Mid-term Project: Ocean Activities Humans are killing the oceans, or are they? There are many opposing viewpoints to the controversial topic of human activities effects on the oceans and its ecosystem being displayed on social media. According to Louise Gerdes the author of Endangered Oceans: Opposing Viewpoints It is not difficult to find different opinions (9). There are many different outputs of media that have different points of view and it can be extraordinarily difficult in deciding which opinion to agree with and which experts seem the most credible (9). With so many concepts, various articles, and so much research out there it is hard to get a strong informed opinion about how human activity is or is not effecting the ocean and its ecosystem. Endangered Oceans: Opposing Viewpoints; goal is to help the average reader form an educated opinion or to help strengthen the opinion of the average reader by supplying opposing views in articles about the topic written by credible people. According to Louise Gerdes all of the articles used in Endangered Oceans: Opposing Viewpoints have credible authors. Two of the articles that stand out are “Human Activities Threaten the World’s Oceans and Coastal Regions” by Anne Platt McGinn who is a senior researcher for the World watch Institute (19) and the article “Human Efforts Are Improving the Condition of the World’s Oceans and Coastal Regions” by Frank E. Loy who is under-secretary for Global Affairs, U.S. Department of state (28).
In Colin Woodard’s “Ocean’s End: Travels Through Endangered Seas”, major environmental problems facing our planet are exposed. Woodard exposes the creation of dead zones from pollution, the killing of our coral reefs and the negative effects of the rise of sea-levels. The common theme throughout this book is the dark fate of Oceans and marine life as we know it. Although it may seem like our bodies of water are limitless, vast, and indestructible, they are not. In fact they are vulnerable, and we as humans are destroying them daily through our reckless actions. Major sources of the depletion of our oceans is constant pollution, global warming, and harmful fishing practices.
People are polluting the oceans which not only affects us but also affects the beautiful underwater habitats and interesting sea creatures. Two billion people within 30 miles of the coast create 100 metric tons of coastal plastic waste (Doc.1). This plastic waste can get caught around sea animals, injuring them or even killing them (OI). Oils spills can really hurt marine life (Doc.2). Some creatures could eat it or get covered in it. If the fish eats the oil and then someone or something eats the fish they could get extremely ill. When there are excess nutrients in the water algal blooms occur, which is when algae has too many nutrients and reproduces in large numbers, this can also hurt people (OI). For these reasons and many more we should
Human impacts on the marine environment have increased a lot over the years as we have become more advanced in out technology and devices. Littering, recreational activities and over fishing are just some of the major impacts that have taken a toll on the ocean. Scientists have said that the man made pollutions have put extra stress on the already endangered or threatened species.
The World is Blue by Sylvia Earle brings light to the problems surrounding humans and the damage they have inflicted onto the ocean. Although water is present throughout the universe, the Earth is lucky to have water in it's liquid form. For this reason, the blueness of the Earth makes it stand out from the rest of the other planets in the solar system. The oceans plays an important role in providing life, transportation of goods, and, of course, abundance of natural resources and living creatures that humans depend on. However, the vastness of the ocean has always given the impression that it's contents and populations are boundless. This underlying ideology has lead to actions such as the dumping of waste and the hunting of marine life that has forever changed the ocean. Although the detriment cannot be reversed, environmentalist have taken action to reduce the anthropogenic impact on the ocean. From designating parts of the ocean as reserves so that the wildlife can have a safe spot to regrow their population to simply changing the type of fishes that can be consumed, efforts to saving the ocean show strong potential.
The alluring azure ocean, the brisk ocean waves, the lemon yellow sand all show a paradisiac view of the Tasman Sea in Australia. However looks are deceiving. Walking 20 feet from the shoreline, a nauseous view disrupts the majestic scene. I see a plethora of dirty Poland Spring water bottles on the shore. An ash colored seabird lies with a murky bag over its head, lifeless. The dead sea bird was doomed to die of human waste because plastic is being dumped in the oceans and slaying marine life.
The ocean is two-thirds of our planet a vast blue landscape home to many biomes which according to Boyce Thorne-Miller “(ecosystem types) corresponding to sets of environmental conditions that vary with depth, latitude, and longitude” (16). However, the ocean and its biomes is under attack from the changing environment. We can see this through coral reef biomes as they make their home near the shores. Through coral reefs we can view the effects that these changes have on the ocean through how the coral reef biome is affected. Humans are a danger to the coral reefs and the wildlife that resides in the biome. The pollution being released into the environment is poisoning the coral and causes death and malformation to the wildlife. The ocean is changing due to global warming which is causing a change in the temperature and rising water levels leading to a change in the stabile areas coral can survive. The increasing acidification of the ocean is causing the coral reefs to die. I will be looking at the effects these issues cause to coral reefs biomes and the ocean to see the similarities in how they affect both.
