If I had to be honest, I'd have to say that I had forgotten all about the problem with plastic in our oceans. with all the problems going on in the world I had forgotten about our world’s health. The most important thing that is keeping us all existent. this article has opened my eyes to what everyone else was ignoring. There are plenty of ways that we can prevent environmental harm. There are machines that can transform 10 thousand water bottles into a bench. We can reuse plastic bags or make them into a trendy look. It's not impossible to help the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. According to the article there are already ways to clear up the area, so if everyone just in we'd be able to clean our waters in no time. However, it is clear that people do not care unless it is affecting them directly. It be too late by the time we run out of clean water. As the residents of the Earth, we should take care of what we've been graciously given. Everything we are giving on this Earth we take for granted. By the time we get to say “Sorry I'd like to start over” we'd be in ruins. So it's time for everyone to take responsibility for the beloved place that we all call home. Just like everything else in life this will lead to a domino effect. The ocean will be polluted, fish will eat the trash, the food chain gets weaker the nutrients each organism diminishes soon to be more pieces of plastic than fish. Then this would no longer be just a water problem, it be a
Plastic Pollution has become a global issue in our oceans. Although we hear about this from time to time the problem has grown tremendously beyond our knowledge. There are a growing number of animals dying each day due to plastic particles that either get stuck around their head, or that they swallow. If we do not stop plastic pollution in our oceans the ocean will eventually lose its habitats and our ecosystem will be changed forever.
In the National Geographic article “Eight Million Tons of Plastic Dumped in Ocean Every Year”, author Laura Parker expresses how violent the simple act of dumping trash into the ocean really turns out to be. This article goes into depth telling exactly what plastics pollution is causing, where it’s mostly coming from, and what you can do to decrease this problem and help save both our planet and ocean wildlife.
In conclusion, it should have been learned that the issue of plastic pollution has become ruinous. The cost of repair and the inconvenience of lifestyle changes cannot compare to the frightful future this planet is headed. At current rates, hazards are not just inflicted on Earth's oceans but individual human health and the other creatures that rightly inhabit this land. With this concern
In the article When the Mermaids Cry” The Great Plastic Tide by Claire Le Guern Lytle, she wrote “For more than 50 years, global production and consumption of plastics have continued to rise. An estimated 299 million tons of plastics were produced in 2013, representing a 4 percent increase over 2012, and confirming and upward trend over the past years” This means that more and more trash is added to the 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic floating in the ocean. Almost everything around us is made out of plastic, this is later misused and ending in the wrong place. The Center for Biological Diversity wrote “In the first decade of this century, we made more plastic than all the plastic in history up to the year 2000. And every year, billions of pounds of plastic end up in the world’s oceans. Most ocean pollution starts out on land and is carried by wind and rain to the sea. Once in the water, there is a near-continuous accumulation of waste.” Our plastic is misplaced and it escalates from there. However, plastic pollution hurts us as well. “Trash in the water compromises the health of humans, wildlife and the livelihoods that depend on a healthy ocean;” wrote a non-profit group called Ocean Conservation. If our oceans are covered in trash, everyone that relies on the ocean is going to suffer. The effect is not just in our health, it also affects our economy. Ocean Conservation also
The plastic around the world is building up to become a huge world problem. Each year eight million tons of plastic
There are four named oceans in the world: Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, and Arctic. Roughly 70% of the earth’s oxygen is produced by marine plants and only 27% by rainforests. Over 80% of ocean pollution comes from land based activity. This activity can include, but is not limited to, burning oil and not recycling plastics. With knowing those statistics, people should undoubtedly be more concerned with our ocean’s health and well being than what they currently are. Yes, there are a copious amount of websites that accept donations but there are other ways that do not involve breaking the bank to save and protect the oceans. By using reusable plastics, reducing our carbon footprint, and buying ocean-friendly products and food, the oceans dying process could not completely stop, but slow down drastically.
Plastic waste causes a huge destruction of marine life and could be responsible for over 100,000 deaths of sea mammals, fish and birds. Though it’s not just animals that are affected, 15 million children die each year due to water related diseases. 894 million people globally do not have access to improved water sources as well as 2.4 billion people (1 in 3) lack access to a toilet. According to water.org, more people have a mobile phone than a toilet. This is very serious as millions of people are infected with deathly diseases caused by contaminated water.
“If we stick to this trajectory, Earth's oceans will have more plastic in them than fish by 2050.” Our ocean is in danger and we have to start helping so that we can still enjoy the ocean in our future. There are many ways we can help. We can help by picking up beaches and keeping them clean when we visit them, using less plastic products, and we can support organizations that help out water even if we do not live in places that have access to the water. If we help out our ocean it will not only help out us but also help out oceanic animals.
