Ocean Pollution

Facts on Ocean Pollution Over 80% of the pollution in

the ocean is runoff from the Land

Almost 90% of all floating materials in the ocean are plastic

Marine debris, especially plastic, kills more than one million seabirds and 100,000 mammals and sea turtles every year

Dead Zones which are areas of oxygen deficient water were life ceases to exist, have increased drastically over the past decade.

Polluted by toxins

Polluted by garbage

Types Of Pollution

Oil Spills Fertilizers

Sewage Pipes Chemicals

Garbage Oceans

Plastic in Oceans

Oil Spills Oil spills have huge and immediate economic, social, and

environmental impacts. 

Local people lose their livelihoods as fisheries and tourism areas are temporarily closed; the clean up costs are enormous; and tens of thousands of marine animals and plants are killed or harmed.

And the damage goes on. The chemicals used to break up the oil can be toxic, and it's impossible to remove all the spilled oil. Even after an area has been cleaned up, it can take a decade or more to fully recover.

There's also the problem of the oil that goes down with the ship, which can contaminate the seabed and marine organisms.

This oil can also resurface. In 2001, a cyclone off the island of Yap in Micronesia disturbed the oil tanker USS Mississinewa, which was sunk during World War II. For two months, thousands of liters of oil and gasoline leaked out of the rusted ship wreck onto the beaches of the atoll, stopping the 700 islanders from fishing. There are hundreds of other shipwrecked tankers around the world.

Information on Oil Spills http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/OCEAN_PLANET

/HTML/peril_oil_pollution.html

http://www.noaawatch.gov/themes/oilspill.php

http://ocean.si.edu/gulf-oil-spill

Fertilizers Fertilizers that runoff from farms and lawns is a

huge problem for coastal areas. The extra nutrients cause Eutrophication.

The run off kills the Algae which depletes the water's dissolved oxygen and suffocate other marine life. 

 Eutrophication is the addition of artificial or natural substances, such as nitrates and phosphates, through fertilizers or sewage, to an aquatic system.

Eutrophication has created enormous dead zones in several parts of the world, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Baltic Sea

Information on Fertilizers http://www.organicconsumers.org/corp/ocean

s101104.cfm

http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=oceanic-dead-zones-spread

http://pubs.acs.org/cen/science/86/8613sci1.html

Sewage Pipes

In many parts of the world, sewage flows untreated, or under-treated, into the ocean. For example, 80% of urban sewage discharged into the Mediterranean Sea is untreated.

This sewage can also lead to eutrophication. In addition, it can cause human disease and lead to beach closures.Back to Polluted by toxins

Outside information on Sewage Pipes http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2010-11-01/h

ealth/fl-waste-outfall-broward-20101025_1_sewage-bills-reef-rescue-water-shortage

http://www.nytimes.com/1994/05/04/us/sewage-pipe-bursts-in-mexico-fouling-beaches-in-san-diego.html

http://www.reuters.com/article/2008/04/23/us-usa-florida-pollution-idUSN2230092520080423

Chemicals accumulate in organisms, becoming concentrated in their bodies and in the surrounding water or soil. These animals are in turn eaten by larger animals, which can travel large distances with an increased chemical load.

People become contaminated either directly from household products or by eating contaminated seafood and animal fats.

Evidence is mounting that a number of man-made chemicals can cause serious health problems - including cancer, damage to the immune system, behavioral problems, and reduced fertility.

Chemicals

Information on Chemical Toxins http://www.seaweb.org/resources/briefings/to

xic.php

http://seawifs.gsfc.nasa.gov/OCEAN_PLANET/HTML/peril_toxins.html

http://www.cleanoceanaction.org/index.php?id=117

http://org2.democracyinaction.org/o/6122/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=4342

Garbage Dump There are several garbage

oceans across the world but the biggest as large as the size of Texas is the Great Pacific Garbage Dump.

These Dumps Can be dangerous to out animal wildlife and eventually effect our fish that we would eat in that area.

Information on Garbage Dump http://science.howstuffworks.com/

environmental/earth/oceanography/great-pacific-garbage-patch.htm

http://discovermagazine.com/2008/jul/10-the-worlds-largest-dump

http://www.ecology.com/2008/08/14/pacific-plastic-waste-dump/

Plastic Unlike most other trash, plastic isn't biodegradable Sunlight does eventually break down the plastic, reducing it to smaller and smaller pieces, but that just makes matters worse. The plastic still never goes away, it just becomes microscopic and may be eaten by tiny marine organisms, entering the food chain.

The world produced 300 billion pounds of plastic each year, about 10% ends up in the ocean, 70% of which eventually sinks

Outside information on Plastic http://www.savemyoceans.com/plastics.php

http://www.plasticoceans.net/

http://www.whoi.edu/science/B/people/kamaral/plasticsarticle.html

http://www.seeturtles.org/1128/ocean-plastic.html