Earth's oceans are dying. “About 80% of the ocean around the world is polluted with chemicals industrial and residential waste, all of which comes from the land” (“Marine Problems…”). Pollution is mainly coming from the people. Marine pollution should be stopped because it is the cause of many problems and if something is done about it, people will see an increase in sea life and healthier waters. It makes its way into the ocean and kills marine life. Ocean pollution is affecting the way of fisherman and their everyday lives. It is also very bad on the community because pollution is very bad on tourism. Ocean pollution should be stopped because it is poorly affecting marine life, it is not good for fishermen, and is very bad on tourism.
In 2009, Dr. Sylvia Earle wrote The World is Blue to educate and alert the reader about human impacts on marine ecosystems. Through this book she conveys her passion and methodical arguments concerning the importance of the conservation of the ocean, which encompasses approximately 80 percent of the earth’s surface. Dr. Earle states “the ocean touches you with every breath you take, every drop of water you drink, every bite you consume” (17). This statement emphasizes the significance of the ocean, not only for marine life, but all life forms on earth. The book implies that currently in today’s world, the conservation of the ocean requires a global effort to reduce human damage from the past generations. Using facts gleaned from credible scientific resources, she defines the problems of overfishing, bycatch, and pollution. By analyzing human impacts on marine ecosystems, Dr. Earle determines successful and unsuccessful solutions to these problems and suggests various ways individuals can change their lifestyles to reduce impact on the environment as a whole.
All life on this planet needs water and about 71% of Earth is covered by oceans. These two facts alone are important enough to warrant extra care towards the oceans. Yet, the opposite is happening; the oceans that are so depended on by every human society – from small tribes to big cities – are being devastated recklessly. The Sant Ocean
The oceans face many types of pollution every day, every second. The ocean is our greatest ecosystem and out most valuable resource. A common misconception is that the rainforests are the lungs of the planet however, the majority of our oxygen is made via the algae in the sea. The oceans feeds, hydrates, and provides us with oxygen; ironically enough, despite its monetary value to mankind, it is what is treated the worst. For ages we have been dumping our trash, chemicals, and waste into the oceans with no fear or regret, almost an “out of sight- out of mind” mentality. People once and still assume that the oceans are so vast that all of the pollution is diluted and would be dispersed through out, going unnoticed. However, dilution is a myth and an idea that renders ocean dumping to be less impactful. Even so much of the man made pollution is becoming even more concentrated and have entered our natural food chain. However vast the waters of the ocean are, they are not meant to house all of these external factors. There are many alternatives to marine pollution including recycling, finding alternative trash dump sites, cutting down on harmful chemicals for agriculture, and most importantly having the ability to recognize when a problem is developing and counter act, immediately.
Historically, oceans had enough marine life to feed a growing population, which at first, could handle human consumption until an increase in overfishing led to many species not being replenished. In fact, the demands of an ever-increasing population, particularly in poorer U.S. and Vietnam areas, has now over stripped the sustainable yield of the seas along with technological innovation.
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.
The ocean it covers over 70 percent of the earth’s surface and more than 500 million people go to its surface during the summer yet we have not seen 95 percent of the surface in detail. This is where oceaogahers come into play. An oceanographer is someone who studies the ocean whether it is to find a pocket of oil deep in the ocean or to find new species of fish deep down in the sea or the migratory patterns of fish for fishermen to be able to catch that type of fish all year.
Everything in this world we use comes from the ocean in some way. The air we breathe, the water we drink, even the products we use day to day, would not be possible without the ocean. That's why the issue of ocean pollution is so important and needs to be addressed as soon as possible. We depend on the ocean for so much in our life, without it we would surely become extinct. People seem to think that since the ocean is so large and vast, we can dump as much waste as we'd like into it and it will never have an effect on us. However, since we've been polluting the ocean as far back as Roman times, the evidence of ocean pollution becoming a major problem is all too clear.
In addition to carbon dioxide levels and surface temperatures, oceans also provide scientists with evidence of climate change. Oceans play a major role in climate change because they absorb almost all (90% from 1971-2010) of the energy increase in the climate system (“Summary”, 2013, p. 8). Scientists are confident that ocean surface temperatures have increased since the beginning of industrialization (“Summary”, 2013, p. 8) and that humans have contributed to this ocean warming (“Summary”, 2013, p. 17). From 1971-2010, ocean surface temperatures have increased approximately 0.4-0.5°C and are projected to increase by 0.3-2.0°C by 2100 (“Summary”, 2013, p. 8). However, temperature is not the only effect of climate change on oceans; other