Save Our Oceans

Covering more than 70% of our planet, oceans are among the Earth’s most valuable natural resources. They govern the weather, clean the air, help feed the world, transport goods and people around the world, and provide a living for millions. They are also one of the most biologically diverse habitats on the planet, from microscopic algae to the blue whale. Unfortunately, the whole oceanic ecosystem is threatened by pollution- which threatens the lives of many marine creatures. With all streams flowing to rivers and eventually the ocean, the oceans are the end point for so much of the pollution we produce on land, regardless of how far from the coasts we may be. Here are some ocean pollution facts that everyone on our blue planet ought to know.

Ocean pollution occurs when potentially harmful sources of pollution reach the water. Most of the sources of ocean pollution originate on land- from runoff, blowing debris or litter, contamination from excessive nutrients, toxins such as pesticides and metals, and particles. Many of the most harmful ocean pollutants are the ones that leach into the marine ecosystem, causing diseases and mutations not only in marine life but in the humans and animals that consume them. Some effects of ocean pollution are the depletion of oxygen content in the water, harmful effects of toxic wastes on marine animals, failure in the reproductive system of marine animals, contamination of the food chain, effect on human health and disruption to coral reefs.

Ocean Acidification

When we burn fossil fuels, we don’t pollute just the air but the oceans, too. Today’s seas absorb as much as a quarter of all man-made carbon emissions, which changes the pH of surface waters and leads to acidification, harming marine ecosystems. It’s estimated that by the end of this century, the surface waters of the ocean could be nearly 150% more acidic than they are now. To build their shells and skeletons, creatures like mussels, clams, coral, and oysters require calcium carbonate. But the ocean’s carbonate levels go down when acidity levels rise, threatening the survival of these animals. More-acidic waters also contribute to the bleaching of coral reefs, and make it harder for some types of fish to sense predators and for others to hunt prey.

 https://naturalcapitalcoalition.org/ocean-acidification-could-have-consequences-for-millions/

Trash in the Ocean

Approximately 4 billion lbs of trash enters the ocean each year.  80% of trash in the ocean is from land-based sources, including individuals, industry and improper waste management. Only 20% is the result of ocean-based sources, such as the fishing, shipping, and cruise ship industries. The North Pacific Gyre off the coast of California is the largest oceanic garbage site in the entire world. There are dead zones in the oceans that have been created by pollution making life in those zones impossible for marine or plant life.

The majority of the garbage that enters the ocean each year is plastic. Single-use plastic items won’t biodegrade. Instead, they can persist in the environment for a millennium, polluting our beaches, entangling marine life, and getting ingested by fish and seabirds. Plastic is often mistaken as food by marine animals. The plastic fills their stomachs, and they starve to death. Over 100,000 marine animals including seabirds die every year from plastic entanglement (such as dolphins and porpoises) and ingestion. Even though much the trash and waste dumped into the ocean is released hundreds of miles away from land, it still washes up on beaches and coastal areas, and affects everything in between. Every marine animal is affected by man-made chemicals released in the water.

Toxic metals, radioactive and industrial waste reach the ocean and contribute to ocean pollution, destroying reproduction, behavior, growth and the biochemistry of the ocean's marine life. The salty water of the ocean has the capability to move pollutants from the ocean into coastal freshwater, making wells and groundwater contaminated. The ocean's oxygen content is depleted by fertilizer runoff that causes an increase of algae growth. When little sea creatures consume toxins in their food, they absorb those chemicals. They are then consumed by larger marine animals. This continues up the food chain until the largest sea creatures have extreme contamination. People get contaminated easily by eating contaminated seafood that can cause serious health problems, from cancer to damage to the immune system.

https://www.rubicon.com/blog/ocean-pollution-facts/ 

Ocean Noise

The ocean is far from a “silent world”. Sound waves travel farther and faster in the sea’s dark depths than they do in the air, and many marine mammals like whales and dolphins, in addition to fish and other sea creatures, rely on communication by sound to find food, mate, and navigate. But an increasing barrage of human-generated ocean noise pollution is altering the underwater acoustic landscape, harming and even killing marine species worldwide. Ships, tankers, and shipping containers emit sounds like high-intensity sonar and air guns. This noise pollution injures fish, disrupts their habitats, and disrupts foraging, mating, and other vital behaviors of endangered whales, causing mass whale strandings and more.

https://www.earth.com/news/slowing-boats-noise-pollution/

Offshore Drilling

In addition to noise pollution, the oil and gas industry’s routine operations emit toxic by-products, release high levels of greenhouse gases, and lead to thousands of spills. That oil can linger for decades and do irreversible damage to delicate marine ecosystems. Even the most advanced cleanup efforts remove only a fraction of the oil. Oil is the fastest source of deterioration to the ocean, being far more harmful than trash and waste. However, only a small percentage of oil (around 12%) dumped in the ocean comes as a result of actual oil spills. Most oil causing harm in the ocean is a result of drainage from land. Oil spills suffocate marine life to death, and leads to behavioral changes and a breakdown in thermal insulation to those that do survive. It essentially changes the entire ecosystem of an affected area.

https://www.intelligentliving.co/top-20-worldwide-producers-of-ocean-pollution-revealed/

Ocean Pollution and You

The fate of our oceans is not only up to the government or industry. Our individual daily actions matter too. You can start by reducing water pollution and runoff at home, being more mindful of your plastic consumption, or organizing a cleanup of your local water bodies. You can also support the work of environmental advocacy groups as well as other businesses and organizations that work to preserve our coasts and waters.

By now you’ve hopefully realized this issue is much larger, and deserves more attention than just a blog read. With these ocean pollution facts in mind, I challenge you to do something about it today. We’re all responsible for this mess, and it will take all of us to help clean it up!! Stay tuned for my next blog on ways you can help!

Top Image:

https://www.proprofs.com/quiz-school/story.php?title=block-3-ocean-pollution