The ocean still remains as one of the important natural resource capital of many nations. The numerous benefits (food, climate regulation, nutrients recycling, etc) particularly the quality of life derived from marine and coastal areas have raised global concern for the adoption of sustainable strategies that will ensure the existence of marine and coastal areas in its natural state with less impact caused by externalities.
The natural structure and function of coastal marine ecosystems are faced with a lot of environmental and ecological challenges.
The key issues of coastal marine systems sustainability are discussed below.
Coastal Marine Environmental Degradation
The degree of pollutions is of a greater concern when considering sustainability issues of coastal marine systems. Land-based activities such as agriculture and industries remains the major source of coastal pollution.
Untreated sewage, fertilizer run-off, pesticides, marine transport, plant emissions and industrial effluent contributes to the high nutrient pollution in the ocean causing many lost of habitats in the ocean and water quality. Dumping of waste at sea is still a common practice in coastal regions particularly in developing countries. Two million tons of agricultural, industrial and sewage waste are discharged into the world’s water daily (UN WWAP, 2003). Developing countries account for 70% of industrial untreated wastes disposed into waters which consequently flows into the sea (UN-Water, 2009).
Mechanisation and construction activities involved in the extraction of oil and gas in oceans, mining of other minerals and coastal tourism in fulfilment of economic growth policies by governments posses a threat of coastal pollution.
Unsustainable Marine...
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...systems to make life liveable. Education therefore becomes a fundamental solution to coastal marine sustainability issues.
Works Cited
British Petroleum (1984). British Petroleum Statistical Review of World Energy. British
Petroleum, London.
Food and Agricultural Organization (2008). The State of World Fisheries and Aquaculture.
UN WWAP. 2003. United Nations World Water Assessment Programme. The World Water Development Report 1: Water for People, Water for Life. UNESCO: Paris, France.
UN Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20) (2012), http://www.unesco.org http://sustsci.aaas.org/files/chap15.pdf http://www.cciced.net/encciced/policyresearch/report/201205/P020120529358302221866.pdf http://www.unep.org/dewa/africa/docs/en/aeo-2/chapters/aeo 2_ch05_COASTAL_AND_MARINE_ENVIRONMENTS.pdf
http://www.unwater.org/worldwaterday/downloads/wwd09brochureenLOW.pdf.
Today, with our understanding of how fragile the coastal areas are, there are many study and restoration projects underway. Since the implementation of the Coastal Wetlands Planning, Protection, and Restoration Act (CWPPRA) in 1990, there have been 151 coastal restorat...
Source 4: A few reasons why beach pollution is happening is because Trash and other materials that beaches rivers, bays, estuaries and oceans eventually wash up on our beaches. It includes plastic bags, bottles and cans, cigarette filters, bottle caps, and lids.Any trash that is not thrown away and is just thrown in the beach and is in the sand can eventually go into the beach and make the water dirty.A lot of people just throw the trash in the water because they do not care.Some people are too lazy to go throw it away in the trash can.
Globally coastal wetlands are disappearing at an alarming rate, the problem is most of society does not realize the value of these precious wetlands. Coastal wetlands provide an important role in the coastal ecosystem. “Coastal wetlands provide critical services such as absorbing energy from coastal storms, preserving shorelines, protecting human populations and infrastructure, supporting commercial seafood harvests, absorbing pollutants and serving as critical habitat for migratory bird populations”(Anonymous, 2011). Coastal wetlands are an economical asset as well as an environmental one.
Reefs are complex and diverse habits. Perhaps one of the major and important marine biomes. Yet they are relatively a small biome, roughly about 25% of the marine species that belong to the oceans live in the coral reefs. Coral reefs are an underwater structure composed of calcium carbonated, a secretion from corals. A significant portion of the world’s coral reefs forms close to the equator along the coastlines and locate themselves around islands throughout the world. Coral reefs come in a variety of shapes, size, and color yet the coral reefs are recognized by three main types Fringe reef, Barrie reef, and Atoll. Besides being beautiful and interesting colorful ecosystem or a tour attraction, the coral reefs are an important element of our ecosystem. According to NOAA National Ocean Service Education (2008), “a coral reef serves an important element in the most diverse ecosystem on earth. From serving as a protections and shelter for many different species of fish to controlling how much carbon dioxide is produce in the ocean and finally protecting the coast from strong currents and waves by slowing down the water before reaches the shore.” Lots of different sea lives rely on reefs for habitat and sources of food which including several endangered species. Yet, this world does not realize the critical importance of these coral reefs since most of the coral reefs are in trouble or dying around the world. An estimation of 30 percent of reefs is already in sever damaged. By the time we reach the year 2030, close to 6o percent of our reefs will be lost (Hughes et. al., 2003, p. 929).
Every time we throw away a plastic bottle, drive our cars, and even burn those millions of fossil fuels to operate all those huge factories, there is a chance it will pollute the ocean and eventually affect the way we live. There should be stricter laws regulating human pollution, in order to protect our ocean ecosystem. The ocean is an abundant source of life. It is home to thousands 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.
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
There are several activities that prevent or sustain the coastal environment through landcare, dune rehabilitation and groynes. Landcare is one of the factors that keep sustainability in the coastal environment. The local council would place up fines, rules, regulations and signs, indicating what activities that you can conduct. These were put up by the local council, so they could prevent any danger towards the environment. Any illegal activity that happened on the environment, would take several funds and time to reverse back to the original healthy coastal environment or slowly repair a small portion.
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.
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.
The ocean can serve man purposes things for many different people; as a school, a home, a park...
"World Water Council - World Water Council." World Water Council - World Water Council. N.p., n.d. Web. 17 Apr. 2014. .
There are strong indications from many regions, e.g., the North Sea, that the quantities of marine litter are increasing. Consequently, the resulting environmental and socio-economic problems are worsening.
The problem with contaminated beaches will soon take effect on everyone. The main causes that pollution creates in the beaches are from heavy rainfall, natural disasters, and plant malfunctions. Government agencies cannot control the weather, but they can control what goes into the water. In the United States, the number one reason why beaches are closed down are due to contamination in the water that may be harmful and are left untreated. The arising problem with the beach is that the industries are producing toxic chemicals and tossing the unwanted waste into the ocean. Also, the public are recklessly throwing their trash out into the streets. A prime example to demonstrate this is, if someone was trying to throw a bottle into a street trashcan but missed, he/she is unlikely to pick up after himself/herself if no one was around to see it. This scenario causes pollution to the sidewalks. When mother nature disasters occur, these waste products will end up in the storm drains and into the sewage system. The overflow of debri from the cities can flow into the rivers and if not preserved, it can flow into the ocean. The rivers will then carry these human caused waste into t...
...Dennison, W. C., Duarte, C. M., Fourqurean, J. W., Heck, K. L., & Williams, S. L. (2006). A global crisis for seagrass ecosystems.Bioscience, 56(12), 987-996.