Pollution's Effect on Humans and Marine Life

Two of every three parts of the Earth’s surface is made up of oceans and seas. This makes beaches, palm trees, and warm sands the biggest tourist attractions in the world. For vacation, most people's first choice is to go to the beach. Millions of families travel to the ocean for vacation every year, and still don’t realize the impact pollution takes on the earth. The amount of pollution that goes into the ocean is affecting the wellness of humans and it also affects their lifestyle. The pollution not only affects humans but also marine animals, which are being impacted by the large amount of chemicals and trash put into the ocean. There are measures that can help decrease the amount of pollution produced along with some that are taking place right now.

The ocean provides a very important role in human and marine life. For example, it provides over 70 percent of the oxygen we breathe and contains over 97 percent of the earth’s water supply (Dilevics 2). All surface life depends on the wellness of the ocean, so without the oxygen oceans produce, humans could not survive (Lloyd-Smith 8). Most human activities generate pollutants that always find their way back into the oceans. Studies show that the ocean is under attack from natural resources and the amount of man made pollution that has gone in the ocean. In 2007, 2.1 million tons of waste and plastic was dumped into our planet’s ocean. (Dilevics 5). Chemicals and plastic enter the marine environment from waterways such as rivers and canals, or by direct disposal into the ocean (Lloyd-Smith 4). Pollution can affect humans everyday life in many ways. For instance, if a person were to ingest some of the oceans polluted water, they can get really sick and it can cause symptoms such as stomach aches, diarrhoea, and rashes. The most toxic metal found in water is mercury. Mercury can cause Parkinsons, Alzheimer’s, and countless heart diseases (Dilevics 9). Other heavy metals, pesticides, and leads can also contaminate water supplies and food chains. These metals can cause kidney and nerve problems and reproductive and hormonal problems (Dilevics 6). Not only does pollutants and chemicals in the water affect the way we live, it also completely changes the life of aquatic animals.

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The pollution in the ocean is taking a huge impact on the way marine animals are having to live. Everyday, the oceans natural resources are suffering from man made pollution and threats to ocean environments have been increasing dramatically. Since mid-century, humans have witnessed the spread of pollution in coastal waters (Dudley 72). Ocean pollution began because at one point people believed that the enormousness of the ocean could dilute and break down all of the pollutants enough to eliminate it all (Pollution 2). Unlike organic objects and matter, plastic items can travel thousands of miles over years in oceans and currents without breaking down. Some humans even today know the effect that pollution takes on our world and haven’t done anything about it. 30 percent of CO2 emissions produced by humans are absorbed by oceans (Dilevics 4). Humans have added pollutants like chemicals, spilled oil, garbage, plastic, and used fishing nets into the ocean. Young seals and other small animals often when they are playing, slip their heads through circular, small objects like plastic or rope, which can as they grow cause severe injury and in most cases death. More and more fish are dying because of the unclean oceans, causing sea lions and many other species to starve and have no food. Oil is another big pollutant that humans are adding to the ocean. There are countless activities that humans are involved in that start with using oil. Each year, 12 percent of oil that enters the ocean is from oil spills (Dilevics 7). Having no fish in the ocean changes the food chain for us and for marine animals (Stone 20). Coastal seafood shops and restaurants will soon begin to suffer if humans do not do anything about the pollution in the ocean.

Over these past couple of years, people have begun to notice the impact that pollution takes on both human and marine life. Conservationists and different organizations have decided to help out and start creating solutions to better our lives. The global ocean is estimated to be home to one million different species, most of them still not named (Lloyd-Smith 9). With so much of our ocean still unexplored, there is so much left out there for us to discover. Study’s show, as near as the year 2050 the world’s population will be expected to reach 9.7 billion and the current amount of plastic and pollution in the oceans can not be sustained. As pollution continues to take over our earth’s water, we will soon not be able to discover new things. Recently, people have begun to realize that our oceans need help. The approach to pollution management is failing to protect the oceans because there is only a certain amount of water on earth and only so much pollution the ocean can dilute over time (Lloyd-Smith 5). There are natural pollutants and debris such as volcanic ash and floating vegetation that are good for our oceans and do not cause damage. When we add non-natural substances like manade plastic and non-biodegradable items to our ocean, we are slowly killing our ocean, which in return is slowly killing us. Even though the exact rate of increase is still unknown it is still reasonable for specialists to assume that the total amount of added pollution has dramatically increased over the past decades (Anderson 9). The new technology of today's society has helped out our oceans tremendously. The more technology advances the faster we can help take care of our earth and oceans. Scientists have discovered ways to eliminate a good majority or pollution and debris. For instance, “scrubbers” have been installed to help reduce pollutants that are added to air and water (Pollution 2). Non profit organizations have also come up with different strategies to raise awareness to help express the seriousness the effects of ocean contamination are (Anderson 10). Even though there have been many groups recently starting to raise money and awareness for ocean pollution, we still need more help. Pollution will not decrease by itself, this is why we need to come together to create more efficient ways to better our oceans for us and for marine life. As the ocean takes up the majority of our earth, reducing the amount of debris and pollutants will not be easy. Practicing recycling and healthy habits is essential for us to do continuously in order to decrease the waste that the recent decade has added (Anderson 66).

In conclusion it is important to know how pollution affects the ocean and how we can prevent the spread of pollution. The pollution can cause harm and damage to the health of people by infecting the food we eat that causes major health problems. Along with humans marine life is also negatively affected by the pollution and suffers from the damages that humans cause. Lastly, even though pollution is a real problem that can cause a lot of damage, there are ways of helping and stopping pollution; such as raising awareness of the seriousness of the problem and new technologies that can help reduce pollution by creating more biodegradable items.