certain goals.
According to MarineBio.org, “The most toxic waste material dumped into the ocean includes dredged material, industrial waste, sewage sludge, and radioactive waste” (MarineBio, pg 1). There are a variety of other different types of pollution that are currently in the ocean; plastic is only one factor of pollution, but there are others as well. For example, oil spills are considered as pollution. Oil spills have an effect on the ocean because many different types of fish take in the contaminated water through their gills. The oil makes its way into the fish’s system, which in turn damages the fish’s system, leading to death. Another type of pollution is sewage disposal pollution. Sewage disposal pollution is when the sewage water is not properly treated. Then, the sewage water makes its way into the ocean. Under treated sewage water contains many hazardous chemicals that bring negative effects to the contaminated area, which is the surface of the ocean. These chemicals poison sea creatures that thrive on the surface of the ocean. Animals such as geese, fish, turtles, and countless more. What all these types of pollution have in common is that all these factors play a significant role in the process of destroying the ocean. The type of pollution that
Oceans are such so vast that people underestimate the impact their actions —seeming so insignificant— have on them. Humans have by and large taken the oceans for granted; not considering how important a healthy ocean is to our survival. A popular mind-set is that the oceans are a bottomless supply of fish, natural resources, and an infinite waste dump. There are myriad reasons why the oceans should be saved and the most obvious one is marine life. With 71% of the Earth being covered by water, it is obvious that sea creatures are predominant form of life, making up 80% of the species of life on Earth. However, as important as marine life is, that is not the only reason why saving the oceans is crucial. The ocean floor provides natural resources such as, oil, natural gas, petroleum, minerals, medications, and ingredients for foods and products. The economic benefits of the oceans are huge and significant, as well. Fishing and fish products have provided employment to 38 million people and have generated about $124 billion in economic benefits. However, oceans are on the verge of crisis, marine life, natural resources, transportation, the economy, and important ingredients are at risk due to overfishing, pollution, and acidification. Thus, in this essay I will argue that, oceans are not impervious to human activity and threatening the health of the ocean threatens the health of humanity, since oceans key to our survival.
Global warming is one of the major reasons in marine pollution. For an instance in the year 2010 there was an oil leakage near Mumbai in the Arabian Sea.
Research from the University of California San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography said that species in the ocean consume a projected 12,000 to 24,000 tons of plastic every year in the Pacific Ocean (Nall, 2014). Pollution of recyclable materials in the oceans is one of the leading causes of why some marine species are nearing extinction. Many authors of articles and books analyzing this topic tend to agree that pollution of our oceans is a problem. The future of this problem is where their ideas tend to differ. The following four literature reviews attempt to demonstrate and support my belief that pollution is getting worse in the ocean and more marine life ecosystems are being affected, but there are things that we as humans can do to change this. Imagine a world where we didn’t have to constantly worry about the vicious cycle of humans affecting animals and then animals in turn affecting us through consumption.