marine pollution essay

ENCYCLOPEDIC ENTRY

Marine pollution.

Marine pollution is a combination of chemicals and trash, most of which comes from land sources and is washed or blown into the ocean. This pollution results in damage to the environment, to the health of all organisms, and to economic structures worldwide.

Biology, Ecology, Earth Science, Oceanography

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• Marine Pollution (Google Doc)

Marine pollution is a growing problem in today’s world. Our ocean is being flooded with two main types of pollution: chemicals and trash.

Chemical contamination, or nutrient pollution, is concerning for health, environmental, and economic reasons. This type of pollution occurs when human activities, notably the use of fertilizer on farms, lead to the runoff of chemicals into waterways that ultimately flow into the ocean. The increased concentration of chemicals, such as nitrogen and phosphorus, in the coastal ocean promotes the growth of algal blooms , which can be toxic to wildlife and harmful to humans. The negative effects on health and the environment caused by algal blooms hurt local fishing and tourism industries.

Marine trash encompasses all manufactured products—most of them plastic —that end up in the ocean. Littering, storm winds, and poor waste management all contribute to the accumulation of this debris , 80 percent of which comes from sources on land. Common types of marine debris include various plastic items like shopping bags and beverage bottles, along with cigarette butts, bottle caps, food wrappers, and fishing gear. Plastic waste is particularly problematic as a pollutant because it is so long-lasting. Plastic items can take hundreds of years to decompose.

This trash poses dangers to both humans and animals. Fish become tangled and injured in the debris , and some animals mistake items like plastic bags for food and eat them. Small organisms feed on tiny bits of broken-down plastic , called micro plastic , and absorb the chemicals from the plastic into their tissues. Micro plastics are less than five millimeters (0.2 inches) in diameter and have been detected in a range of marine species, including plankton and whales. When small organisms that consume micro plastics are eaten by larger animals, the toxic chemicals then become part of their tissues. In this way, the micro plastic pollution migrates up the food chain , eventually becoming part of the food that humans eat.

Solutions for marine pollution include prevention and cleanup. Disposable and single-use plastic is abundantly used in today’s society, from shopping bags to shipping packaging to plastic bottles. Changing society’s approach to plastic use will be a long and economically challenging process. Cleanup, in contrast, may be impossible for some items. Many types of debris (including some plastics ) do not float, so they are lost deep in the ocean. Plastics that do float tend to collect in large “patches” in ocean gyres. The Pacific Garbage Patch is one example of such a collection, with plastics and micro plastics floating on and below the surface of swirling ocean currents between California and Hawaii in an area of about 1.6 million square kilometers (617,763 square miles), although its size is not fixed. These patches are less like islands of trash and, as the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration says, more like flecks of micro plastic pepper swirling around an ocean soup. Even some promising solutions are inadequate for combating marine pollution. So-called “ biodegradable ” plastics often break down only at temperatures higher than will ever be reached in the ocean.

Nonetheless, many countries are taking action. According to a 2018 report from the United Nations, more than sixty countries have enacted regulations to limit or ban the use of disposable plastic items. The National Geographic Society is making this content available under a Creative Commons CC-BY-NC-SA license . The License excludes the National Geographic Logo (meaning the words National Geographic + the Yellow Border Logo) and any images that are included as part of each content piece. For clarity the Logo and images may not be removed, altered, or changed in any way.

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74 Ocean Pollution Essay Topic Ideas & Examples

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Ocean Pollution - Essay Samples And Topic Ideas For Free

Ocean pollution poses a dire threat to marine ecosystems and human health, driven by activities such as plastic disposal, chemical pollution, and oil spills. Essays could delve into the myriad sources of ocean pollution, exploring the scale and impact of contaminants like plastic debris, heavy metals, and agricultural runoff on marine life and coastal communities. Discussions might extend to the various international and national initiatives aimed at mitigating ocean pollution, including legal frameworks, technological innovations, and community-led conservation efforts. The discourse may also touch on the challenges and prospects of curbing ocean pollution, analyzing the effectiveness of current measures, and proposing holistic strategies that encompass policy, education, and technological advancements to foster a more sustainable interaction with marine environments. We have collected a large number of free essay examples about Ocean Pollution you can find in Papersowl database. You can use our samples for inspiration to write your own essay, research paper, or just to explore a new topic for yourself.

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How To Write an Essay About Ocean Pollution

Understanding ocean pollution.

Before starting an essay about ocean pollution, it's essential to understand its causes, effects, and the current state of our oceans. Ocean pollution refers to the contamination of the oceans with harmful or potentially harmful materials, like plastic waste, chemicals, and untreated sewage. Begin your essay by outlining the major sources of ocean pollution, which include land-based sources like agricultural runoff, industrial discharges, and coastal activities, as well as ocean-based sources like oil spills and marine debris. Discuss the extent of the problem, highlighting key statistics and studies that reveal the severity of ocean pollution and its impact on marine ecosystems, wildlife, and human health.

Developing a Thesis Statement

A strong essay on ocean pollution should be anchored by a clear, focused thesis statement. This statement should present a specific viewpoint or argument about ocean pollution. For instance, you might discuss the long-term ecological impacts of plastic pollution, analyze the effectiveness of current policies and regulations in reducing ocean pollution, or argue for a specific approach or solution to tackle this global issue. Your thesis will guide the direction of your essay and provide a structured approach to your analysis.

Gathering Supporting Evidence

Support your thesis with relevant data, research findings, and examples. This might include scientific studies on the effects of pollution on marine life, reports from environmental organizations, and examples of successful initiatives to reduce ocean pollution. Use this evidence to support your thesis and build a persuasive argument. Be sure to consider different perspectives and address potential counterarguments to your thesis.

