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Ocean Pollution

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The increase in pollution over the past century is of little surprise to many. Mankind has made great strides in such a short time, however, with these great strides, there are consequences. With the advancement of technology and the ability to harvest different sources of energies, there has been a rise in the amount of wastes and pollution. Actions that most people don’t even consider, such as driving their car and using fertilizers are mundane actions that may not seem like much, but they too, contribute to pollution. Eventually, many types of pollution and waste make their way to the ocean. Therefore, pollution has a significant impact on the ocean and marine life. There are several different types of pollution that negatively impact the ocean. Most people are primarily familiar with pollution of the oceans as solid waste, usually plastic waste. As a result of carelessness and littering plastic pollution of the world’s oceans is at an all time high. In fact, in 2014 it was discovered through several research expeditions that scientists, “estimate a minimum of 5.25 trillion particles weighing 268,940 tons,” are floating around the world’s oceans (Eriksen, et al. 1). Just the sheer numbers estimating the amount of plastic pollution found in the ocean in 2014 is alarming, it is very likely this number has risen in the past three years since this article was written. Items that are considered garbage such as plastic bottles, plastic bags, plastic six pack rings

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