Ocean conservation, protecting and defending marine life is everyone’s concern because “oceans regulate our climate, produce half the oxygen we breathe, fuel the water cycle that produces rain and fresh water, sustain the livelihoods of millions, and provide nourishment for nearly 3 billion people” (“Oceans”). The number one resource is the ocean because of its mysterious benefits. About 70% of the world is made up of water; oceans are a significant part of that water. These large bodies of water are in great danger due to overfishing, global warming, and pollution. Oceans are being damaged more and more each day; the time is now for communities around the globe to take a stand before it is too late.
Keeping marine life safe is essential to
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The importance of reusing and adequately dispensing oil has increased in many communities (“Oil Pollution”). Therefore, if enough people take the extra time to reuse or collect the oil, the change in the ocean would be enormous. Not only is this for the health of the ocean, but also for the health of the population. Of course, people use oil for their everyday lives, but there are healthier alternatives to their needs. For each person “an average oil change uses five quarts,” and this “one change can contaminate a million gallons of fresh water” (“Oil Pollution”). The harm caused by oil is problematic because once the oil reaches water, the water remains contaminated. Animals suffer from slow and painful deaths because oil seeps into their gills stopping their breathing causing slow suffocation. Harming the fish will affect the sustainability of …show more content…
The most common type of pollution harming the oceans is plastic bottles. Pollution can be prevented by merely reusing, reducing, and recycling. Plastic is not malleable which can be useful for humans, but harmful to the environment. In the ocean, plastic is dangerous due to the heat and the sea life. The plastic already in the ocean breaks down into little tiny pieces due to the heated water. The fish mistake the small pieces of plastic with food getting poisoned or suffocated by the accumulated pieces. The ocean also provides food for birds, the plastic in the fish accumulates in the bird and has the same outcome, death. If recycling helps reduce the damage we must take action and reuse, reduce,
Our oceans take a large beating every day by the extremely large amount of pollution humans produce. Our society easily dumps their waste into the oceans to dispose of the excessive amount of garbage, sewage, and chemicals, 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. By having a better understanding of the problem on the severe dumping, it will be easier to find ways to help minimize the pollution that is going into the ocean.
There’s more than 14 billion pounds of plastic and garbage is dumped into the oceans in the United States. Ocean pollution could be a thing of the past if people stopped littering, oil spills were prevented or contained, and if people weren’t allowed to use oil wells where natural water is. Pollution is still a major issue especially in China and Japan.
There are many causes to petroleum in b the oceanic environment. Oil naturally seeps into the ocean but the natural concentrations have been greatly exceeded. Shipping oil from one place to another contributes the most to oil in the ocean. The crude oil from transportation b is discarded into the ocean while cleaning bilges, which are the lowest compartment in ships, and transferring oil from tank to tank at sea. “Disasters like shipwrecks, oil tanker accidents, and offshore oil rigs fires continue to this problem, as does the disposal of urban garbage into oceans, dumping of waste oil by passing ships, commercial coastal and off-shore entertainment, and deep-sea industrial and nuclear waste dumps”(“Marine Water Quality”). Another large polluter is the oil industry. Tanker ports and refineries are located by the coast for shipping purposes. The coastal areas receive considerable damage from the spills. “Large numbers of seabirds are killed annually, their oil-matted plumage making flight impossible and exposing them to hypothermia. Oil-soaked fur of marine mammals loses its water repellency, also leading to death by hypothermia. Ingestion of oil by fishes, birds, and mammals may also result in death”(“Marine Pollution”). Another source of petroleum pollution is from the city streets. Oil runoff from urban streets and sewers enter waterways and the ocean. Oil has a very long term ecological impact on the ocean and the marine ecosystems. “The presence of oil in marine waters severely degrades water quality by clogging an animal’s feeding - structure, killing larvae, and blocking available sunlight for photosynthesis”(“Marine Water Quality”). Petroleum pollution has been a large problem for a very long period of time. “As early as 197p, oceanographic ecologists noted that they could rarely pull a net through the surface of the ocean without collecting some form of tar or
" Oil is the life blood of our modern industrial society. It fuels the machines and lubricates the wheels of the world’s production. But when that vital resource is out of control, it can destroy marine life and devastate the environment and economy of an entire region…. The plain facts are that the technology of oil-- its extraction, its transport, its refinery and use-- has outpaced laws to control that technology and prevent oil from polluting the environment…" (Max, 1969). Oil in its many forms has become one of the necessities of modern industrial life. Under control, and serving its intended purpose, oil is efficient, versatile, and productive. On the other hand, when oil becomes out of control, it can be one of the most devastating substances in the environment. When spilled in water, it spreads for miles around leaving a black memory behind (Stanley, 1969).
