Ocean Pollution

Millions of tons of trash are dumped into the ocean each year (OI). Ocean pollution can be stopped! I am going to explain what people are doing to the ocean and how it can be stopped. First, two billion people within 30 mile of the coast create 100 million tons of trash every year (Doc. 1). This can be stopped if we reduce plastic in the waste stream, improve solid waste management, and increase, capture, and reuse more plastic (Doc. 1).

This increase in oceanic inorganic carbon has offset the seawater carbonate chemistry by causing increasing concentrations of CO2 and bicarbonate, while causing decreasing concentrations of carbonate and pH levels (Dedmer 2013). Rost and colleagues (2008) express that emissions of fossil fuel have caused an immense increase in the levels of atmospheric CO2, which are then deposited into the surface water of oceans. This increase in carbonic acid is in turn decreasing the pH balance, which poses a threat to marine organisms.

Ocean Conservancy is a non profit organization that works to reduce the ocean pollution and ultimately protecting the ocean along with every life that is affected by the ocean. The Ocean Conservancy was founded in 1972, which started as a small company but has since expanded and evolved to not only fight for the ocean but to educate people about harmful effects of pollution within the ocean. In my research I found that the explosion BP's Deepwater Horizon rig in 2010, was a peak for the Ocean Conservancy in media exposure and coverage and since then has steadily decreased. In this decline the perception of the Ocean Conservancy has become something synonymous with hopelessness.

Atmospheric CO2 levels are projected to reach 730 to 1090 ppm by 2100 due to rising anthropogenic CO2 inputs (IPCC 2007, Joos et al., 2001, Meehl et al., 2005, Wigley 2004, Wigley and Raper 2001). Oceanic uptake of CO2 is raising marine pCO2 and lowering pH as the dominant dissolved carbonate species in sea water shift from CO32- and HCO3- towards HCO3- and H2CO3, a process known as ocean acidification (OA) (Qu?r? et al., 2012). Declines in pH and ?aragonite associated with emerging changes in carbonate chemistry due to OA will impact diverse marine biota (Doney et al., 2009).

Imagine walking along the beach in Hawaii and as you walk among a group of rocks that are coming out of the ocean you notice a sea turtle sunbathing. This is not a good place to snorkel or swim, but as it turns out it is a great place for turtles to sunbathe and eat near the rocks. As you watch the sea turtle turn around and scoot into the ocean, you wade in after it, snapping picture after picture as a bale of turtles came towards you. Suddenly you are surrounded by at least ten turtles all rubbing against the rocks, eating and sunbathing. The water is clear, the sand is a vibrant tan, and there isn’t anything but beauty surrounding you. Now imagine if one of the turtles had plastic around its shell or it was covered in oil. Sadly, these horrific incidents happen every day. Ocean pollution, caused by man and natural disasters, is becoming a grave concern as it affects ocean plant and animal life—and in turn affects us. Mankind must act now to stop and hopefully reverse the damage. If we don’t take care of the ocean, and the magnificent creatures that call it home, we will lose a little part of ourselves.

For the past 200 years, the rapid increase in atmospheric CO2 continues to be produced by, the burning of fossil fuels, deforestation, industrialization, cement production, and other land-use changes. The ocean absorbs much of this excess CO2 through air-sea gas exchange, resulting in changes in seawater chemistry. Due to human-made emissions, the CO2 content of the oceans has dramatically increased and is gradually acidifying the surface waters. As a result of human-made emissions, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere and oceans has increased dramatically during recent decades. In the ocean, the accumulating CO2 is gradually acidifying the surface waters, making it difficult for shelled organisms such as corals and certain open sea plankton to build their calcium carbonate skeletons. Since this process affects the functioning of several marine ecosystems, it has been massively studied in recent years. However, getting an accurate measure is complicated because the effect of ocean acidification on the rates of calcium produced by marine organisms is extremely variable and its species specific. Since scientists incline to use local and site-specific field measurements, treating reef environments and open sea environments separately, their measurements reflect the local response of individual organisms to elevated CO2 levels, leaving out the overall picture.

The oceans face many types of pollution every day, every second. The ocean is our greatest ecosystem and out most valuable resource. A common misconception is that the rainforests are the lungs of the planet however, the majority of our oxygen is made via the algae in the sea. The oceans feeds, hydrates, and provides us with oxygen; ironically enough, despite its monetary value to mankind, it is what is treated the worst. For ages we have been dumping our trash, chemicals, and waste into the oceans with no fear or regret, almost an “out of sight- out of mind” mentality. People once and still assume that the oceans are so vast that all of the pollution is diluted and would be dispersed through out, going unnoticed. However, dilution is a myth and an idea that renders ocean dumping to be less impactful. Even so much of the man made pollution is becoming even more concentrated and have entered our natural food chain. However vast the waters of the ocean are, they are not meant to house all of these external factors. There are many alternatives to marine pollution including recycling, finding alternative trash dump sites, cutting down on harmful chemicals for agriculture, and most importantly having the ability to recognize when a problem is developing and counter act, immediately.

Our oceans take a large beating every day by the extremely large amount of pollution humans produce. We easily dump our waste into the oceans to dispose of our problem, but this small and simple solution is creating an even bigger problem. The way humans dispose of their wastes is causing the death of our beloved marine life. Not only are we killing off our animals, our food source, and our resources, we are also minimizing our usable water.