Analyzing the Impact of Ocean Pollution

Dedicate a section of your essay to analyzing the impact of ocean pollution. Discuss various aspects such as its effects on marine biodiversity, the disruption of food chains, the impact on coastal communities, and economic consequences. Explore both the immediate and long-term effects of pollution on the ocean environment and the challenges in mitigating these impacts.

Concluding the Essay

Conclude your essay by summarizing the main points of your discussion and restating your thesis in light of the evidence provided. Your conclusion should tie together your analysis and emphasize the significance of addressing ocean pollution for the health of our planet. You might also want to suggest areas for future research, policy development, or public action to combat ocean pollution.

Reviewing and Refining Your Essay

After completing your essay, review and refine it for clarity and coherence. Ensure that your arguments are well-structured and supported by evidence. Check for grammatical accuracy and ensure that your essay flows logically from one point to the next. Consider seeking feedback from peers, educators, or environmental experts to further improve your essay. A well-written essay on ocean pollution will not only demonstrate your understanding of the issue but also your ability to engage with and analyze complex environmental challenges.

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Each year, billions of pounds of trash and other pollutants enter the ocean.

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Find even more resources on ocean pollution and marine debris  in our searchable resource database.

Sanctuaries resource collection: Marine debris

Each year, billions of pounds of trash and other pollutants enter the ocean. Where does this pollution come from? Where does it go? Some of the debris ends up on our beaches, washed in with the waves and tides. Some debris sinks, some is eaten by marine animals that mistake it for food, and some accumulates in ocean gyres . Other forms of pollution that impact the health of the ocean come from sources like oil spills or from accumulation of many dispersed sources, such as fertilizer from our yards.

Litter such as plastic detergent bottles, crates, buoys, combs, and water bottles blanket Kanapou Bay, on the Island of Kaho’olawe in Hawaii. This region is a hot-spot for marine debris accumulation. (Image credit: NOAA)

Where does pollution come from?

The majority of pollutants that make their way into the ocean come from human activities along the coastlines and far inland. One of the biggest sources of pollution is nonpoint source pollution , which occurs as a result of runoff . Nonpoint source pollution can come from many sources, like septic tanks, vehicles, farms, livestock ranches, and timber harvest areas. Pollution that comes from a single source, like an oil or chemical spill, is known as point source pollution . Point source pollution events often have large impacts, but fortunately, they occur less often. Discharge from faulty or damaged factories or water treatment systems is also considered point source pollution.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are chemicals created by humans that are notorious for being resistant to biodegradation and have been found in ground, surface, and drinking water. Makayla Neldner, a 2022 Hollings scholar, spent her summer internship at NOAA’s Hollings Marine Lab in Charleston, South Carolina, researching how two PFAS compounds affected the life cycle of larval grass shrimp ( Palaemon pugio ).

Nutrients and algal blooms: Too much of a good thing?

Sometimes it is not the type of material, but its concentration that determines whether a substance is a pollutant. For example, the nutrients nitrogen and phosphorus are essential elements for plant growth. However, if they are too abundant in a body of water, they can stimulate an overgrowth of algae, triggering an event called an algal bloom . Harmful algal blooms (HABs) , also known as “ red tides ,” grow rapidly and produce toxic effects that can affect marine life and sometimes even humans. Excess nutrients entering a body of water, either through natural or human activities, can also result in hypoxia or dead zones . When large amounts of algae sink and decompose in the water, the decomposition process consumes oxygen and depletes the supply available to healthy marine life. Many of the marine species that live in these areas either die or, if they are mobile (such as fish), leave the area.

Using ecological forecasting , NOAA is able to predict changes in ecosystems in response to HABs and other environmental drivers. These forecasts provide information about how people, economies, and communities may be affected. For example, the Harmful Algal Bloom Monitoring System developed by NOAA’s National Centers for Coastal Ocean Science provides information to the public and local authorities to help decide whether beaches need to be closed temporarily to protect public health.

Researchers at the St. Jones Reserve, a component of the Delaware National Estuarine Research Reserve, observed trash in songbird nests around the reserve’s visitor center. Hollings scholar Eleanor Meng studied whether this trash occurred more frequently in nests near the visitor center compared to nests further away.

Marine debris

Marine debris is a persistent pollution problem that reaches throughout the entire ocean and Great Lakes. Our ocean and waterways are polluted with a wide variety of marine debris, ranging from tiny microplastics , smaller than 5 mm, to derelict fishing gear and abandoned vessels. Worldwide, hundreds of marine species have been negatively impacted by marine debris, which can harm or kill an animal when it is ingested or they become entangled, and can threaten the habitats they depend on. Marine debris can also interfere with navigation safety and potentially pose a threat to human health.

All marine debris comes from people with a majority of it originating on land and entering the ocean and Great Lakes through littering, poor waste management practices, storm water discharge, and extreme natural events such as tsunamis and hurricanes. Some debris, such as derelict fishing gear , can also come from ocean-based sources. This lost or abandoned gear is a major problem because it can continue to capture and kill wildlife, damage sensitive habitats, and even compete with and damage active fishing gear.

Local, national, and international efforts are needed to address this environmental problem. The Save our Seas Act of 2018 amends and reauthorizes the Marine Debris Act to promote international action, authorize cleanup and response actions, and increase coordination among federal agencies on this topic.

Garbage patches: What and where are they?

