Junseo Shin
Marine Pollution: Most Serious Problems Happening on Earth Right Now
Billions of pounds of wastewater, garbage; and chemicals enter the ocean each year.
Marine Pollution: Value of Water
Every single minute, a truck full of garbage enters the ocean. The oceans make up 97.5% of the Earth’s water. Water, water is a major component of all living things on Earth. It is essential for all known forms of life, even if it does not provide food, energy, or nutrients. Water is an indispensable element to humans and all living things. As our body is composed of about 60-70% water, if humans do not drink clean water, they may die within 3 days. Then, what if the water is contaminated? There will be a very big emergency on Earth. If water is polluted, many problems will arise on Earth. Even now, the water continues to be polluted. Thus, Marine pollution is constantly being mentioned which means it has profoundly affected the Earth, so many people are trying to prevent and address marine pollution.
Factors and Types of Marine Pollution
The marine environment is polluted from a variety of sources and forms. The major causes of marine pollution include the inflow of chemicals, radioactive elements, oil, and wastewater discharge and outflow. It is said that industrial facilities discharge millions of tons of toxic substances, including PCBs, dioxins, industrial flame retardants, wastewater, and persistent organic compounds which are ‘PFAS’, into the oceans or rivers. Additionally, it is plastic. “Plastic” may be the first word that comes to mind when thinking of marine pollution. As such, plastic is the main culprit and factor that further exacerbates marine pollution. The chemicals in plastic are toxic, and fish recognize plastic as a portion of food and eat it, which can be leading to death in many cases. Lastly, oil. There was a case of this, is the large-scale oil spill at sea in California. Countless fish died that day, and many people who live nearby that ocean stated that “it feels like just breathing in the vicinity of the ocean would smell like oil”. As a result, the main factors of marine pollution are all basically about factories, companies, and research institutes that conduct experiments on wastewater from artificial substances such as chemicals, wastewater, plastics, and oil spills.
Types of Marine Pollution and Their Impacts on Oceans
Based on the factors of marine pollution, there are 4 main types of Marine pollution which are Eutrophication, Toxins, Acidification, and Plastics. Firstly, Eutrophication. Chemical nutrients, including mainly nitrates and phosphates, are excessively increased in water by chemical substances, which causes eutrophication or nutrient pollution. Additionally, eutrophication has been shown to lower oxygen levels, degrade water quality, and significantly affect reproductive processes within marine life. Secondly, toxins. There are very toxic toxins in marine ecosystems. When mainly talking about them, many people are talking about pesticides, DDT, PCBs, furans, TBT, radioactive waste, phenols, and dioxins. These toxins cause “bioaccumulation”, causing mutations. Furthermore, acidification. As many scientists have proven, the ocean serves as a natural reservoir for carbon dioxide from the Earth’s atmosphere. However, in recent years, the world’s oceans are naturally “acidifying” because of the world’s oceans as carbon dioxide levels rise sharply from coal, and oil, such as factory atmospheric gas. It is also said to have a major adverse effect on the reproduction of marine life. Lastly, plastics. Plastics are now the most common and most well-known of the existing marine pollution on Earth. About 80% of the trash found in the sea is plastic. What makes this plastic so serious is that fish mistake it for food and eat it, suffocate it, swallow it, and get entangled. This is one of the biggest causes of fish death. Is there really a way to address these four types of marine pollution?
Solution 1: Government, Organizations
What can governments and organizations do in order to address marine pollution?
