Oceans And Plastic Pollution

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.

Oceans cover approximately 75% of Earth 's surface and are vital to this planet and the people who inhabit it. Oceans provide food, natural resources, and recreation for nearly everyone in this world. Unfortunately Oceans have been receiving mass amount of pollutants including oil spills, toxic waste dumping, and industrial dumping. These pollutants will have negative impacts on the wildlife in the ocean, as we are seeing already with the Coral Reefs, and soon enough it will begin to affect our lives as well.

The beauty of California is slowly fading away and as environmentalists would say, “There was once a town in the heart of America where all life seemed to live in harmony with its surrounding” (Carson, 366). According to the findings revealed by research foundations in California, marine life is and has been in great danger as a result of plastic remains that accumulates in the Ocean. In his article Daniel Woods states, “Approximately eighty percent of remains found in Oceans are made of plastic that originates from urban runoffs such as plastic trash carried away from landfills, trucks, as well as garbage containers, marinas, ports and construction trash” (Wood, 20). Furthermore, these results also revealed that marine remains where made up of disposable plastic products that constitute food packaging as well as containers that are ever present and contain precious resources that can be used unsustainably. These issues have affected the state critically and have lead me to research the reasons behind the banning of plastic pollution, their economic impact, harm resulting from plastic pollution, as well as federal concerns on plastic contamination.

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

In the article, "Plastic in Our Oceans", Kimberly Amaral discusses the everyday uses of plastic and how it can be beneficial to humans, but harmful to marine life. As fishermen casually dump waste overboard, animals mistake it for food sources, such as a turtle mistaking a plastic grocery bag for a jellyfish. From the trash brought out to sea, gyres, large circulations of water, carry the garbage through currents, spreading it to all over the ocean, specifically to the central gyre. Amaral notes common ways for marine life to die from plastic, which include entanglement by plastic rings, consumption of plastic bags and pellets which stuff the intestines and lead to health problems, and suffocation. As researchers today work hard to discover

In 1988, it was determined that the United States alone, was producing 30 million tonnes of plastic per year (Derraik, J.G.B., 2002). This can be compared with the global and annual production of 260 million tonnes of plastic as of 2012 (Pearson, E., 2014). Plastics are lightweight, durable, and cheap to make. This makes them incredibly easy to sell and manufacture. However, these attributes are many of the reasons why plastics are the most prominent type of marine debris, and why they are a serious hazard to various ecosystems and the organisms that live within them (Derraik, J.G.B.,

Over the few years, humans have discarded millions of tons of garbage into the oceans. Ever wonder where the cup you threw out this morning will end up? Or the plastic spoon you used for lunch? How about the cap of a water bottle? The calamitous plastic ends up in the water, taking thousands of years to decompose. The consumption of plastic by the marine life is perilous and the leading cause of death for life on shore.

A large number of marine species are known to be harmed and/or killed by plastic debris, which jeopardize their survival, since many are already endangered by other forms of anthropogenic activities. Marine animals are affected through entanglement in and ingestion of plastic litter (Marine Debris). Less conspicuous forms, such as plastic pellets and “scrubbers” are also hazardous. To address the problem of plastic debris in the oceans is a difficult task, and a variety of approaches are required. According to research conducted by the National Academy of Sciences, 14 billion pounds of trash is dumped into the ocean each year. That is more than 38 million pounds a day. More than 85% of all the trash that is dumped comes from the world’s merchant shipping fleet. According to the same research, the United States is responsible for an estimated one- third of all the trash that is dumped into the ocean (Amaral). The reason this is still going on is because the majority of the trash that is dumped is in international waters. United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea that convened in 1982 defines territorial waters and international waters as: territorial waters are waters extending up to 12 nautical miles from a coastal state, and they are considered to be within the jurisdiction of that particular state or ‘territorial waters’ If oceans, seas, rivers or lakes extend beyond international boundaries and are not territorial waters, they are classed as

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

Plastic is polluting the oceans, and the animals that live there are being harmed as a result of the pollution. Some animals, such as Sea turtles thinks that the plastic in the ocean is food. A piece of evidence that supports this is an article by the center

Over 8 million tons of plastic enter the sea every year according to the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. That is similar to over 8 million bear-sized piles of trash being polluted into open waters each year. Sources of plastic pollution are strictly from humans from littering, and improper trash removal. Fines are given to people who litter. Companies have laws to follow that are supposed to ensure proper removal of waste. However, the actions being used to solve the problem are not doing enough. Plastic is still continuously filling the water at increasing rates year and every year and by every single country. As more countries develop, more plastic is poured into the oceans. Due to human pollution, the marine ecosystem is

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.

Eriksen, M., Lebreton, L. M., Carson, H. S., Thiel, M., Moore, C. J., Borerro, J. C., & ... Reisser, J. (2014). Plastic Pollution in the World 's Oceans: More than 5 Trillion Plastic Pieces Weighing over 250,000 Tons Afloat at Sea. Plos ONE, 9(12), 1-15. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0111913

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.

of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the exact size remains unknown. In addition, Doucette warns us that this patch contains more than ten million tons of waste. She describes the area to be a “fetid swamp of debris where tiny bits of decaying plastic outweigh zooplankton- one of the most prolific and abundant organisms on the planet- by a ration of six-to-one”(Doucette). It is now apparent that the amount of plastic particles residing in our oceans is damaging the natural habit and this trash is not going anywhere. Due to the currents in the ocean, plastic particles are