Garbage patches are large areas of the ocean where trash, fishing gear, and other marine debris collects. The term “garbage patch” is a misleading nickname, making many believe that garbage patches are "islands of trash" that are visible from afar. These areas are actually made up of debris ranging in size, from microplastics to large bundles of derelict fishing gear.

These patches are formed by large, rotating ocean currents called gyres that pull debris into one location, often to the gyre’s center. There are five gyres in the ocean : one in the Indian Ocean, two in the Atlantic Ocean, and two in the Pacific Ocean. Garbage patches of varying sizes are located in each gyre. Due to winds and currents, garbage patches are constantly changing size and shape. The debris making up the garbage patches can be found from the surface of the ocean all the way to the ocean floor .

A group of teens from Mystic Aquarium received funding from NOAA and the North American Association for Environmental Education to lead an action project in their local community. The team chose to work with a non-profit organization to implement a project that focused on raising awareness on plastic pollution and recycling a common type of plastic used on boats.

The impact of marine pollution on seafood

Heavy metals and other contaminants can accumulate in seafood, making it harmful for humans to consume. Microplastics can be ingested by fish and other species that filter their food out of the water. With more than one-third of the shellfish-growing waters of the United States adversely affected by coastal pollution, it’s important for NOAA and it’s partners to study the impacts of microplastics and harmful contaminants in seafood. There is ongoing research around the country focusing on the potential risk to wildlife and humans from debris exposure and ingestion. NOAA monitors seafood contamination and provides safety tips through the Sustainable Seafood portal .

The B’more Conscious environmental fun festival at the National Aquarium focused on blue crab populations in Baltimore, plastic pollution and microplastics, eutrophication and food waste, and the urbanization of Baltimore City. 

EDUCATION CONNECTION

Whether humans live near the coasts or far inland, they are a part of the problem — and the solution — to ocean pollution. Through this collection of resources and information, students can be informed of the types of pollution harming our ocean, and learn about actions they can take to prevent further pollution no matter where they live. The NOAA Marine Debris Program provides many educational resources for educators, students, families, and adults to help better understand this global issue.

A sea turtle mistakes a plastic bag for food. © Ben J. Hicks / benjhicks.com

One of the reasons that plastic pollution is such a problem is that it doesn’t go away: “plastics are forever.” Instead, plastic debris simply breaks down into ever-smaller particles, known as microplastics , whose environmental impacts are still being determined.

Plastic Pollution Solutions: 7 Things You Can Do Today

Everyone can do something to help solve the plastic pollution problem, and millions of people worldwide are already taking action to reduce their plastic use . Here are seven ways you can make a difference, starting today.

1. Reduce Your Use of Single-Use Plastics

Wherever you live, the easiest and most direct way that you can get started is by reducing your own use of single-use plastics. Single-use plastics include plastic bags, water bottles, straws, cups, utensils, dry cleaning bags, take-out containers, and any other plastic items that are used once and then discarded.

The best way to do this is by a) refusing any single-use plastics that you do not need (e.g. straws, plastic bags, takeout utensils, takeout containers), and b) purchasing, and carrying with you, reusable versions of those products, including reusable grocery bags , produce bags , bottles , utensils , coffee cups , and dry cleaning garment bags . And when you refuse single-use plastic items, help businesses by letting them know that you would like them to offer alternatives.

2. Support Legislation to Curb Plastic Production and Waste

As important as it is to change our individual behaviors, such changes alone are insufficient to stop ocean plastic pollution. We also need legislation that reduces plastic production, improves waste management, and makes plastic producers responsible for the waste they generate. There are a variety of ways that you can support local, national, and international legislation that provide critical solutions to reduce plastic pollution. One such effort in the United States is the 2021 Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act , a comprehensive federal bill that aims to address the plastic pollution crisis, and there are a number of state level initiatives to introduce extended producer responsibility (EPR) legislation that makes plastic producers and distributors responsible for their products and packaging at the end of life.

At the international level, hundreds of organizations and businesses successfully worked together with United Nations member states to enact a global plastics treaty , signed by 175 member states, that will set global rules and regulations to reduce plastic pollution. And legislation that limits, taxes, or bans unnecessary single use plastic items, such as plastic bags, takeout containers, and bottles, has been successfully enacted in many places globally, and you can support the adoption of such policies in your community too. Here is a comprehensive resource and toolkit on legislative approaches to limiting plastic bags, foodware, microplastics, and more.

3. Recycle Properly

This should go without saying, but when you use single-use (and other) plastics that can be recycled, always be sure to recycle them. At present, just 9% of plastic is recycled worldwide . Recycling helps keep plastics out of the ocean and reduces the amount of “new” plastic in circulation. If you need help finding a place to recycle plastic waste near you, check Earth911’s recycling directory . It’s also important to check with your local recycling center about the types of plastic they accept.

4. Participate In (or Organize) a Beach or River Cleanup

Help remove plastics from the ocean and prevent them from getting there in the first place by participating in, or organizing a cleanup of your local beach or waterway . This is one of the most direct and rewarding ways to fight ocean plastic pollution. You can simply go to the beach or waterway and collect plastic waste on your own or with friends or family, or you can join a local organization’s cleanup or an international event like our Global Ocean Cleanup  or the International Coastal Cleanup .

  Take Our 7-Day Fight Plastic Waste Challenge Join the global movement to fight plastic waste with our 7-day challenge. With just a few minutes a day, you’ll be on your way to reducing ocean plastic pollution from home. Take the Challenge

5. Avoid Products Containing Microbeads

Tiny plastic particles, called “ microbeads ,” have become a growing source of ocean plastic pollution in recent years. Microbeads are found in some face scrubs, toothpastes, and bodywashes, and they readily enter our oceans and waterways through our sewer systems, and affect hundreds of marine species. Avoid products containing plastic microbeads by looking for “polythelene” and “polypropylene” on the ingredient labels of your cosmetic products (find a list of products containing microbeads here ).

