Ocean Debris

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) define marine debris as "any persistent solid material that is manufactured or processed and directly or indirectly, intentionally or unintentionally, disposed of or abandoned into the marine environment” (NOAA, 2015). Marine debris is classified into two categories:

Solid waste like bags, foam, and other items dumped into the oceans from land or by ships at sea are frequently consumed, with often fatal effects, by marine mammals, fish, and birds that mistake it for food.

What comes to mind when you think of Immigration? It’s a hot topic in the presidential race and the people alike. Donald Trump says he wants to deport all immigrants and “Make America great again”. Trump doesn’t want immigrant coming into our country. He plans to build a huge wall to stop immigration completely. Immigration is a big problem, but trumps proposal on how to handle immigration is extremely.

Society tends to blame the fisherman for the trash that turns into marine debris. They are wrong. According to the California Coastal Commission, “Only 20% of the items found in the ocean can be linked to ocean-based sources, like commercial fishing vessels, cargo fish or pleasure cruise ships. The remainder (80%) is due to land based sources like litter (from pedestrians, motorists, beaches visitor), industrial discharges (in the form of plastic pellets and powders), and garbage management.”. Fisherman and other trained workers in the oceans are not the only

The planets sustainability is under attack from human dependency on the convenience of plastic and are failing in the proper disposal of those items. Advocacy groups the like of Cairns and Far North Environment Centre (cafnec) who are offering solutions through education awareness and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) who are offering grants for marine debris removal, educational programs and research. In an article from cafnec (2013) they pointed out that 80% of plastic debris comes from land and during beach clean up the most common item found have been plastic bottle caps, bags and pellets. These items are being are in dead seabirds gizzards as they cannot distinguish plastic debris from food. Human littering of

Plastic in the Oceans: Having been to the Centers for Disease Control’s David J. Sencer Museum this past year, I was able to see the exhibition GYRE: The Plastic Ocean. The ocean has become littered with enormous amounts of plastic over the years and, in some places, entire islands can be found entirely composed of discarded or lost plastic objects. The sheer volume of new and current information currently being put forth on this topic makes it an excellent one for research.

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

People are polluting the ocean in many ways, and we need to make the ocean healthier. In 2010, 192 countries bordering the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian Ocean, and Mediterranean and Black seas produced 2.5 billion metric tons of solid waste, and within that, 275 million metric tons is plastic waste. Two billion people within 30 miles of the coast create 100 million metric tons of coastal plastic waste. An estimated eight million tons of plastic entered the ocean that same year. Also, every year, eight million metric tons of plastic goes into the ocean. Because of all this trash, ocean and sea animals are losing their healthy habitat. They could get trapped in six-pack rings, mistake solid waste for food and eat it and die, or could get harmed or

14 billion pounds of trash is dumped in our oceans each year. Some humans dump trash or waste into the ocean instead of taking it to a landfill. It takes plastic 450 years for plastic to decompose. Many animals can die because they eat trash dumped in our oceans. When waste is dumped into the world’s oceans animals or even birds can get trapped in the waste, and possibly die. Some people might take their plastic to a recycling plant

In the documentary “Inside the Garbage of the World”, the main social problem being explained is that there has been a great influx of plastic and other type of garbage in oceans and their beaches. This buildup of pollution has largely affected the wildlife population ranging from animals on the beaches to the creatures of the ocean. In oceans, what is called ‘garbage patches’, a large buildup of garbage that flow to one area in the oceans, are being created. Approximately 50 percent of all plastic sinks to the bottom of the ocean floor but about 2 times that much is actually already on the ocean floor. In fact, according to the documentary, there is a garbage patch that is to the left of California that is the size of half of the United States. Each year, about 4.7 million tons of plastic goes in the ocean a year and it is estimated that by 2050, there will be another 33 billion tons of plastic added to the present amount. Eighty percent of the current pollution comes from the land. According to marine researchers, twice as much plastic debris is one the ocean floor than it was 10 years ago. In the futures, plastic will break down into smaller pieces of plastic, creating a bigger problem from the habitat. This plastic pollution is one of the leading cause for beach and ocean inhabiting creatures be extinct because animals are mistaking these plastic pieces for food. When scientist began to dissect beach animals such as birds, they discovered that at least fifteen pounds of

The marine Debris starts off at the surface and make sure it's all cleared to move on deep into the ocean. They dive deep into the ocean and take a backpack and take all the plastic out of the ocean. Some other things that they do to help is get a group of people that want to help as well. The people that are helping usually help around the surface area to even prevent it from spreading deeper. The way they do it is reasearch, prevent, reduce and impact of the marine debris. The program also spredheads to try and help at most of all of the ocean parts.Each year (October through September), the Marine Debris Program supports projects across the country that use outreach and education as a way to prevent plastic ending up in the ocean. These projects aim to change behavior, especially among kids, and provide them with hands-on experiences that deepen their understanding of the marine debris problem.

We 're treating the oceans like a trash bin: around 80 percent of marine litter originates on land, and most of that is plastic. Plastic that pollutes our oceans and waterways has severe impacts on our environment and our economy. Seabirds, whales, sea turtles and other marine life are eating marine plastic pollution and dying from choking, intestinal blockage and starvation. Scientists are investigating the long-term impacts of toxic pollutants absorbed, transported, and consumed by fish and other marine life, including the potential effects on human health.

Ocean dumping/littering is one of the biggest causes to harming sea life. According to Passage #1, it states, “Materials like plastic are non-degradable which means they will not be absorbed and recycled.” This shows that when plastics are being dumped into the oceans, they will stay there forever because they have no way of breaking down. This results in animals choking, and getting tangled up in plastic items. According to that same passage, it states that, “When oceanic creatures and even birds consume plastic inadvertently, they choke on it which causes a steady decline in their population.”

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 leads to a marked depletion of oxygen

Wesley Schultz and Steven R. Stein from the Environmental Resources Planning, they found that there are approximately 51.2 billion pieces of litter on roadways nationwide. Of all those pieces of litter, about 91% of them are smaller than 4 inches long. Most of this trash consists of cigarettes, trash, paper, cups, disposable food, and more. Over the years without being taken care of properly, litter is quick to pile up or end up in our oceans where it is a danger hazard to both marine life and humans. Many marine animals are becoming endangered due to the amount of litter in our waterways because these animals, unaware that humans tend to waste in their homes, mistake trash for food, or worse, end up getting caught in something and dying because they are unable to free themselves. To minimize the amount of marine life deaths as well as just the amount of trash in general, Schultz and Stein propose that people should create partnerships, send the message directly to the younger crowds, begin campaigns, and ultimately monitor liter and litterers