Recycling's Effects On The Atlantic Ocean

Ocean pollution is such a broad topic, and one that has many facets to it. As a group, we found it to be a very intriguing topic that it relevant to our everyday lives. As New Jersey residents, we have all spent time at the Jersey shore. We have all enjoyed the small and big beach towns, the sand, and of course

Marine pollution is not a new phenomenon, but our acknowledgement of its impacts and severity is relatively new, with the first laws and discussions to counter it only appearing in the 1950’s. For much of history, it was thought that the oceans were so large that any pollution created would be negligible and easily diluted (Marine Pollution). Since, countless research and laws have been implemented in order to preserve our marine ecosystems because of how crucial these ecosystems are to humanity.

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

Can you predict the outcome of food and medicine resources from the ocean if plastic pollution is not prevented or minimized? We as humans, need food and most times medicine to survive and to be healthy. Some of the resources we need for food and medicine come from the ocean. What will happen to our resources if we cannot prevent or at least minimize plastic pollution in the ocean? This paper will be about what experts say about ocean pollution, and how we can prevent it.

Debris in our world’s oceans is a continuum threat, especially plastic debris. Plastic debris causes choking of creatures by tangling or getting wrapped up and caught in it. Plastic also bleeds out toxins out into the great sea, and specifically into some ecosystems. Toxins let out increases the chance for the some to be sucked in by organisms themselves. Numerous people throughout the world have no clue how littering can hurt us as human beings and other organisms. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration explains 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

Two of the underlying effects of recycling are job creation and the revenue that comes as a result of reusing materials. Recycling programs across the United States were responsible for nearly 500,000 jobs, directly and indirectly, in 2015 (Wiener 15). The duties of these jobs range from the collection of the recyclables, the sorting, and the actual process of renewing materials and transforming them into something new. With a large American workforce of approximately two hundred million, five hundred thousand jobs might seem miniscule, but these jobs contribute to lowering the unemployment rate and helping lower class families that at times might struggle finding a job. Furthermore, recycling activity was effective in generating nearly eleven billion dollars in tax revenue at the state, local, and federal levels in 2015 (Wiener 15). These funds are then used by the government to benefit a large majority of

Recycling does a lot of good. Recycling saves energy because the manufacturers do not have to produce something new from raw natural resources. Recycling also reduces the need for landfills. By using recycled materials we save on energy consumption, which keeps

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

Ocean Pollution in the coral reef includes many factors, one being factory runoff. Factories often dump a variety of chemicals and toxins into the water. The water runoff enters once it has been irrigated and been through soil several times. The chemicals disposed of into the water is a major cause behind the decreasing amount of marine species. The toxins in the wastes are very deadly to any of the organisms in the ocean waters, killing a numerous amount of the creatures. The nutrients dumped into the oceans are very harmful to the survival and shelters of the

If we conserve and produce from already defined waste materials we can avoid toxic chemicals through manufacturing goods. Recycling helps slow down and control global warming. “One ton of grass results in energy savings of more than 300 percent and lowers carbon dioxide emissions by 346 tons.” Recycling reduces water pollutions, turning trees into paper is the most water-intensive industrial process in the United States. Paper recycling mills nearly always use less water and they don’t pollute the water nearly as much. Recycling can be fun. It’s good for our environment. (Who)

Oceans are very important factors in our environment. Our Earth is 71% water and 50%-80% of all life on Earth lives in that 71% water. The ocean also contains 99% of the living space on the planet. (“The Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch”). So as you can see, the water we have on Earth has a big purpose. Oceans are some families’ vacations and are admired for their beauty. They give us food, transportation, and even oxygen, but what do we do for the ocean? We pollute it.

Oceanic plastic pollution is a major issue within the modern study of marine biology. The main focus of many studies about oceanic pollution are within the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Ocean holds much of the plastic pollution due to its location near costal countries along with being the main transportation for many exported goods. This topic has sparked interest because of the rapid growth of this problem will affect many within one’s life time along with changing oceanic life. Oceanic plastic pollution is complex and in order to help prevent and fix this pollution education is the key.

According to National Geographic, “there are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris in the ocean. Of that mass, 269,000 tons float on the surface, while some four billion plastic microfibers per square kilometer litter the deep sea” (Parker, 2015). Due to plastic is a hard degrade material and could easily be eat by animals accidentally, all of these waste could cause enormous harm for the marine ecosystem. The ocean pollution cause by human waste dumping is an ongoing event. Unless people could find another plant dump their waste, they would keep pouring useless things into the ocean. Flow with the ocean currents, wastes could float to anywhere on the earth, and all the marine species might be affected by it.

Everyday people throw away plastic that can easily be recycled. Recycling is an easy process and can save the environment money and energy. By recycling earth will be a cleaner and less polluted. Actions taken by recycling have benefited many other countries. Recycling should be a must in every state.

The world population is living, working, vacationing, increasingly conglomerating along the coasts, and standing on the front row of the greatest, most unprecedented, plastic waste tide ever faced. So, this is an opportunity to learn about the ocean from a big experiment that has already been put in place by humans. Over the last several decades, human activities have so altered the basic chemistry of the seas that they are now experiencing evolution in reverse: a return to the barren primeval waters of hundreds of millions of years ago.