Introduction: Oceans cover approximately 75% of Earth 's surface and are vital to this planet and the people who inhabit it. Oceans provide food, natural resources, and recreation for nearly everyone in this world. Unfortunately Oceans have been receiving mass amount of pollutants including oil spills, toxic waste dumping, and industrial dumping. These pollutants will have negative impacts on the wildlife in the ocean, as we are seeing already with the Coral Reefs, and soon enough it will begin to affect our lives as well. Causes of Ocean Pollution: According to National Geographic the main causes of ocean pollution are, “ Sewage, toxic chemicals from industries, land runoff, large oil spills, ocean mining, and littering.” Another …show more content…
The chemicals from Industries can quite harmful depending on what 's flowing into the water. Releasing toxic liquids directly into the water affects marine life as is, but it can also change the temperature of the water, also known as thermal pollution causing animals and plants that can 't handle that temperature to eventually die. Land run off usually happens when rain or perhaps a flood carry a harmful pollutants, which include fertilizers, petroleum, and waste from animals. One of the major sources of ocean pollution would be oil spills that can come from Ships. However, oil is not only extremely toxic, but it is very difficult to clean up. Unfortunately when there is a spill people may try to clean it up as best as they can, but a good amount will stay. Ocean mining can be extremely harmful to the ocean. They use ocean mining to drill for silver, gold, copper, cobalt and zinc, however in doing so they create sulfide deposits deep down in the ocean causing long term effects to the area. Finally, littering is another huge source of ocean pollution. Such things can include debris, especially plastic, which never goes away. Effects of Ocean Pollution: In the essay “ The Harmful Effects of Ocean Pollution” by Clair Christofersen they state, “ Records show that 850 million meters cubed of liquid and solid wastes have been dumped into the ocean in the past 85 years. Not only does our population toss these solid wastes into
One of the more horrific times of the year for ocean pollution I would have to say, is spring break. Many pictures have been shown of trash covering the ground on beaches and if the trash is not picked up, it will get taken by the ocean. Although, this is not the only place that ocean pollution comes from. Chemicals will runoff from other sources and into the water and pollute it. About water pollution, noaa.gov states, “One of the biggest sources is called nonpoint source pollution, which occurs as a result of runoff” (Ocean Pollution”). Having many chemicals being dispersed into the water is very bad for marine life. Not only does it hurt the animals, but it also hurts us. Chemicals contribute to destroying marine habitats which will cause the animals in that habitat to most likely die. It also contributes to contaminating seafood. If fish, and other food, are swimming around in polluted water, there is a good chance that some of them will become contaminated and not edible. Trash from everyday life also effects many aquatic animals. Things like bottles, bags, cans,and plastics left on the beach can harm the animals. Aquatic animals will mistake the trash in the water as food and they will eat it causing them harm and possibly death. However there are things that we can do to help clean up what we contributed
Ocean pollution is caused by many things,plastic,humans, and oil spills, we are trying to stop this. So many people just put the plastic in the ocean and people are trying to stop them. Two billion people within 30 miles of the coast create 100m of coastal plastic waste. We can help by reducing plastic in waste stream, and try to stop pollution. Another way we can help is by recycling (Doc.1). We cause pollution to by dumping trash and garbage onto beaches. We have to help protect oceans by monitoring the water to see if people can go swimming (Doc.2). The oceans have to stay healthy because they are a habitat to animals (OI). Another reason we have to keep oceans healthy because they are a big food source for us (OI). In
The oceans need to be protected because it is where life began and if not taken care of, life as we know it will end. The well-being of the ocean is constantly being threatened and needs to stop. When dangerous substances go into the ocean, ecosystems suffer and become endangered along with the lives of people and marine life. The importance of protecting and preserving the quality and biodiversity of the world 's coasts must be recognized because they are truly irreplaceable. If humans are not educated , and become careless about what is thrown on the ground or sprayed on lawns, disastrous effects follow when it comes to the condition of the ocean’s ecosystems, which can endanger life itself, leading to a problem only we can correct. There is historical evidence of ocean pollution, although the problem still shadows us today.
Everything in this world we use comes from the ocean in some way. The air we breathe, the water we drink, even the products we use day to day, would not be possible without the ocean. That's why the issue of ocean pollution is so important and needs to be addressed as soon as possible. We depend on the ocean for so much in our life, without it we would surely become extinct. People seem to think that since the ocean is so large and vast, we can dump as much waste as we'd like into it and it will never have an effect on us. However, since we've been polluting the ocean as far back as Roman times, the evidence of ocean pollution becoming a major problem is all too clear.
The ocean absorbs a little over 26 percent of all carbon in the atmosphere. This used to be good for both the ocean and the atmosphere because the ocean would keep the green house affect caused by carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. While the atmosphere would provide carbon dioxide for the marine life to turn into oxygen and use to sustain life. Due to the exponential increase in carbon emissions by cars, trains, planes, and nuclear power plants, the ocean is not only absorbing to much carbon dioxide which is making the average temperature rise to an inhabitable level. But the ocean is also absorbing many of the carcinogens of the emissions by cars which could potentially single handedly destroy all marine life if it is continued to be left unchecked.