“The United Nations is an intergovernmental organization whose purpose is to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations between nations, achieve international cooperation, and become a centre for harmonizing the actions of nations” (un.org). The description of the United Nations written on this official United Nations website shows how indispensable the United Nations is to the world. As an international organization with that much influence, we need to have more meetings, recognizing that it is necessary to deal with marine pollution, which is one of the biggest problems of the earth, in detail and focus. There are many things the UN can do. First, UN Member States, whether it is More Economically Developed Countries or Less Economically Developed Countries, list cases or damage to marine pollution in each country, and organizations such as organization and Greenpeace related to marine pollution among non-governmental organizations Ask for help and More Economically Developed Countries who are financially, economically; or even more advanced help less Economically Developed Countries. And the government must campaign. The content should once again make the public aware of how serious marine pollution is and promote it with the slogan to stop marine pollution together. There are ways to promote it, such as advertisements on social media platforms such as Billboard and YouTube, classes to discuss marine pollution in the school curriculum or serious problems that are avoiding the planet, and seminars at companies. Additionally, marine pollution causes tremendous damage not only to humans but also to animals.
Solution 2: What can students or normal people do so as to address marine pollution?
The public has less power than the government and organizations. This means that the influence is weaker. However, there is an old saying that goes like this. “More dust and mountains”. This means that if a person keeps collecting 1 cent, one day he or she may have 100 dollars. Therefore, even if the power is weak, if the power is united, the influence will inevitably be strong. Hence, in order to reduce marine pollution, the general public should never dispose of garbage such as plastic, which is the biggest cause of marine pollution.
Due to the hot weather in summer, many people come to the sea to play in the water to cool off. As people eat and drink food or beverages, they produce garbage, which is often thrown into the sea. Thus, it’s only natural for beach officials to put up signs saying don’t throw the trash into the sea or near the sea but put it in the trash cans, and people are obliged to follow it. Additionally, the plastic must also be removed. Now, every day, tons of plastic waste are found in the ocean. So, if people see garbage on the beach, people must do the good deeds of picking it up and throwing it in the trash can so that this sea doesn’t suffer.
Solution 3: What can students or normal people do in order to solve marine pollution?
Finally, it is important to properly recycle. Most people have probably heard the term recyclables at least once in their lives. Of course, if people use recyclable plastic, they must recycle it after use. Currently, only 9% of plastic is recycled on the planet. This will prevent used plastic from going to the ocean and reduce the amount of new plastic.
Conclusion: REDUCE THE MARINE POLLUTION=SAVING THE WORLD
In conclusion, ocean pollution is a really serious problem, and governments, governments, organizations, and the public all must use a lot of solutions, including recycling, school education, campaigns, etc. to stop ocean pollution to solve it. Let’s all make a clean sea and clean earth!
Work Cited
Nations, United. “About Us | United Nations.” United Nations, United Nations, 2017, www.un.org/en/about-us. Accessed 2 June 2022.
“Marine Pollution | National Geographic Society.” Nationalgeographic.org, 2018, education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/marine-pollution. Accessed 3 June 2022.
“Environmental Damage.” Ciwf.org.uk, 2013, www.ciwf.org.uk/factory-farming/environmental-damage/?gclid=Cj0KCQjwqPGUBhDwARIsANNwjV4d-dFJqgpseY9JunZEQ0C0dWP-xRGMS4ZkGwnt3PlsvrcQDcSuP5kaAi8OEALw_wcB. Accessed 4 June 2022.
Oceanic Society. “7 Ways to Reduce Ocean Plastic Pollution Today.” Oceanic Society, 24 Feb. 2022, www.oceanicsociety.org/resources/7-ways-to-reduce-ocean-plastic-pollution-today/. Accessed 2 June 2022.
Kumar, P. Senthil, and G. Prasannamedha. “Biological and Chemical Impacts on Marine Biology.” Modern Treatment Strategies for Marine Pollution, 2021, pp. 11–27, www.sciencedirect.com/topics/earth-and-planetary-sciences/marine-pollution, 10.1016/b978-0-12-822279-9.00006-3. Accessed 3 June 2022.
Marine plastic pollution. “Marine Plastic Pollution.” IUCN, 24 May 2018, www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/marine-plastic-pollution. Accessed 2 June 2022.
used bullet points, short write’ in response to questions or showing your personal reflections, and arguments.
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