“Our Oceans Are Turning into Plastic… Are We” “Our Oceans Are Turning into Plastic… Are We?” written by Susan Casey makes valid points about humans ruining our land we all call home. Captain Charles Moore traveled the sea more than he traveled on land.
A Case Study on Polluter’s Dilemma I. Background/Point of View On a small plastic manufacturing, Jonica Gunson works as an environmental compliance manager. The company where she is working with is now facing a serious situation that needs to have a fast and decisive decision, decision whether to invest or not to invest money on new technology that will help decrease or as possible eliminate the level of toxic in the water which is flowing from the back of the factory up to lake. Though the company is compliant with the levels of emissions set by the Environmental Management board, the manager sees that environmental procedures for this specific toxic are sheathing behind logical evidence, particularly that there is a protest from a certain scientist that is publish in the newspaper.
Everyday people buy plastic things from the cafeteria, from plastic containers, lids on cups, and things as small as straws, and like 50% of plastic used it will be thrown away after one use. However, do you ever stop and think, what happens to the plastic? If you’re thinking that it just magically goes away you 're wrong. It will most likely end up in a landfill somewhere or in the ocean, and as you may think that your actions do not impact the world, think again. Everyone in the world has at least used one piece of plastic, adding to the problem of plastic pollution and helping certifying the terrifying statisticc that acooording to the 2018 Earth day video, “by 2050 there will more plastic in the ocean than fish”, which almost is impossible to think of.
Marine organisms are animals, plants, and other living things that live in the ocean. A Marine biologist is a scientist who studies marine organisms and studies the bodies, behavior, and the history of marine organisms. They also study how marine organisms interact with each other and their environment. I have chosen to research about Marine biology because I would like to learn about sea life, the ocean, and its surrounding environment. To start off, a Marine biologist might study coral, crabs, fish, microscopic marine organisms, sea stars, seaweed, squid, or whales.
Do you know how much marine life dies each year from ocean pollution? “100 million marine animals die each year from plastic waste alone.” ( Ferries) Millions of marine animals are dying each year at an alarming rate. The population is going down more year by year and at some point some species might go extinct. Furthermore, according to Clean Water “Marine plastic pollution has impacted at least 267 species
Many organizations and corporations have been working for decades to prevent marine pollution. They have been leading trash pickups, spreading awareness on the issue, collecting data on the problem, and are pressuring lawmakers to make laws more environmentally friendly. One of the leading services supporting communities to make a change in marine pollution is the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, otherwise known as NOAA. NOAA has given states millions of dollars to help adapt to climate change and pollution. They also have an education plan to help do research on environmental issues, one being ocean pollution, and integrate this research into classrooms to get communities to understand the issues happening around them.
Abstract- Coral reefs make up a high percentage of the biodiversity found within the ocean. Countries that have coral reefs along their coastline greatly benefit economically from the use of coral reefs. The overuse of dive sites, land based pollution, destructive fishing, and climate change coral reefs have been steadily declining. The loss of coral reefs will be felt worldwide by a reduction in billions of dollars to the world’s gross domestic product.
Imagine what happens if we keep on polluting our planet? What happens to our future generation? Since plastic takes years to biodegrade, if we keep polluting our environment with plastic, then our future generation will suffer from the environment around them. It also means that plastic and other trash will continue polluting the ocean, which can cause thousands of sea animals to go extinct, providing us with less source of food. Not only sea animals, but animals all over the world might extinct or become endangered because of pollution.
According to world wildlife organisation, overfishing occurs when more fish are caught than the population can replace through natural reproduction. Gathering as many fish as possible may seem like a profitable practice, but overfishing has serious consequences. The results may not only affect the balance of life in the oceans, but also the social and economic well-being of the coastal communities who depend on fish for their way of life. According to the research world wildlife organisation, 1.6% of the world’s oceans have been declared as marine protected areas (MPAS), and 90% of existing MPAS are open to fishing.
The reason plastic is used in many products is because it can withstand up to tons of pressure per cm3, is cheap, is durable, and finally, there is no worry for discoloring. But these days, plastic is becoming a major problem the world has to deal with. Plastic is thrown into the ocean, and it is breaking down into very small pieces, and killing marine life, as they mistake those pieces to their prey. As a matter of fact, nearly all plastics are recyclable, but it 's the recycling companies ' machines that refuse to recycle that kind of plastic(eartheasy.com). I. Plastic, what have you done?
Water Pollution is a huge environmental problem that has serious effects on marine habitats, animals, and water quality. BP1: The world's marine habitat has been getting worse because of how bad the pollution has gotten. “ Over 80% of marine pollution comes from land based activities “ (source 5 ). This quote explains how most of the water pollution is caused by human activity. “ Plastic litter does not degrade, can be expected to last in the oceans for hundreds of years “ ( source 6 ).
Undeniably, fishing is a active source of employment and income for many communities globally. In many developing countries fish is an essential source of food security due to the poverty (Pelle, 2014). In addition to the ever-increasing worldwide demand for fish, overexploitation of fisheries is the order of the day. Moreover, numerous unwanted fish and sea animals die unnecessarily in the course of the fishing process annually. Thus, it is worth reiterating that unsustainable fishing is one of the biggest threats to sea animals and its continuation could possibly drive these species to near extinction.
One of the greatest issues that we face towards the environment has been an increasingly difficult problem over the last few years. Earths climate is changing at rapid paces and solutions are needed as quickly as possible to replenish natural ecosystems and cultures that depend on the environment. Climate change not only affects the animals in our ecosystem, but us humans as well. With the human population increasing every year, climate change is only getting worse. Many argue that the effects of climate change towards the environment are due to other extraneous factors, however, I myself am a strong believer that the problems such as rising sea levels, warmer temperatures and natural disasters are all due to both natural causes and human activity.
The ocean is nowadays undergoing numerous environmental issues that further lead to marine pollution. Marine pollution is a very serious environmental issue that most of the countries of the world encounter. Aquatic littering is considered as one of the major causes of marine environment. The misleading use of the marine environment is extremely impacting the marine life and ecosystems. Moreover, the total amount of toxins and debris discharged by human beings is incredibly increasing in today 's world.
The cleaning up of this pollution is very costly and placing a lot of strain on the economy. It is also pushing investors away as they see the effects of mining on South Africa’s environment and how its people are violated. Gold mining has been the back bone of South Africa’s economy and that of South Africa’s polluted environment and atmosphere. Soon it will be the back bone of South Africa’s high maintenance bill when it has to be clean up and the environment cannot handle any more polluting. Gold mining was not unethical but how it was handled was the unethical part.
