The Negative Human Impacts on the Oceans It was Mihaljo Mesarovic, the author of “Mankind at the Turning Point”, who once said “The Earth has cancer and the cancer is man”. He was definitely onto something. In fact, humans have had a major negative impact on the world’s marine environment. Throughout recent human history, it has been obvious that the wellbeing of the marine environment has been in jeopardy. Pollution of the ocean, overfishing and the greenhouse gases these are all the aspects that can cause the destroying of the precious environments, such as reefs, sea-grass and coastal habitats. According to the essay and interview “Seafarming at the End of the World”, written by Peter Meehan, he presents the fact that human impact on the ocean is the main reason that causes the awful situation of marine ecosystem and organisms. Although the ocean covers approximately two thirds of the Earth’s surface, it is surprisingly susceptible to human influences. The effects of rubbish dumping have tainted our oceans and they have taken their toll on the vast marine environments and the populations in which they contain. Rubbish dumping involves depositing all the waste materials from factories and industries, tankers and ships and sewerage waste materials into the oceans and seas. In the report “Causes and Effects of Ocean Dumping”, the author Sharda states that “The wastes that are dumped into the oceans tend to have toxic substances which soak in all the oceanic oxygen. This
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.
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
Earth's oceans are dying. “About 80% of the ocean around the world is polluted with chemicals industrial and residential waste, all of which comes from the land” (“Marine Problems…”). Pollution is mainly coming from the people. Marine pollution should be stopped because it is the cause of many problems and if something is done about it, people will see an increase in sea life and healthier waters. It makes its way into the ocean and kills marine life. Ocean pollution is affecting the way of fisherman and their everyday lives. It is also very bad on the community because pollution is very bad on tourism. Ocean pollution should be stopped because it is poorly affecting marine life, it is not good for fishermen, and is very bad on tourism.
People are polluting the oceans which not only affects us but also affects the beautiful underwater habitats and interesting sea creatures. Two billion people within 30 miles of the coast create 100 metric tons of coastal plastic waste (Doc.1). This plastic waste can get caught around sea animals, injuring them or even killing them (OI). Oils spills can really hurt marine life (Doc.2). Some creatures could eat it or get covered in it. If the fish eats the oil and then someone or something eats the fish they could get extremely ill. When there are excess nutrients in the water algal blooms occur, which is when algae has too many nutrients and reproduces in large numbers, this can also hurt people (OI). For these reasons and many more we should
Marine pollution is not a new phenomenon, but our acknowledgement of its impacts and severity is relatively new, with the first laws and discussions to counter it only appearing in the 1950’s. For much of history, it was thought that the oceans were so large that any pollution created would be negligible and easily diluted (Marine Pollution). Since, countless research and laws have been implemented in order to preserve our marine ecosystems because of how crucial these ecosystems are to humanity.
The alluring azure ocean, the brisk ocean waves, the lemon yellow sand all show a paradisiac view of the Tasman Sea in Australia. However looks are deceiving. Walking 20 feet from the shoreline, a nauseous view disrupts the majestic scene. I see a plethora of dirty Poland Spring water bottles on the shore. An ash colored seabird lies with a murky bag over its head, lifeless. The dead sea bird was doomed to die of human waste because plastic is being dumped in the oceans and slaying marine life.
In 2009, Dr. Sylvia Earle wrote The World is Blue to educate and alert the reader about human impacts on marine ecosystems. Through this book she conveys her passion and methodical arguments concerning the importance of the conservation of the ocean, which encompasses approximately 80 percent of the earth’s surface. Dr. Earle states “the ocean touches you with every breath you take, every drop of water you drink, every bite you consume” (17). This statement emphasizes the significance of the ocean, not only for marine life, but all life forms on earth. The book implies that currently in today’s world, the conservation of the ocean requires a global effort to reduce human damage from the past generations. Using facts gleaned from credible scientific resources, she defines the problems of overfishing, bycatch, and pollution. By analyzing human impacts on marine ecosystems, Dr. Earle determines successful and unsuccessful solutions to these problems and suggests various ways individuals can change their lifestyles to reduce impact on the environment as a whole.
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.
Dating back hundreds and hundreds of years ago, the act of dumping into waters has been practiced without any thought into the possible damages this could inflict on the ecology of the marine life present. The dumping of garbage and sewage in these waters is detrimental to the species that inhabit it, it can destroy their habitat, and it can destroy themselves as organisms (Chenery AM. et al. 2005). Since these organisms are usually fully submerged in these waters, there is nothing protecting them from being surrounded by polluted waters that could potentially harm them. For the past couple of decades though, and in many areas of the world, people have begun to notice and understand these problems and have begun setting out laws and required permits to do anything remotely close to dumping in waters (Chenery AM. et al. 2005). However, this is only but a single step in a process working towards cleaning and keeping both oceans, and in-land bodies of water, including their organisms, safe from human waste.
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.
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.
The deep sea is seen as a provider in two ways. One way is that it perceived as a convenient site for the disposal of human waste, especially around land. The second way is that it is a potential site for mineral and biological wealth, there is no national jurisdiction for this which means there are no laws on what is being taken out of and put into the oceans. The activities of humankind on land have contributed to a third of the CO2 levels rising, which then affects the climate, affecting the oceans. There are five different ways that the ocean has been greatly impacted and they are being studied to see of mankind has had an impact in these. They are; 5: major anthropogenic impact including death of all life at the point of impact. Likely to have subsequent regional effects, 4: major anthropogenic impact with very few species surviving with some or no regional effects, 3: moderate impact causing possible reduction in biodiversity and potential reduction in biomass and
Waste is also a huge threat to the world’s seas. Today, most of the seas are being polluted from a wide range of human activities. Their ecological links to the land are blocked by dams; their bottoms punctured and
As the world develops and the human population grows there is more pollution being dumped into the oceans, causing major problems to marine life and ecosystems. Major causes of marine pollution involve non-point pollutants, marine garbage, toxic ocean pollutants and sewage disposal in oceans. From heavy metal poisoning including lead and mercury killing predators such as sharks and whales, to waste getting trapped in the digestive tracts of marine animals, this essay focuses on how human interference causes horrifying problems to the marine life, but also how to fix it. It will also explore the normal activities of people including farming and how this can cause an imbalance in an ecosystem. Everyday activities can cause massive nutrient