6. Spread the Word

Stay informed on issues related to plastic pollution and help make others aware of the problem. Tell your friends and family about how they can be part of the solution, or host a viewing party for one of the many plastic pollution focused documentaries, like A Plastic Ocean , Garbage Island: An Ocean Full of Plastic , Bag It , Addicted to Plastic , Plasticized , or Garbage Island .

7. Support Organizations Addressing Plastic Pollution

There are many non-profit organizations working to reduce and eliminate ocean plastic pollution in a variety of different ways, including Oceanic Society , Plastic Pollution Coalition , 5 Gyres , Algalita , Plastic Soup Foundation , and others. These organizations rely on donations from people like you to continue their important work. Even small donations can make a big difference!

These seven ideas only scratch the surface for ways you can help address the growing problem of plastic pollution in the oceans. The important thing is that we all do something, no matter how small. For more ideas and resources, sign up to join our Blue Habits community of people worldwide committed to joyful daily actions that improve ocean health.

  Reduce Plastic Pollution From Home with Our 7-Day Challenge Join the global movement to fight plastic waste by participating in our 7-day challenge. Take the Challenge

Oceanic Society community members clean up San Francisco’s Ocean Beach.

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• Published: 10 June 2021

Ending marine pollution

Nature Sustainability volume  4 ,  page 459 ( 2021 ) Cite this article

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Scientific evidence sheds light on the extent, source and type of litter in the oceans, as well as on the limited efforts to clean it up so far. As we rely on healthy oceans for our future, it’s time to act.

Well into 2021, most countries around the world continue to battle with the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. On 11–13 June, the G7 leading democracies (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, United Kingdom and United States, plus the European Union) are set to meet in Cornwall, United Kingdom, to help win the fight against the pandemic and discuss how to build a more prosperous future for all. A lot has been said about the need to shape sound recovery policies centred on health and sustainability and collaborations have emerged over the course of the past year to inform decision makers on what, and how, to innovate in order to bounce forward sustainably . The G7 countries have a unique opportunity to listen to science and lead the efforts of the global community in pursuit of innovative policies that can build a more sustainable development trajectory across the globe.

Against this backdrop, the International Programme on the State of the Ocean ( IPSO ) virtually convened marine scientists from different countries to work out a plan of action to ensure a sustainable ocean future. The scientists wrote a statement known as ‘Seven asks for the G7’ to request that priority is given to the protection of the oceans in the pandemic recovery plans that are to be discussed at the summit in Cornwall.

Mounting scientific evidence of the severe impacts of human actions on the ocean environment, and the associated societal and economic implications of those impacts, leaves everyone with no doubt about the risk of inaction. Politicians around the world have to step up efforts now.

One of the seven ‘asks’ from the IPSO convening is about ocean pollution. Although public awareness of the problem has grown rapidly over the past years, with several reports in the media , policy makers need comprehensive and reliable data about the actual magnitude and nature of the problem in order to intervene. In an article by Morales-Caselles and colleagues in Nature Sustainability , the authors conduct a substantial effort to harmonize worldwide aquatic litter inventories. The harmonized data show that ocean litter globally is dominated by plastics from take-out food, followed by fishing gear — a stark sign of how human activities, and in particular our food habits, impact the oceans. The experts are also able to show how litter is trapped in near-shore areas with land-sourced plastic reaching the open ocean mostly as small fragments. In another article by González-Fernández and co-authors, using a unique database of riverine floating macrolitter across Europe, the authors estimate that 307–925 million litter items — 82% of which is plastic — are transferred from Europe to the ocean annually. They also find that a major portion of the total litter loading is transferred through small rivers, streams and coastal run-off. This result clearly urges countries in Europe to increase efforts to keep rivers pollution-free. Overall, both papers suggest that waste management alone won’t be enough — consumption habits do play a key role in the fight against ocean litter.

Innovative solutions — to prevent, monitor and clean (PMC) marine litter — are necessary to restore healthy oceans and maintain their well-being over time. And again, little is known about how many of these solutions have been developed and implemented, and to what extent they have been effective as information is scattered across platforms and not easily accessible. In a global analysis by Bellou and colleagues, also in Nature Sustainability , the researchers identify 177 PMC solutions and find that 106 of them address monitoring; 33 address prevention (mostly via wastewater treatment); only 30 address cleaning. They also find an inconsistent use of litter size terms across the various developers, which required a harmonization effort to assess the type of litter addressed — results show that 137 of the solutions targeted macrolitter. Overall, only few solutions reached technical readiness and no solution was validated for efficiency and environmental impacts.

Policy makers alongside industry innovators, non-governmental organizations and citizens have a long way to go to address and reverse the trend of ocean pollution. The G7 summit could set the agenda for change — we expect that those influencing players will not shy away from the scientists’ call for action on the oceans.

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Cleaner seas: reducing marine pollution

Kathryn a. willis.

1 Centre for Marine Sociology, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS Australia

2 CSIRO Oceans & Atmosphere, Hobart, TAS Australia

5 School of Social Sciences, College of Arts, Law and Education, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS Australia

Catarina Serra-Gonçalves

3 Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS Australia

Kelsey Richardson

Qamar a. schuyler, halfdan pedersen.

