Susan found a "Treasure Chest" in Fernandez Bay, San Salvador, Bahamas. See other beautiful phenomena from the Bahamas.
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Clair Christofersen
GLG 413
Professor Hays Cummins
05/15/09
The Harmful Effects of Ocean Pollution
Water is the absolute most necessary resource to all life. Not only is it vital for staying alive, but also society today depends on water for nearly everything. Water is used in household necessities such as plumbing, bathing, dishwashing, and laundry. It is even becoming a luxury, as water provides the fun people have on weekends through their alcoholic beverages. Also, swimming is one of AmericaÕs most valued sports, as America is represented by the Olympic gold medalist, Michael Phelps. The list goes on with reasons why this world needs water, but every day all of these people subconsciously pollute the water, which they are so dependent on. The amount of pollution in the ocean today is truly revolting when one realizes that the ocean is the prime water supply to daily life. In this paper, I will discuss several of the ways in which the ocean is polluted, how this pollution affects our society and living resources, and finally some potential solutions to help prevent the excess pollution.
One of the main causes of the polluted marines is the wastes and toxins that get thrown into the ocean. 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 the water, but the ocean also deals with the debris from natural disasters like floods, earthquakes, volcanoes, and fires. Since the late 1960s, impacts by humanity on the environment, particularly the degradation of air, water, and soil, have received widespread public attention and levels of funding to perform scientific studies. It is almost pointless that these scientific studies are being done, however, because the amount of wastes being put into the ocean is only increasing, which contradicts the purpose. The public is aware of the problem, but nobody is willing to stop it, mainly because they donÕt know what to do with the waste. What they also do not realize is that they are killing the marine world, one toxin at a time (Ocean Dumping 51).
The whole reason the government allowed these dump sites to exist in the first place was because of an incident in New York City. New York was being smothered in debris, garbage, animal remains, and wastes. This disgusted the people, so they argued that the wasted were a serious threat to the general health of the city. They believed that ocean dumping was less detrimental to the health of the population than having pollution in the direct air that they were breathing (Ocean Dumping 52). This incident then led to sediment deposits, sewage deposits, and eventually every form of waste in the United States was being dumped into the ocean (Ocean Dumping 100). Sewage is a serious issue because it contains only 5% solids and mostly liquids. This meant that it did not accumulate with the other solid wastes on the seafloor, and thus affected the marine life throughout all of the waters (Palmer 186).
Oil is another serious and potentially deadly source of ocean pollution. It is constantly being spilled into the sea in a variety of ways. Hundreds of millions of gallons of oil end up in the seas every year, mostly from non-accidental sources. Some of the greater sources respectively include down the drain, up in smoke, natural seeps, big spills, and offshore drilling. Large oil spills can do damage to all kinds of marine life, most particularly coral reefs and mangroves, which are the most sensitive to oil. The intertidal zones in the ocean are also extremely sensitive, so creatures in this area are harmfully affected by the spills. When the animal becomes covered in oil, it will almost certainly die, because when it cleans itself it will swallow the oil. Though oil isnÕt always immediately lethal, it will cause long-term harm. This harm goes down the food chain as well, affecting the humans that may eat the sea creatures (Hepple).
There is much evidence that although people have been well informed of the polluted ocean waters, the pollution has not slowed down. Instead, the amount of marine pollution has been increasing in the last thirty years. As the human population and industries in the coastal zones expand, the pollution expands as well. Also, ocean dumping increases annually, as well as the ocean outfalls. The evidence of the increase can be seen by the high coliform levels in coastal waters, increased organic content in the sediments, reports of significant levels of chlorinated hydrocarbons, petroleum residues, and heavy metals in ocean waters, sediments, and organisms (Sindermann 1). This only shows that not only do people need to be aware of the issue of ocean pollution, but they need to act on it as well.