The oceans face many types of pollution every day, every second. The ocean is our greatest ecosystem and out most valuable resource. A common misconception is that the rainforests are the lungs of the planet however, the majority of our oxygen is made via the algae in the sea. The oceans feeds, hydrates, and provides us with oxygen; ironically enough, despite its monetary value to mankind, it is what is treated the worst. For ages we have been dumping our trash, chemicals, and waste into the oceans with no fear or regret, almost an “out of sight- out of mind” mentality. People once and still assume that the oceans are so vast that all of the pollution is diluted and would be dispersed through out, going unnoticed. However, dilution is a myth and an idea that renders ocean dumping to be less impactful. Even so much of the man made pollution is becoming even more concentrated and have entered our natural food chain. However vast the waters of the ocean are, they are not meant to house all of these external factors. There are many alternatives to marine pollution including recycling, finding alternative trash dump sites, cutting down on harmful chemicals for agriculture, and most importantly having the ability to recognize when a problem is developing and counter act, immediately.
What is Ocean pollution? Ocean pollution is when harmful things such as oil, plastic, agricultural waste, and chemical particles get dropped into the ocean. Our water gets contaminated, and us humans and the animals on earth could get infected with bacteria if all the fresh water is gone. Most of our animals live in the ocean and can become endangered, which would mess up the food chain. There are many ways that Ocean pollution can happen. For example trash and waste from oil, sand, motor vehicles , and everyday agricultural use. This waste may land on our beaches but can get washed up into our oceans. Some of these items that have landed in our oceans and they take time to break down and decompose, sooner or later these items are found considered food to the marine life. Different items take different amounts of time to break down. Newspapers take 4-6 weeks, tin cans take about
Ocean pollution is one of the most urgent issues in our world today. The ocean is crucial to our ecosystem and it is being severely damaged at an alarmingly increasing rate. In this paper I will educate about the role the ocean plays in our beautiful Earth, why it is being so widely ignored and dismissed, the causes of pollution, and its effects on animals and humans alike.
Our oceans take a large beating every day by the extremely large amount of pollution humans produce. We easily dump our waste into the oceans to dispose of our problem, but this small and simple solution is creating an even bigger problem. The way humans dispose of their wastes is causing the death of our beloved marine life. Not only are we killing off our animals, our food source, and our resources, we are also minimizing our usable water.
Recent studies have shown that the ocean has degraded dramatically in certain areas due to industrial activities and trash runoff from coastal cities. Many are to believed that pollution in the ocean are just caused by physical harm; however, ocean pollution can be traveled through air and sound waves. Noise and sound caused by sonar, ships, and oil rigs can affect
Our oceans are so polluted that 100,000 marine mammals die each year from trash related ocean pollution. (The Gale Encyclopedia, 2014). Our oceans are in such critical condition due to several types of marine pollution. From the causes and staggering statistics, to the drastic effects on marine life, and the extent of solutions it is clear that marine pollution has a colossal negative impact on our oceans.
This topic is important due to the fact that the ocean covers seventy percent of the Earth’s surface, and is also ninety-seven percent of all water on this planet (US Department of Commerce), which literally makes ocean pollution a big issue. In addition, the ocean contains ninety nine percent of all life on Earth; that is insane, but reasonable considering that the Earth is mainly made up of ocean. Since oceans contain the majority of life on earth, it is extremely important to make sure that we are not doing anything to majorly pollute it. Ocean pollution can be improved by using techniques that people have created to save marine life, and to reverse the effects of ocean pollution as much as possible.
The ocean is an important part of the earth, and oceans account for 70% of the Earth’s surface area. However, the ocean pollution has some negative effects on our lives. For example, ocean pollution kills the marine organisms and even changes the weather. Ocean pollution affects many aspects, and this research paper will talk about the effects on economy. In general, the ocean pollution has the negative effects on tourism, fishery and human health.
Clearly, ocean pollution has a negative effect on humans. Many studies have shown that “human health issues are connected to oil contaminated seafood” (Farrington 12). Being completely unaware, people consume seafood regularly and are possibly eating oil contaminated fish. “Breast, prostate and testicular cancer as well as reduced sperm production are some of the potential effects on human health.” Another instance where humans are being negatively affected is through “pollutants entering through skin exposure” (Scholz). Simply submerging one’s body into contaminated water can pose health risks for
Marine pollution is basically the consequences of oceanic destruction which means when hazardous materials and chemicals enter the ocean or a big body of water and spread to rate of exponential growth and decrease the lifespan of nearby marine animals. Marine pollution is not just given in the word itself, but it holds a deeper understanding than most know. Plastic bottles and cigarette buds are visible to the eye and can be removed by just picking it up, but there is another monstrosity roaming the oceans called the plastisphere. Which is still a form of marine pollution that very few understand.