If things keep going the way they are humans will inevitably destroy the ocean and in doing so destroy themselves. There need to be more Loraxes. We the people need to work together to minimize and ultimately stop the production and use of plastics. Driving down the highway, or the gravel road it doesn’t matter I look on either side of the road and what do I see; plastic debris and trash. Someone had to have thrown it there or maybe it blew out of the back of a trash truck going by but regardless there it sits until someone picks it up or an animal mistakes it for a meal or a home. When Dr. Suess wrote The Lorax it was in response to deforestation if he were alive today I think he would make another version of the Lorax however this time it would be about polluting the ocean. Riding in the with my cousin once I watched him throw a can out of the window. I can remember getting mad at him and asking him what he was doing and all he said was, "someone else will pick it up, it's not like it is a big deal." Well at the time I let it go and thought nothing more of it. Time continued on and when I was in sixth grade my mom and I went to Florida as your driving on a dirt road, how about that drive through meal bag that your spouse can’t know about because you and your supposed to be eating healthy? Or watched someone else throw that spit bottle out the window? Believe it or not things like these examples have an impact on the world. We’ve all heard the reduce, reuse, recycle but why are people so adamant about it? Perfect examples of reasons why people do this can be seen in the ocean ecosystems. More and more of our wastes are ending up in the ocean and harming the animals living there. Innocent animals that just want to survive and thrive aren’t getting the opportunity to try because of trash and litter that floats and sinks in the ocean. This litter that ends up in the ocean is consumed by many animals. There are about seven different kinds of sea turtles and the world wild life organization is working on conservation on five of them. What’s happening to all of these turtles? Due to debris in the ocean the turtle are getting tangled in the six ring bottle or can holders and getting them stuck around the middle so
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 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
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.
This simply has to do with people throwing away their trash in a place that it should not be thrown. Thousands of sea turtles would be saved every year if everyone would just so the right thing and put their trash in a recycle can or trash can. Sea turtles have been killed eating or getting tangled in a variety of human trash and debris. In particular trash bags kill sea turtles because they can not tell the difference between jellyfish and the white plastic bag. The large leatherback in particular can not tell the difference and sadly dies frequently from this.
One of the issues that is currently harming the ocean is the presence of pollution. Studies have shown that over the past thirty years, people have increased their use of plastics and synthetic materials and recently it has become even more abundant (Laist). The amount of plastic debris that has entered the ocean is partially due to people 's inability to properly dispose of plastic and waste. This has immeasurable effects on the physical ecosystem, as well as the creatures who inhabit it. While plastic is very buoyant, it takes a very long time to degrade, and it is usually eaten by
The ocean’s vast marine life is dying more and more each year due to plastic. Over 100,000 marine animals die each year from plastic entanglement and ingestion says Gianna Andrews, author of the 2012 “Plastic in our Oceans Affecting Human Health” on ser.carlton. Chemicals in the plastic are also intoxicating the marine life. Reducing the use of plastic could save thousands of sea animals and make our ocean a cleaner place. There are many questions concerning our ocean, like how much plastic is in our ocean? What are the effects? How do we stop it? These questions will be answered by explaining and describing our ocean’s plastic.
According to Oceana, the agency in charge of protecting the world’s oceans, the number one pollutant in the North Pacific Gyre is still plastic. Oceana remains unsure of the quantity of plastic in the water. Our “need” for plastic has harmed innocent little creatures and ourselves as well when we should be searching for safer alternatives instead.
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.
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
Walking through the traditional grocery store, consumers find hundreds of plastic items to make their lives more convenient. Individually wrapped pop tarts, plastic zip lock bags to store sub sandwiches for lunch, deodorant cases, plastic combs to groom hair, diapers, and soda bottles. Unless specifically requested to carry a cloth bag, even the bags we use to carry our groceries home are produced plastic. To society, these are items of convenience and not necessity. But to marine animals that reside in our ocean, they can be a hazardous warzone, “which ends up polluting our oceans and killing millions of birds and fish and more than 100,000 sea turtles, according to the Sierra Club”(D.G.22). Plastic whether it is a syringe,
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
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.
If the plastic is limited, or even put to go used then even better. Trash should burn to create energy that people can use, not all the trash has to be thrown into the ocean where it will take longer to break down and pile up on each other creating an even bigger problem where no one can even get in the water or be able to explore the reefs if thrash is going to take over. It could happen from a year or five expanding the Great Pacific Patch that will be twice the size of Texas if not even bigger and it is something we should not be proud of because it’s harming thousands and thousands of marine animals that cannot help themselves. Only a human can make a change to help spices in need or else they die off due to trash like plastic that can be
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.
“46,000 pieces of plastic trash float in every square mile of ocean…the whole ocean is now infected with plastic. It’s impossible to get it out” (Ellingwood). The public and the government continues to deny this statistic, as they claim it is too expensive to clean up the oceans. However such people take the ocean for granted. It is essential for them to realize that the ocean is an important part of our ecosystem, and therefore impacts all of humanity. Furthermore, not only do people harm themselves, but due to their carelessness, ignore the life of the marine creatures as well. Personal responsibility should not be the only reason for the world’s caution, because the ocean is a “lifeline of survival” for many, as it controls their jobs,