What Is Ocean Pollution

The problem of ocean pollution is getting worse today. Ocean pollution is a pollution that happens in the ocean, which comes from waste, trash, and chemicals that mostly originated from land. This pollution results in damaging the ocean environment and ecosystem, and even the global economic system. The reasons for ocean pollution are numerous. All the data point to one thing: people are responsible for the majority of the pollution that enters our oceans from land. Here are a few of major causes of marine pollution:

• The Trash

All man made items that wind up in the water, the majority of which are made of plastic, are considered marine garbage. This debris, which comes from sources on land in 80 percent of cases, accumulates as a result of littering, storm gusts, and poor waste management. Numerous plastic goods, such as shopping bags and beverage bottles, together with cigarette butts, bottle caps, food wrappers, and fishing equipment are examples of common maritime garbage. Being such a persistent contaminant, plastic waste is particularly harmful. Decomposition of plastic products might take hundreds of years.

• Chemical Contamination

Chemical contamination, often known as nutrient pollution, is problematic for the environment, human health, and the economy. This kind of pollution happens when human activities, particularly the application of fertilizer on farms, cause chemical runoff into waterways that eventually empty into the ocean. Algal blooms are encouraged by the elevated levels of chemicals in the coastal water, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, which can be hazardous to wildlife and dangerous to humans. Algal blooms have a severe impact on the ecosystem and human health, which hurts the local fishing and tourism sectors.

• Ocean noise and offshore drilling

Ocean noise is the sonar wave that comes from ships and the oil spills that came from the oil and gas industry’s routine operations, can leads to thousands of spills in the ocean waters annually, also air guns used for marine oil and gas development are loud enough to disturb humpback whales up to 3 kilometers away, potentially altering their migratory patterns. Loud noises, which may efficiently travel tens of kilometers underwater, are disturbing for communication of whales.

Our oceans' future depends on more than just the government or business. Our everyday, individual activities are also important. You can start by lowering your household's water pollution and runoff, being more conscientious about how much plastic you consume, or organizing a cleanup of a nearby waterway.

References;

Marine Pollution | National Geographic Society. (n.d.). Retrieved September 13, 2022, from https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/marine-pollution/

Noise From Offshore Oil and Gas Surveys Can Affect Whales up to 3km Away. (2017, August 17). Retrieved September 13, 2022, from https://theconversation.com/noise-from-offshore-oil-and-gas-surveys-can-affect-whales-up-to-3km-away-82646

Ocean Pollution: The Dirty Facts. (n.d.). Retrieved September 13, 2022, from https://www.nrdc.org/stories/ocean-pollution-dirty-facts