8 Pikkoritta Consult, Aasiaat, Greenland

Kelli Anderson

4 Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, Fisheries and Aquaculture, University of Tasmania, Newnham, TAS Australia

Jonathan S. Stark

7 Australian Antarctic Division, Hobart, TAS Australia

Joanna Vince

Britta d. hardesty, chris wilcox, barbara f. nowak, jennifer l. lavers, jayson m. semmens, dean greeno.

6 School of Creative Arts and Media, College of Arts, Law and Education, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS Australia

Catriona MacLeod

Nunnoq p. o. frederiksen.

9 The PISUNA Project, Qeqertalik Municipality, Attu, Greenland

10 Snowchange Cooperative, Selkie, Finland

Peter S. Puskic

Associated data.

In the age of the Anthropocene, the ocean has typically been viewed as a sink for pollution. Pollution is varied, ranging from human-made plastics and pharmaceutical compounds, to human-altered abiotic factors, such as sediment and nutrient runoff. As global population, wealth and resource consumption continue to grow, so too does the amount of potential pollution produced. This presents us with a grand challenge which requires interdisciplinary knowledge to solve. There is sufficient data on the human health, social, economic, and environmental risks of marine pollution, resulting in increased awareness and motivation to address this global challenge, however a significant lag exists when implementing strategies to address this issue. This review draws upon the expertise of 17 experts from the fields of social sciences, marine science, visual arts, and Traditional and First Nations Knowledge Holders to present two futures; the Business-As-Usual, based on current trends and observations of growing marine pollution, and a More Sustainable Future, which imagines what our ocean could look like if we implemented current knowledge and technologies. We identify priority actions that governments, industry and consumers can implement at pollution sources, vectors and sinks, over the next decade to reduce marine pollution and steer us towards the More Sustainable Future.

Graphic abstract

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11160-021-09674-8.

Introduction

The ocean has historically been a sink for pollution, leaving modern society with significant ocean pollution legacy issues to manage (Elliott and Elliott 2013 ; O'Shea et al. 2018 ). People continue to pollute the ocean at increasing rates creating further damage to marine ecosystems. This results in detrimental impacts on livelihoods, food security, marine navigation, wildlife and well-being, among others (Krushelnytska 2018 ; Lebreton and Andrady 2019 ; Nichols 2014 ; Seitzinger et al. 2002 ). As pollution presents a multitude of stressors for ocean life, it cannot be explored in isolation (Khan et al., 2018 ). Thus, global coordinated efforts are essential to manage the current and future state of the ocean and to minimise further damage from pollution (Krushelnytska 2018 ; Macleod et al. 2016 ; O'Brien et al. 2019 ; Williams et al. 2015 ). Efforts are also needed to tackle key questions, such as how do pollutants function in different environments, and interact with each other?

Pollution can be broadly defined as any natural or human-derived substance or energy that is introduced into the environment by humans and that can have a detrimental effect on living organisms and natural environments (UNEP 1982 ). Pollutants, including light and sound in addition to the more commonly recognised forms, can enter the marine environment from a multitude of sources and transport mechanisms (Carroll et al. 2017 ; Depledge et al. 2010 ; Longcore and Rich 2004 ; Williams et al. 2015 ). These may include long range atmospheric movement (Amunsen et al. 1992 ) and transport from inland waterways (Lebreton et al. 2017 ).

Current pollutant concentrations in the marine environment are expected to continue increasing with growth in both global population and product production. For example, global plastic production increased by 13 million tonnes in a single year (PlasticsEurope 2018 ), with rising oceanic plastic linked to such trends (Wilcox et al. 2020 ). Pharmaceutical pollution is predicted to increase with population growth, resulting in a greater range of chemicals entering the ocean through stormwater drains and rivers (Bernhardt et al. 2017 ; Rzymski et al. 2017 ). Additionally, each year new chemical compounds are produced whose impacts on the marine environment are untested (Landrigan et al. 2018 ).

Marine pollution harms organisms throughout the food-web in diverse ways. Trace amounts of heavy metals and persistent organic pollutants (POPs) in organisms have the capacity to cause physiological harm (Capaldo et al. 2018 ; Hoffman et al. 2011 ; Salamat et al. 2014 ) and alter behaviours (Brodin et al. 2014 ; Mattsson et al. 2017 ). Artificial lights along coasts at night can disrupt organism navigation, predation and vertical migration (Depledge et al. 2010 ). Pharmaceutical pollutants, such as contraceptive drugs, have induced reproductive failure and sex changes in a range of fish species (Lange et al. 2011 ; Nash et al. 2004 ). Furthermore, some pollutants also have the capacity to bioaccumulate, which means they may become more concentrated in higher trophic marine species (Bustamante et al. 1998 ; Eagles-Smith et al. 2009 ).

Pollution also poses a huge economic risk. Typically, the majority of consequences from pollution disproportionately impact poorer nations who have less resources to manage and remediate these impacts (Alario and Freudenburg 2010 ; Beaumont et al. 2019 ; Golden et al. 2016 ; Landrigan et al. 2018 ). Marine pollution can negatively impact coastal tourism (Jang et al. 2014 ), waterfront real estate (Ofiara and Seneca 2006 ), shipping (Moore 2018 ) and fisheries (Hong et al. 2017 ; Uhrin 2016 ). Contamination of seafood poses a perceived risk to human health, but also results in a significant financial cost for producers and communities (Ofiara and Seneca 2006 ; White et al. 2000 ). Additionally, current remediation strategies for most pollutants in marine and coastal ecosystems are costly, time consuming and may not prove viable in global contexts (Ryan and Jewitt 1996 ; Smith et al. 1997 ; Uhrin 2016 ).