Throughout the past few decades, the human population has had increasing demands for various utilities such as electricity and heat. This increase in demand has sparked up a problem now present in our world. That problem is the emission of various carbon gases, including carbon dioxide, into our atmosphere. Carbon dioxide is a gas that exists naturally in our atmosphere. However, thanks to the combustion of fossil fuels, there is more carbon dioxide in our atmosphere than any time in the past. On a report by the EPA, it is shown that coal is responsible for about 70% of all carbon emissions, including carbon dioxide. Coal is the most used type of fossil fuel to create both electricity and heat. With our high demand for electricity and heat,

Everything in this world we use comes from the ocean in some way. The air we breathe, the water we drink, even the products we use day to day, would not be possible without the ocean. That's why the issue of ocean pollution is so important and needs to be addressed as soon as possible. We depend on the ocean for so much in our life, without it we would surely become extinct. People seem to think that since the ocean is so large and vast, we can dump as much waste as we'd like into it and it will never have an effect on us. However, since we've been polluting the ocean as far back as Roman times, the evidence of ocean pollution becoming a major problem is all too clear.

Increasing levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) have created problematic oceanic conditions that are detrimental towards the livelihood of coral reefs and other marine biota. The high levels of CO2 lead to a decline of ocean pH among other issues such as dramatic changes in oceanic make-up and chemistry. Statistics and data collected has shown that ocean acidification will not only increase but accelerate over the next century. The ocean takes in about 1/3 of anthropogenic carbon added to the atmosphere. Anthropogenic carbon refers to the excess CO2 added to the ocean and atmosphere from human fossil fuel combustion, agriculture, and deforestation. Although much of the damage from human fossil fuel combustion is irreversible, if emissions are decreased dramatically ocean acidification may be constrained.

According to the National Ocean Service, the largest source of ocean pollution is the land. This is said to comprise of eighty percent of the total ocean pollution. There are different types of land pollution to the ocean, the nonpoint source pollution and the on point source pollution. The non-point source pollution result from water runoff from the land. This type of run off has no designated point at which they enter the ocean and hence the name nonpoint land pollution (NOAA, 1). The run off carries oil drops from cars as it flow on the roads, it also carries farm wastes such as fertilizers and pesticides, it also carries plastic bags and bottles from the land where it flows from and when all these wastes combined with soil particles reach the ocean it results in ocean pollution. On point land pollution when industries or other source of contaminated water direct their waste into the ocean without treating it. These waste may enter the ocean at a designated point in the form of a small stream or it may be carried in pipes (Kean, 2).

Scientists correlate the increased amounts of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere with the increased acidity of Earth’s ocean waters. When carbon dioxide is absorbed into ocean water, carbonic acid is created. As the name implies, carbonic acid is considerably acidic with a pH level of 2. This impedes marine life because many shell-fish organisms, clams, lobsters, shrimp, and crabs, have their shells made of calcium carbonate. In acidic environments, calcium carbonate is very susceptible to deteriorating and dissolving. This is dangerous for the oceanic organisms because these high levels of acidity can cause defections, mutations, or even species extinction (Bradford).

Anthropogenic activity has affected a large number of ecosystems in the world including the earth’s oceans. Atmospheric levels of carbon dioxide (CO2) have been escalating since the rise of the industrial revolution and are now at a far more prominent rate than previously experienced in the Earth's history primarily due to the burning of fossil fuels (Wood et al., 2008). The concentration of CO2 in the Earth's atmosphere now surpasses 380 parts per million (ppm), which is more than 80 ppm over the highest values of the past 740,000 years (Hoegh-Guldberg et al., 2007). As a result, the oceans have absorbed approximately 25% to 30% of the CO2 in the atmosphere acting as carbon sinks and decreasing the rate of CO2 rise in the atmosphere, which has had a direct effect on the ocean’s chemistry (Logan, 2010). This results in the most prominent phenomena known as ocean acidification, which worsens day-to-day as CO2 enters the oceans at a more noteworthy rate than ever before, diminishing the ocean's natural buffering capacity and lowering the pH (Wood et al., 2008). This is documented to have a significant threat to marine species. As CO2 enters the ocean and comes in contact with the water, it reacts and changes the chemical properties of the ocean itself (Wood et al., 2008). This process produces carbonic acid that breaks down into bicarbonate, carbonate, and hydrogen ions that increase the acidity. The ocean’s pH commonly ranges between 7.8 and 8.2, yet, recent studies show that

“When carbon dioxide (CO2) is absorbed by seawater, chemical reactions occur that reduce seawater pH, carbonate ion concentration, and saturation states of biologically important calcium carbonate minerals.” These chemical reactions are termed "ocean acidification” by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Association. It has been shown by various studies that the levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere have increased by almost 40% from days before the industrial revolution until present day. According to a study done by a European Research group, the parts per million volume (ppmv) was approximately 280 and has reached a ppmv of over 380(Turley). This exponential increase in carbon dioxide is pushed by our human tendencies. Two of the main factors that lead to ocean acidification are fossil fuel combustion and deforestation, both of which have been happening at a faster pace than ever before in the Earth’s history(Orr). The ascending level of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is heavily dependent on the ocean’s ability to absorb it. With the absence of a carbon dioxide absorption by the ocean according to a study done by the National Oceanic Atmospheric Association (NOAA) would be close to 500 ppmv, which would have led to an even greater increase in temperature around the world. To date the ocean has taken in close to 450 billion tons of atmospheric carbon dioxide, also known as 33% of carbon emissions. With all of this uptake the ocean faces problems as