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Since mankind existed, humans have taken advantage of many landscapes such as the ocean, killing animals and resources produced for survival. Humans have made the costly mistake of taking the earth for granted as they believe the earth also needs humans. Humans are altering Earth’s natural landscapes so radically that as many plant and animal species are now at risk of extinction. According to Brad Pulmer, writer for the New York Times, overdoing agriculture activities such as farming, logging, poaching, fishing, and mining are affecting the abundance of native plant and animal life and landscapes such as the savannas of Africa and the rain forests of South America (Pulmer). As vehicles, factories, planes, and power plants are run by burning fossil fuels, when they’re being used, they contaminate the air by damaging greenhouse gases. Pulmer also related that the population has increased dramatically in the last 20 years, as a result, more resources have to be produced, therefore, more animals have to be killed (Pulmer). Humans’ actions are being rebound adversely on them with global warming. Global warming has caused wildlife decline, ocean pollution, and extreme weather temperatures. Global Warming is an issue reasonable people address by stopping chemicals and trash disposal into the ocean as more plastic is recycled, less endangered aquatic creatures and cleaner landscapes justify it.
There are many solutions how to solve global warming, but the most powerful solution to reverse this catastrophe comes from cleaning the ocean. As stated by Andrew Dilevics in his article, the ocean plays a big role in humans’ survival as seventy percent of the oxygen that is breathed comes from marine plants, it provides humans food, jobs, life, and sailing and its sea creatures protect humans from many natural disasters. The sea provides not only marine life but also regulates our climate. It absorbs the heat and transports warm water from the equator to the poles, and cold water from the poles to the tropics (Dilevics). Unfortunately, chemicals and trash are always flowing naturally in rivers or entering the ocean on purpose from industrial sources. With the sea being contaminated, it affects the sea absorbing the heat and as a result, the weather could be extreme in some regions, and fewer places would be habitable. As reported by Dr. Brown Lee, an example is the melting glaciers which are reducing the distribution, thickness, and permanency of ice sheets and driving the thinning and retreat of many mountain glaciers (Lee). The toxic chemicals are a threat to humans if they are exposed to them for a long time and also a danger to animals as they could inherit them. Animals such as sea turtles, inherit plastic bags as they look very similar to jellyfish. It was thought that the effects of endless trash and chemical disposal into the ocean and marine life were trivial as the ocean is greatly massive and deep. Small changes could have a bigger impact in the long run such as not throwing trash into the ocean or simply recycling plastic, most of the landfills, chemicals, and greenhouse gases would be avoided.
Plastic is the material that affects the ocean the most as it decomposes after a thousand years, is not biodegradable, and is never completely absorbed by the environment. Plastic is mainly used for containers, bottles, drums, trays, boxes, cups, vending and protection packaging, and baby products. Unfortunately, Charles Grosenick, an environmentalist, related that around fifty percent of the plastic produced yearly is only used once before being disposed of and about thirty tons end up in the ocean every year (Grosenick). Plastic bags are the most harmful plastic objects as they’re fabricated with nonylphenol, a chemical that can lead to diseases such as obesity, and breast cancer, and affects pregnant women and fetuses. When plastic is not fully absorbed, they are turned into microbeads and they’re most likely to be everywhere in the air and the ocean. The only way to get rid of plastics is to downcycle them into other plastic products. Grosenick also mentioned that burning plastic bags releases harmful gases, including carbon dioxide, carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, and dioxins (Grosenick).
There’s always trash and chemicals such as oil, mercury, and pesticides flowing through the ocean and are inherited by animals which could die from toxins accumulation. According to the online newspaper Seattle Post-Intelligencer writer, Flora Richards-Gustafson, when pollution is lethal or toxic to animals, the deaths of those animals impact the diversity of an ecosystem. The death of even the smallest organisms in an environment can make a big impact (Gustafson). Some rapidly break down into harmless substances in the environment but heavy metals such as mercury, lead, and silver are lasting and stay in the environment and do not break down.
When a small fish inherits mercury, it stays concentrated inside until a larger fish comes and eats it and is later caught by humans and damages their nervous and reproductive systems. Gustafson maintained that when an animal species dies because of exposure to a pollutant, food may become scarce for another species. When biomagnifications affect a food web, the animals on the upper tiers tend to eat and store more pollutants (Gustafson). Unluckily, sea animals are more likely to die first from toxin accumulation and suffocation than getting caught by humans.
Sea turtles are the animals who seem to be the most affected by ocean pollution but more specifically from plastic. As stated sea turtles often mistake floating plastic garbage for food. They can choke, sustain internal injury and die or starve. Plastic can also create pockets of air in their gut, making diving difficult.
That’s because plastic can cause blockages in their intestines and even pierce the intestinal wall causing internal bleeding. When the plastic in the turtle’s stomach imitates the sensation of being full. Turtles then neglect to seek out other food sources and ultimately die from starvation. Unfortunately, sea turtles are not the only sea creatures at risk from ocean pollution
Coral reefs are in decline in the United States and around the world. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, as most coral reefs occur in shallow water near shore, they are particularly vulnerable to the effects of human activities, both through direct exploitation of reef resources, and through indirect impacts from adjacent human activities on land and in the coastal zone (EPA). When coral reefs disappear or are dissolved by ocean pollution, the lack of this natural barrier will enlarge the danger to coastal bodies from normal waves to violent floods and storms. Heavy metals such as mercury and lead are damaging coral reproduction, growth rate, feeding, and defensive responses against natural disasters.
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