Reducing marine pollution is a global challenge that needs to be addressed for the health of the ocean and the communities and industries it supports. The United Nations proposed and adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) designed to guide future developments and intended to be achieved by 2030. It has flagged the reduction of marine pollution as a key issue underpinning the achievement of SDG 14, Life Under Water, with target 14.1 defined as “prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, in particular from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution” by 2025 (United Nations General Assembly 2015 ). In the UN Decade of Ocean Science (2021–2030), one of the six ocean outcomes relates specifically to the identification and reduction of marine pollution (A Clean Ocean; UN DOS SD). The task of reducing marine pollution is daunting—the ocean is so vast that cleaning it seems almost impossible. However, effective management of pollution at its source is a successful way to reduce it and protect the ocean (DeGeorges et al. 2010 ; Rochman 2016 ; Simmonds et al. 2014 ; Zhu et al. 2008 ). Strategies, implemented locally, nationally and globally, to prevent, or considerably reduce pollution inputs in combination with removing pollutants from the marine environment (Sherman and van Sebille 2016 ) will allow healthy ocean life and processes to continue into the future. However, such strategies need to be implemented on a collective global scale, and target pollution at key intervals from their creation to their use and disposal.

To help explain how society can most effectively address pollution sources and clean the ocean, we depict two different future seas scenarios by 2030. The first is a Business-As-Usual scenario, where society continues to adhere to current management and global trends. The second is a technically achievable, more sustainable future that is congruent with the SDGs, and where society actively take actions and adopt sustainable solutions. We then explore pollution in three ‘zones’ of action; at the source(s), along the way, and at sink, in the context of river or estuarine systems, as water-transported pollution is commonly associated with urban centres alongside river systems (Alongi and McKinnon 2005 ; Lebreton et al. 2017 ; Lohmann et al. 2012 ; Seitzinger and Mayorga 2016 ).

As a group of interdisciplinary scientists, with expertise in marine pollution, we participated in the Future Seas project ( www.FutureSeas2030.org ), which identified marine pollution as one of 12 grand challenges, and followed the method outlined in Nash et al. ( 2021 ). The process involved a structured discussion to explore the direction of marine social-ecological systems over the course of the UN Decade of Ocean Science, specific to marine pollution. The discussion resulted in developing two alternate future scenarios of marine pollution, a ‘Business-As-Usual’ future that is the current trajectory based on published evidence, and a ‘more sustainable’ future that is technically achievable using existing and emerging knowledge and is consistent with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals. To ensure a wide range of world views were present in the future scenarios, Indigenous Leaders and Traditional Knowledge Holders from around the world came together and presented their views, experiences and identified their priorities to remove and reduce marine pollution (Nash et al. 2021 ; Fischer et al. 2020 ).

We defined the scope of our paper by identifying key pollutant sources, types and drivers of marine pollution (Table ​ (Table1 1 for pollutant sources and types; see " Future Narratives " below). We then developed a list of feasible actions that could drive the current state of the ocean towards a cleaner, more sustainable future (Supplementary Table 1). From these actions we deliberated as a group and identified ten actions that have high potential to be implemented within the next decade and significantly reduce marine pollution (Fig.  1 ). The linkages between our ten priority actions and the SDGs are outlined in Supplementary Table 2.

A list of the three major sources of marine pollution and examples of the key types of pollution from each

source considered in our future scenarios. * denotes a pollutant that is outside the scope of this paper

Ten actions that can substantially reduce the amount of pollution entering the marine environment. Actions are placed along the system where they could have the greatest impact at reducing pollution: at the

source of the pollutant (at the source), once the pollutant is released (along the way), once the pollutant has entered the ocean (at the sink) or at multiple points along the system (bottom arrow). * indicates actions that could be successfully implemented well before the next decade to significantly reduce pollution

Future narratives

We identified three broad sources of marine pollution: land-based industry, sea-based industry, and municipal-based sources and the most significant types of pollution characteristic of each source (Table ​ (Table1). 1 ). We framed our two contrasting future scenarios (Business-As-Usual and a technically feasible sustainable future), around these pollutants and their sources (Table ​ (Table2). 2 ). In addition to these future narratives, we reflect on the present impacts that pollution is currently having on the livelihoods and cultures of First Nations peoples and Traditional Knowledge Holders. We include the narratives of the palawa pakana people, from lutruwita/Tasmania (Table ​ (Table3), 3 ), and the Greenlandic Inuit people (Table ​ (Table4 4 ).

The method resulted in two futures, which focus on pollutants outlined in Table ​ Table1. 1 . The two futures are told here in a narrative format. The Business-As-Usual (BAU) future has been informed by current trends and predictions in marine pollution. The technically feasible sustainable future imagines what the future may be like should we implement the actions outlined in this paper

In lutruwita (Tasmania), Marineer Shell ( Phasianotrochus rutilus ) necklace making is a palawa pakana traditional practice that has continued over thousands of years. Shell-necklaces were once crafted as jewellery and used for trade purposes. King, Queen and standard marineers were not just palawa nicknames handed down through generations, status was allocated to each of the marineer species and the resulting necklaces. Necklaces were reflective of the status allocated to the owner from the creator, and clan as a whole. Here, Elder and shell-necklace maker, Lola Greeno, shares her account of the current impacts of pollution on her art and culture. (Photo credit: Dean Greeno)