The earth’s oceans take up roughly three fourths of the planet’s surface area and hold roughly 97 percent of all water on earth (Silverman). It is important that people make sure that the oceans are kept clean because the ocean contains many essential elements for the survival of both humans and animals. A rising problem that is not often brought up is the increasing amounts of man-made debris, especially plastic, that are accumulating in these waters that is slowly effecting the oceans ecosystem as well as the health of humans. Some may argue that the plastics have little effect on the environment but the facts show that this is not the case. The amount of ocean debris has increased
For decades, oceans have been one of the biggest dumpsters used throughout the world. Plastics among other pollutants have affected our oceans and freshwater as well as marine life. Plastic pollution effects not only the ocean and its’ marine life, but humans as well and not just in the United States, but everywhere. Landfills are running into water systems every day, carrying more plastics and trash into all of the oceans. For instance, in the Mediterranean Sea, sewage is untreated and that totals eighty percent. Sewage can lead to eutrophication, which is an enrichment of chemicals in an ecosystem, but it can cause human diseases as well. (Oceans) In reality, exposure to all marine organisms will be some sort of toxin or chemical, whether it is from the ocean or contaminated from human chemicals like pesticides. Deliberately dumped plastics and toxins spread into water systems daily. During the 1970’s dumping radioactive waste, chemical weapons, pesticides, and plastics have been disposed into oceans. The reason being was that people believed that since the oceans were so big that all the pollutants should be diluted, broken down, and dispersed throughout the ocean floor. In reality after disposal has continued for years, not a single pollutant has disappeared. In fact, 80% of plastics float, which means they will float for years until someone has picked them up or they have been broken down into smaller parts of oceans. Ocean pollution should end, even if it is recycling
Recycling and going green has been at the forefront of everyone's mind for the last 10 years. It has become a major concern to able to preserve the planet and reverse some of the damage that society has been inflicting over the last two hundred years. Everyone's concerned with emissions and electric cars but the world is in fact over two-thirds water. So naturally what society should be concerned about should be the oceans in the pollution and negative human impact that people have placed on them. Part of the problem as an initial estimate of the amount of plastic is not accurate. Not to mention incredible environmental and ecological effects the plastic has on marine life. Ocean plastic has reached a critical level where human intervention needs to take place.
Most of the plastic from littering starts on land, but than gets carried into the ocean by rain and wind. Chemicals from plastic can be highly toxic and than our quality of the sea water will start going down. A huge source of plastic in the ocean is littering. The EPA reports “Every bit of plastic ever made still exists” and this means the plastic is abusing not just our ocean but everything in it and also never going away. According to Greenpeace, “nearly half of all ocean pollution comes from acitvities that take place on land.” People are harming the ocean, especially when bottled water companies manufacture the plastic. Carbon dioxide levels are steadily increasing harming our
Oceans are suffering because of these floating dumpsters and as they continue to grow, marine life will continue to die. Much of this garbage is already ending up on beaches and affecting birds and other land animals, as well as destroying beaches and habitats for other animals. Soon, oceans will be suffering even more due to overfishing and the destruction of their environment. Studies show that nearly 70% of fish in all oceans are gone and as we continue to fish at the rate we are at now, we will soon exhaust all of the marine resources we have readily available to us.
Pollution in the oceans also affects the fish population. Since the 1960’s the fish population has decreased by 75% because of pollution.Sea creatures are mistaking the trash for food and eating plastic There are many sea creatures that are endangered. Like blue whales, sea turtles, sea lions and many more. There are also a number of coral reefs dying that our a big role in our ocenas. To save these endangered animals we need to cut down on the number of trash dumped into the
Since it’s commercial inception in the late 1930’s, plastic has revolutionized, modernized, and undoubtedly eased the human experience. Unfortunately, this leap in consumer and industrial technology also came with an unforeseen and devastating side effect. Plastic pollution in the world’s oceans is serious and disgustingly under-looked problem. Due to the influx of hundreds of thousands of tons of plastic, the marine landscape is changing rapidly. This issue isn’t just exclusive to oceans either. The world’s rivers and seas are also feeling the brunt of non-biodegradable waste. The scientific community is scrambling to find a solution to this ubiquitous issue. Plastic pollution in the world’s oceans has already lead some environmental activists and entrepreneurs to develop systems and machinery to prevent further damage. Ultimately, the future of our planet’s oceans fall not into the hands of the engineers and scientists, but into the hands of the common man. Our collective actions and attitudes towards oceanic pollution will will be the catalyst for either triumph or turmoil.