Cause And Repercussions Of Ocean Pollution

Ocean pollution or marine pollution is the dissemination of hazardous and potentially damaging substances such as oil, plastic, industrial and agricultural waste and chemical particles into the ocean(Conserve-Energy-Future, 2014). The few major culprits to this major issue would include:

1.    Large Scale Oil Spills and ocean mining: Ship pollution and ocean mining especially that done by oil rigs is a very publicized and known source of ocean pollution, the most common of which being oil spills. Crude oil lasts for years in the sea and is extremely toxic to marine life, often suffocating marine animals to death once it entraps them. Crude oil is also extremely difficult to clean up. Ocean mining increases the chance of leaking, corrosion and oil spills that only drastically further hinder the ecosystem of the region.

2.    Littering: This occurs when objects that are far inland are blown by the wind or just dumped into the sea by humans. These objects natural waste such as dust and sand from the wind, to man-made objects such as debris and trash. Most debris, especially plastic debris, cannot decompose and remains suspended in the oceans current for years. Animals can become snagged on the plastic or mistake it for food, slowly killing them over a long period of time.

Impact of pollution

When ocean pollution comes to mind the main victim of this is mostly the ocean ecosystem ad that the first thing that comes to mind but the effects of ocean pollution runs much deeper than that. To put it into perspective, an estimated 3 out of 7 billion people rely on seafood as their primary source of protein(Conservation International, 2016) and if the ocean is polluted, these 3 billion people will either starve or be faced with health ailments. Another fact is 44% of the world’s population live within 150 km from the sea(Coastal Challenges . com, 2010). So a polluted ocean will affect the lives of approximately 3 billion and 80 million people in the world. From an economic viewpoint,  the ocean is worth an estimated US$ 24 trillion in monetary terms(Milman, 2015) . So when an ocean is polluted and it’s not taken care of, it’s not only the fishermen who will feel the pinch, the whole world will feel the heat when things spiral out of hand.
references

1. Conserve-Energy-Future. (2014). Causes and Effects of Ocean Pollution - Conserve Energy Future. [online] Available at: http://www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-and-effects-of-ocean-pollution.php [Accessed 28 Sep. 2016].
2. Conservation International. (2016). Home. [online] Available at: http://www.conservation.org/ [Accessed 28 Sep. 2016].
3. Milman, O. (2015). Oceans are world's seventh largest economy worth $24tn, says WWF report. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2015/apr/23/oceans-are-worlds-seventh-largest-economy-worth-24tn-says-wwf-report [Accessed 28 Sep. 2016].
4. Coastal Challenges . com. (2010). UN Atlas: 44 percent of us live in coastal areas. [online] Available at: https://coastalchallenges.com/2010/01/31/un-atlas-60-of-us-live-in-the-coastal-areas/ [Accessed 28 Sep. 2016].

Written by: Benjamin Huang Hong Liang