Pollution disproportionally impacts first nations people. To the Inuit Greenland peoples, pollution from the Outer World presents a vast array of challenges. Documented here is a firsthand account of some types of pollutants in Greenland and impacts these have on Inuit communities. We have the capacity to influence pollution impacts on a local scale, but we require political efforts, legislation, and global change to make positive impacts in communities and environments in need. (Photo credit: Jonathan Stark)

We identified three key drivers that will substantially contribute to an increasingly polluted ocean if no actions are taken to intervene; societal behaviours, equity and access to technologies, and governance and policy. Alternatively, these pollution drivers can be viewed as opportunities to implement strategic measures that shift the trajectory from a polluted marine environment to a healthier marine environment. Below we highlight how current societal behaviours, lack of implementation of technological advancements, and ocean governance and policy making contribute to an increasingly polluted ocean and drive society towards a BAU future (Table ​ (Table2). 2 ). Importantly, we discuss how changes in these behaviours, and improvements in technologies and governance can lead to reduced marine pollution, ultimately driving a cleaner, more sustainable ocean for the future.

Societal behaviour

Societal behaviours that drive increasing pollution in the world’s ocean.

A consumer culture that prioritizes linear production and consumption of cheap, single-use materials and products over circular product design and use (such as, reusable products or products that are made from recycled material), ultimately drives the increased creation of materials. Current production culture is often aligned with little consideration for the socioeconomic and environmental externalities associated with the pollution that is generated from a product’s creation to its disposal (Foltete et al. 2011 ; Schnurr et al. 2018 ). Without a dedicated management strategy for the fate of products after they have met their varying, often single-use objectives, these materials will enter and accumulate in the surrounding environment as pollution (Krushelnytska 2018 ; Sun et al. 2012 ). Three examples of unsustainable social behaviours that lead to products and materials ending up as marine pollution are: (1) the design and creation of products that are inherently polluting. For example, agricultural chemicals or microplastics and chemicals in personal care and cosmetic products. (2) social behaviours that normalize and encourage consumption of single-use products and materials. For example, individually wrapped vegetables or take-away food containers. (3) low awareness of the impacts and consequences and therefore the normalization of polluting behaviours. For example, noise generation by ships at sea (Hildebrand 2009 ) or the large application of fertilizers to agricultural products (Sun et al. 2012 ).

Shifting societal behaviours towards sustainable production and consumption

A cleaner ocean with reduced pollution will require a shift in production practices across a wide array of industries, as well as a shift in consumer behaviour. Presently, consumers and industry alike are seeking science-based information to inform decision making (Englehardt 1994 ; Vergragt et al. 2016 ). Consumers have the power to demand change from industries through purchasing power and social license to operate (Saeed et al. 2019 ). Policymakers have the power to enforce change from industries through regulations and reporting. Aligning the values between producers, consumers and policymakers will ensure best practices of sustainable consumption and production are adopted (Huntington 2017 ; Moktadir et al. 2018 ; Mont and Plepys 2008 ). Improved understanding of the full life cycle of costs, consequences (including internalised externalities, such as the polluter-pays-principle (Schwartz 2018 )), materials used, and pollution potential of products could substantially shift the trajectory in both production and consumerism towards cleaner, more sustainable seas (Grappi et al. 2017 ; Liu et al. 2016 ; Lorek and Spangenberg 2014 ; Sun et al. 2012 ). For example, economic policy instruments (Abbott and Sumaila 2019 ), production transparency (Joakim Larsson and Fick 2009 ), recirculation of materials (Michael 1998 ; Sharma and Henriques 2005 ), and changes in supply-chains (Ouardighi et al. 2016 ) are some of the ways production and consumerism could become more sustainable and result in a cleaner ocean.

Equity and access to technologies

Inequitable access to available technologies.

Despite major advancements in technology and innovation for waste management, much of the current waste infrastructure implemented around the world is outdated, underutilised, or abandoned. This is particularly the case for rapidly developing countries with large populations who have not had access to waste reduction and mitigation technologies and systems employed in upper income countries (Velis 2014 ; Wilson et al. 2015 ). The informal recycling sector (IRS) performs the critical waste management role in many of the world’s most populous countries.

Harnessing technologies for today and the future

Arguably, in today’s world we see an unprecedented number and types of technological advances stemming from but not limited to seismic exploration (Malehmir et al. 2012 ), resource mining (Jennings and Revill 2007 ; Kampmann et al. 2018 ; Parker et al. 2016 ), product movement (Goodchild and Toy 2018 ; Tournadre 2014 ) and product manufacturing (Bennett 2013 ; Mahalik and Nambiar 2010 ). Applying long term vision rather than short term economic gain could include supporting technologies and innovations that provide substantial improvements over Business-As-Usual. For example, supporting businesses or industries that improve recyclability of products (Umeda et al. 2013 ; Yang et al. 2014 ), utilize waste (Korhonen et al. 2018 ; Pan et al. 2015 ), reduce noise (Simmonds et al. 2014 ), and increase overall production efficiency will substantially increase the health of the global ocean. Efforts should be made wherever possible to maintain current waste management infrastructure where proven and effective, in addition to ensuring reliance and durability of new technologies and innovations for improved lifespan and end of life product management. Consumer demand, taxation, and incentives will play a necessary roll to ensure the appropriate technologies are adopted (Ando and Freitas 2011 ; Krass et al. 2013 ).

Governance and policy

Lack of ocean governance and policy making.