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)
First off there's way too much plastic in the ocean that causes pollution. All of this stuff is caused by natural and manmade pollution. We have produced more plastic then we have in the last one-hundred years. The plastic kills fish, birds, marine animals, and sea turtles. Now that is just horrible that so many animals are dying because of pollution tried to stop pollution instead of causing it?
Pollution of the oceans have been a big problem in the world, and it seems that these problems are not getting better. People keep talking about how we need to fix this problem, but no one seems to act on it. Ocean pollution is terrible for not just fish, but humans also. All this is also avoidable, the majority of the oceans pollution is man made. We are just hurting ourselves by doing this, but people continue to put stuff in the ocean. There is a clean up process for all of this, but it is not easy. Much is at harm from ocean pollution and it should be treated.
Our oceans, as beautiful as they seem, are hiding a dirty little secret; they are not nearly as resilient as society thinks. For far too long society as a whole has neglected our wondrous seas and has utilized them as a waste bin, letting garbage and filth pollute their bodies. They are in trouble due to the large amount of trash polluting them; however, with simple changes such as cleaning up after ourselves, we can protect our oceans and the animals living in them.
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.
Every year there is about 8 tons of trash being dumped in the ocean. It affects the environment because plastic takes a long time to decompose. That means all the trash in the ocean will take many years to decompose. Which harms many animals. Most of the water we drink comes from the ocean.
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.
The oceans cover about three-quarters of our planet and have a huge amount of oxygen. They are also the source of most products today. Apparently, our life is strongly connected to the oceans ( Prager, "01/09/2015"). There are many problems that harm the oceans and marines. For example, overfishing that is a really big one that may kill a lot of fish species. Another big problem that is the main reason for what the oceans and marines situation being today is people. In this essay, I will give some important problems that are harmful to the oceans life.
About 70% of the earth is water and 96.5 of that water is said to be in the ocean [Climate Change, Para 1]. On earth there are many different ecosystems and each contains its own flora and fauna. Among the many ecosystems there is the aquatic ecosystem which includes: wetlands, rivers, lakes, estuaries and the ocean. The Ocean Biome also known as the Marine Biome, is one of the most unique ecosystems ever, because of the variety of life in the different sea zones. Unfortunately, mankind has not been very cautious of his actions and not much has been done to solve the problems that the ocean faces. Over the past few years many sea animals have been gone extinct due to extreme conditions caused by humans. The Marine Ecosystem is eroding as contamination continues to arise, therefore more restrictions need to be enforced to protect and preserve the Marine Ecosystem.
There are many anthropogenic threats to the oceans, which result in a number of consequences....
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. When dangerous substances go into the ocean, ecosystems are suffer and become endangered along with lives of people and of marine life. Surfrider Foundation recognizes the importance of protecting and preserving the quality and biodiversity of the world's coasts because they are truly irreplaceable. There is also historical evidence of ocean pollution being present in the past, but the problem still lingers today. Heal the Bay discovered that,“Did you know there is a DDT and PCB hot spot off the coast of Palos Verdes? This superfund site (which indicates it's one of the most polluted places in the United States), is left over from a 1930's era chemical plant. Because DDT takes so long to break down in the marine environment, it persists to this day, contaminating certain species of fish. There are also highly polluted sediments in the Long Beach area, a sign of the heavy shipping in the port. Heal the Bay works on developing effective capping and removal plans to keep those toxins from spreading” (Heal the Bay). DDT is still highly concentrated in the South Bay area and still contaminating different species of fish. Even after more than 80 years DDT, a toxic insecticide, is still very concentrated and during upwellings, DDT particles come back up and continue to harm marine life. If humans are careless about what is thrown on the floor or sprayed on lawns, it can lead to disastrous affects when it comes to the condition of the ocean's ecosystems, and can endanger life itself leading to a problem that only we can mend.