In my last blog post, I talked about how the oceans are dying all over the globe. So thought of discussing about marine pollution in the next post in detail. Hopefully, my readers will somewhat agree with me, at least on few points.
What is marine pollution?
Marine pollution occurs in the seas and oceans when the industrial, residential or agricultural wastes are going into the sea/ocean water and increasing the level of carbon dioxide and other harmful chemicals. A major portion of these marine pollution is coming from the land. River water, canals and sewages from various areas are carrying plastics, rotten food items, cotton and many other things which are not dissolvable in the water. Marine pollution can easily be categorised in marine debris, plastic pollution (consists of micro plastics, water acidification, nutrient pollution, toxins) and last but not he least underwater noise.
Reasons for increasing marine pollution
Many of us might agree with the following reasons:
1. Intentional discharge from the sea going vessels and submarines are highly responsible for marine pollution.
2. Sometimes, sea going vessels carry a huge amount of crude oil and that spills into the ocean water due to some sort of accidents/crisis. That increases the marine pollution at a high speed and difficult to control at that moment.
3. Littering the unnecessary pollutants in the ocean water is another major reason for increasing marine pollution. Plastics, rotten food items, dead animals and so on flows and mixes with the ocean water.
Effects of marine pollution
As I mentioned the reasons for increasing marine pollution, effects are also evident. These effects create a ripple-effect and damaging the marine ecosystem badly.
1. It’s harmful for the marine animals and plants. Pollution in any form is dangerous for the marine flora and fauna.
2. Oxygen level is decreasing at a higher rate in ocean/sea water by every passing day. That’s why the level of oxygen is no longer high on the planet.
3. Because of the various pollutants in the ocean water, the fishes and shell fishes are also dying. Fishes consume the pollutants and when humans or other animals eat the same fishes they also indirectly consume the same pollutants.
So what do we do to reduce the marine pollution?
So now, the million dollar question is, what do we do to reduce the marine pollution across the planet? The number of humans are not going to reduce any time soon, so we need to change our habits and outlook towards the planet. We need to focus more on refining our choices. Instead of using plastic bottles and packets to carry stuffs, we need to use glass bottles and cotton or jute carry bags with us to the supermarkets.
We can also separate our dustbins for wet waste and dry waste. Mixing up both will not be of any use at all. Separation of garbage is helpful because the wet and dry waste can be processed and recycled easily. If the ships and submarines can control their waste disposal into the sea/ocean water then it will be a big help. You can stop littering at the beaches. Beaches are the places where people throw a lot of garbage without giving a second thought. If you can control this, then off course it will be a big help. Follow “catch and release” process for the fish in the oceans, that will increase the number of fish and will keep the marine ecosystem in balance.
