The Effects Of Ocean Pollution On The Marine Ecosystem

Our oceans are vast and they are some of the most mysterious and diverse places on earth. They provide food and shelter for countless organisms, they also provide a key factor to life; water. Unfortunately, pollution is dangering Marine life and slowly destroying the oceanic ecosystem. We have always had this notion that because of the sheer size of the ocean, that dumping our trash and other toxins into the sea would have no major consequences. As we have seen, that is entirely inaccurate. Oil spills, floating trash, toxic spills are just some of the various factors that contribute to the pollution of the oceans (Heimbuch, 2009).

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.

Pollution of the ocean is widely seen all around. The litter comes in so many very different forms that are almost terrifying. It ranges from a cigarette to a 4,000-pound fishing net (Franc, 2013). Medical waste such as needles were even noticed in New York and New Jersey in 1988. The world’s merchant shipping fleet in 1975 was blamed for 85% of 14 billion pounds of garbage dumped into the sea (Amaral, n.d.). Out of all of the garbage and waste in the ocean it is said that more than 80% of the garbage in the ocean comes from land alone (Mosbergen, 2017). In just one hour, nine minutes, and 44 seconds, a very large number of 2,877,783 pounds of plastic has entered the ocean (Leeson & Elliot, 2016). Today after all of the dumping that goes on there are over 25 trillion pieces of plastic inside of the ocean. While that is a large number, only 269,000 tons can be seen afloat the water (“Ocean Pollution: 14 Facts that will Blow Your Mind,” 2017). The easier way of explaining just how much waste enters our ocean would be just to say “too much,” but to be exact, in 2007 2.12 billion tons of garbage enter the ocean and just three years later in 2010, 215 million metric tons of plastic entered the ocean (Lonne, 2016). In 2006 the United Nations Environment Program did an experiment on how much plastic there was every square mile of the ocean. They ended up estimating about 46,000 pieces of plastic every square mile (“Facts and Figures on Marine Pollution,” 2017). In the Northern Pacific Ocean lies the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It is said to be about seven million square miles (“Marine Debris Impacts,” n.d.). Plastic accounts for about 70% of all the litter in the ocean and can take a very short time or a very long time

A huge problem faced today in the world today is the on going issue of ocean pollution. In fact, over 1.4 billion pounds of waste is dumped into the ocean every year. Although our oceans have been polluted for thousands of years, researchers say that in the past few centuries’ pollution has risen at an alarming rate. Between trash, chemical waste, sewage, and oil spills, ocean ecosystems have seen a serious decline in habitat and wildlife. The next ten years will be very important for cleaning up our oceans and sustaining wildlife and plant life in the pelagic zones.

There has been a warning that there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish by 2050 unless drastic action is taken now. What research has said is about eight million tons of plastic goes in the ocean every year. Some of this plastic pollution collects in five areas where currents join together, called the gyres. There is six times more plastic than zooplankton in these five ocean garbage patches. And one of the areas, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a large kinda dissolved island full of waste, filled with plastic that has been thrown away.

To begin with, plastic is one of the main causes of loss in marine life. “Ocean pollution comes in many forms, but the largest affecting the oceans

Have you ever really thought about pollution impacting sea life, well I have and this is what people think. Sadly many animals die a slow painful death due to ocean pollution. It doesn’t even stop their, it doesn’t just affect the sea life it also affects the birds when they get stuck in oil spills or somehow they meet up with plastic. Ocean Pollution is having a negative effect on sea life because of plastics in trash, oil spills, and ocean mining.

Ocean pollution is one of the most urgent issues in our world today. The ocean is crucial to our ecosystem and it is being severely damaged at an alarmingly increasing rate. In this paper I will educate about the role the ocean plays in our beautiful Earth, why it is being so widely ignored and dismissed, the causes of pollution, and its effects on animals and humans alike.

These effects are particular with the environment and a number of pollutions are present including air, water, industrial, carbon, and marine pollutions. All these pollutions have a varying degree of effects in their particular environments. The essay is focused to investigate causes of marine pollution and its effects on the sea life. The solutions are also provided to mitigate the effects of marine pollution.

Pollution in the oceans, though not commonly known to humans, creates serious problems in our environment. Oil spills, plastic, garbage, and sewage combine together to form the major problem known as pollution. Coral reefs begin to disappear as a result of ocean pollution and many other factors. Carbon dioxide levels increase as greenhouses release gases into the air. As pollution continues to grow and become much worse, organizations create new laws to help reduce or end some of the major problems in our seas.

Biodiversity refers the existing variations present which form an ecosystem enabling human survival. However, the alteration of the world habitat has caused a shift in biodiversity. The role of ecologists is to ensure that there is no extinction of various species in the world due to reckless human behaviour. The maritime environment is among the worst hit areas as human activity creates an imbalance in the water levels. Factors such as dumping of human waste consisting of non-biodegradable materials are a causative factor for the possible mass extinction of marine plants and animals (Galgani et al. 45). Oil spills, overfishing, and shipping activities are further causes of adverse effects experienced. Human activity has over the years resulted in drastic climatic changes.

When the discussion about pollution rises, the first thought that comes to people’s minds is the long-debated topic of air pollution from greenhouse gases. Certainly, this type of pollution will have a critical impact on the future of Earth’s ability to sustain life, but the widespread discussion on this one specific type of pollution has also masked necessary discussions on some seldom mentioned types of pollution which will be detrimental to the future of some of Earth’s life. One example of the various other forms of pollution is a kind which has existed for less than a century, yet it now greatly plagues a significant portion of the Earth: plastic pollution in the oceans. Although it may seem that this issue only endangers the health of marine life, plastic pollution is also harmful to all the species higher up in the food chain including humans. If not properly addressed, then plastic pollution will lead to a rise of significant health issues for both ocean life and humans as the issue escalates in the coming decades.

Oceanic pollution has many elements that define it and varies sources contribute this problem. Complexity of this type of pollution can best be defined by The National Research Council within their research Tackling Marine Debris in the 21st Century:

The marine ecosystems are located in the Atlantic, Pacific, Indian, and the Arctic oceans. The National Geographic provides information about different types of marine ecosystems. Some types of ecosystems include:salt marshes, lagoons, deep sea, sea floor, mangroves, coral reefs, intertidal zones, and estuaries. The marine ecosystems are being polluted greatly and the effects are frightening. Pollution is a global problem, it does not just affect the marine ecosystems it also affects humans. The National Geographic lists the forms of contamination that are affecting the marine population through noise, light, air, water, and pollution on land. Noise pollution consists of loud, disruptive noises which can be extremely dangerous for marine animals, It prevents them from being able to communicate or find food. Light pollution is when there light at night this can confuse nocturnal animals into staying awake during the day and diurnal animals into staying up at night.Their

The ocean is an important part of the earth, and oceans account for 70% of the Earth’s surface area. However, the ocean pollution has some negative effects on our lives. For example, ocean pollution kills the marine organisms and even changes the weather. Ocean pollution affects many aspects, and this research paper will talk about the effects on economy. In general, the ocean pollution has the negative effects on tourism, fishery and human health.