Now that we know about all the pollution in the ocean, we question the effect it has on living species. Waste disposal, like sewage, has been recognized as a potential threat to the environmental quality of waters and the sea floor (Palmer 186). Because of these dirty waters, the living resources in the water are deeply affected. The oils in the waters are less dense than the ocean, so for the most part they float, harmfully affecting the birds that fly across the waters and hunt for fish. This floating oil suffocates hundreds of birds, gulls, pelicans, and ducks. Further, all over the United States in places like Santa Barbara, York River, Illinois River, and the Cape Cod National Seashore are polluted to the point of murdering the native fish. Migratory waterfowl and native seabirds have been killed because of drill leaks in the Baltic and Caspian Seas, proving that the issue is not only a national but also an international dilemma (Dietsch). Another example of these harmed living species are the orca whales, also known as the killer whales. This species of whales is now declared endangered, primarily because they have been threatened by the toxic pollution of the ocean. One orca washed up dead near the United States border three years ago. It was so contaminated with the deadly chemical of PCB that the body qualified as pathogenic waste. Being that there are only 80 of these whales left in existence, oil dumps into their living spaces will not help them to survive (Threats to Whales).
Not only is the pollution hurting the animals, but it is also detrimental to the people. Oceans cover 70 percent of the EarthÕs surface, so it is bound to influence the biological processes of the planet. 60 percent of the human population lives on or near a coast, so apparently, human health is related to the health of the ocean. One of the main ways that it affects humans is through seafood, which makes it a direct correlation to the effect of pollution on sea life. When an edible fish is harmed, it is then passed up the food chain to the humans. The human may eat this fish and thus have toxins in his or her body, and this harm could be as minor as a stomach bug or as major as a deadly poison. This toxicity is multiplied also, because before we humans consume the fish, the fish are consuming other fish, which are also contaminated with toxins. The toxins accumulate and thus affect humans greatly. Another way that the marine pollution affects human health is by the toxic algal blooms, or red tides. These blooms are toxically concentrated as they move up the food chain, and they are spread on coasts worldwide. The toxins in the blooms affect humans simply through skin and aerosol contact, causing health problems like nausea, respiratory failure, memory loss, and even fatality (Knowlton). Given these examples, it is no longer possible to believe that the pollution is ÔonlyÕ affecting corals and fish; the marine pollution is harming life all over the world.
So, the marine creatures are indeed being harmfully affected by this pollution. This pollution also affects us humans. It is perhaps a cycle, because humans are the REASON for this pollution. The humans make the decision to harm the marine waters, thus harming the animal life, and therefore harming themselves. A Canadian deep-sea explorer was diving in the Arctic Ocean and found a soda can forty feet below the ice nestled in a kelp plant. This is clearly laziness by humans, and little do they understand that this one soda can is harming a large amount of the sea life. Given the small amounts all the way to the large amounts of pollution, fisheries have collapsed, marine-mammal populations have declined, and large stretches of beautifully colored coral are dying. While air pollution seems more important to fight, the seas are not infinitely resilient, and the pollution can indeed eventually kill the entire ocean. The first step to solving this problem is to respect the ocean by deciding not to harm it with human mistake. Ethically it seems to be the best and most necessary solution (Leach). The next problem to solve is a big one; if we donÕt dump it all in the ocean, where will we put it? This is a necessary area of research, and if anyone can find the solution to this problem then they may help in fighting many of the globally environmental issues of today.
Literature Cited
Dietsch, Robert W. "Oil on the Waters." New Republic 162.9 (1970): 10-11. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. 13 May 2009
Hepple, Peter. "Persistent Oils at Sea." Journal of the Institute of Petroleum. Reprinted in Scientific Aspects of Pollution of the Sea by Oil.
Knowlton, Nancy. "Ocean Health and Human Health." Environmental Health Perspectives 112.5 (2004): 262. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. 13 May 2009
"Laying Waste to the Ocean Floor." Environment 33.3 (1991): 23. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. 13 May 2009
Leach, Susan Llewelyn. "A New Ocean Ethic." Christian Science Monitor 90.230 (1998): 1. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. 13 May 2009
Miller, E. Willard, and Ruby M. Miller. Water Quality and Availability. N.p.: ABC-CLIO Inc., 1992.
Ocean Dumping and Marine Pollution. Ed. Harold D. Palmer and M. Grant Gross. N.p.: Dowden, Hutchinson & Ross, Inc., 1979.
Sindermann, Carl J. Ocean Pollution - Effects on Living Resources and Humans. Boca Raton: CRC Press, Inc., 1996.
"Threats to Whales." Better Nutrition 65.8 (2003): 18. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO. 13 May 2009
Water - Opposing Viewpoints. Ed. David L. Bender, Bruno Leone, and Carol Wekesser. San Diego: Greenhaven Press, Inc., 1994.
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