The governance arrangements that address marine pollution on global, regional, and national levels are complex and multifaceted. Success requires hard-to-achieve integrated responses. In addition to the equity challenges discussed in Alexander et al. ( 2020 ) which highlight the need for reduced inequity to improve the susatinability of the marine enviornemnt, we highlight that land-based waste is the largest contributor to marine pollution and therefore requires governance and policies that focus on pollution at the source. Current regulations, laws and policies do not always reflect or address the grand challenge of reducing marine pollution at the source. The ocean has traditionally been governed through sectoral approaches such as fisheries, tourism, offshore oil and mining. Unfortunately, this sector approach has caused policy overlap, conflict, inefficiencies and inconsistencies regarding marine pollution governance (Haward 2018 ; Vince and Hardesty 2016 ). Although production, manufacturing, and polluting may largely take place under geo-political boundaries, pollution in the high seas is often hard to assign to a country of origin. This makes identifying and convicting polluters very difficult (Urbina 2019 ). For example, the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL 73/78) has been criticised as ineffective in reducing marine pollution, largely due to the lack of easily monitoring, identifying and convicting offenders (Henderson 2001 ; Mattson 2006 ).

Harnessing ocean governance and policy

Binding domestic policies and international agreements are regulatory levers that can drive change at local, community, state, federal and international scales (Vince and Hardesty 2018 ). The UN Law of the Sea Convention Part XII (articles 192–237) is dedicated to the protection and preservation of the marine environment and marine pollution is addressed in article 194. It also sets out the responsibilities of states and necessary measures they need to undertake to minimise pollution their own and other jurisdictions. While the Law of the Sea recognises the differences between sea-based and land-based pollution, it does not address the type of pollutants and technical rules in detail. Voluntary measures including MARPOL 73/78 (IMO 1978 ), United Nations Environment Assembly resolutions (UNEA 2019 ) and the FAO voluntary guidelines for the marking of fishing gear (FAO 2019 ), already exist in an attempt to reduce specific components of marine pollution. However, the health of marine ecosystems would benefit from multilateral international or regional agreements that minimise the production of items or the use of processes that result in high levels of marine ecosystem harm. For example, international regulation for underwater sound (McCarthy 2004 ), policies to reduce waste emissions (Nie 2012 ) and the polluter pays principle (Gaines 1991 ) are policies and agreements that could minimise pollutants entering the marine ecosystem. Global and regional governance can create a favourable context for national policy action. Policies that adapt to shifts in climate and are guided by science and indigenous knowledge could be more likely to succeed (Ban et al. 2020 ).

Actions to achieve a more sustainable future

The grand challenge of reducing ocean pollution can seem overwhelming. However, there are myriad actions, interventions and activities which are highly feasible to implement within the next decade to rapidly reduce the quantity of pollution entering the ocean. Implementing these actions requires collaboration among policymakers, industry, and consumers alike. To reduce pollution from sea-based industries, land-based industries and municipal-based pollutants (Table ​ (Table1), 1 ), we encourage the global community to consider three ‘zones’ of action or areas to implement change: at the source(s), along the way/along the supply chain, and at sinks (Fig.  1 ). It is important to highlight that action cannot be implemented at any one zone only. For example, repeated clean ups at the sink may reduce pollution in an area for a time, but will not stem the flow of pollutants. Rather, action at all three zones is required if rapid, effective reductions of ocean pollution are to occur.

Actions at the source(s)

Reducing pollution at its multitude of sources is the most effective way to reduce and prevent marine pollution. This is true for land-based industry pollutants, sea-based industry pollutants and municipal-based pollutants. An example for each includes; reduction in fertilizer leading to less agricultural runoff in coastal waters (Bennett et al. 2001 ), changes in packaging materials may see reductions in production on a per item basis, and a lowered frequency and timing of seismic blasting would result in a decrease in underwater noise pollution at the source. The benefits of acting at the source are powerful: if a pollutant is not developed or used initially, it cannot enter the marine environment. Action can occur at the source using various approaches such as; prevention of contaminants, outreach campaigns, introduction of bans (or prohibitions) and incentives and the replacement of technologies and products for less impactful alternatives (Fig.  1 ). However, achieving public support abrupt and major changes can be difficult and time consuming. Such changes may meet resistance (e.g. stopping or changing seismic testing) and there are other factors beyond marine pollution that must be considered (e.g. health and safety of coastal lighting in communities may be considered more important than impacts of light pollution on nearby marine ecosystems). Actions such as outreach and education campaigns (Supplementary Table 2) will be an important pathway to achieve public support.

Actions along the way

Reducing marine pollution along the way requires implementation of approaches aimed at reducing pollution once it has been released from the source and is in transit to the marine environment (Fig.  1 ). Acting along the way does provide the opportunity to target particular pollutants (point-source pollution) which can be particularly effective in reducing those pollutants. While municipal-based pollutants can be reduced ‘along the way’ using infrastructure such as gross pollutant traps (GPTs) and wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs), some pollution such as light or sound may be more difficult to minimize or reduce in such a manner. WWTPs can successfully capture excess nutrients, pharmaceuticals and litter that are transported through sewerage and wastewater systems. However, pollution management ‘ en route ’ means there is both more production and more likelihood of leakage to the environment. In addition, infrastructure that captures pollution is often expensive, requires ongoing maintenance (and hence funding support), and if not managed properly, can become physically blocked, or result in increased risk to human health and the broader environment (e.g. flooding during heavy rainfall events). When considering management opportunities and risks for both land and sea-based pollution, the approaches required may be quite different, yielding unique challenges and opportunities for resolution in each (Alexander et al. 2020 ).

Actions at the sinks

Acting at sinks essentially requires pollution removal (Fig.  1 ). This approach is the most challenging, most expensive, and least likely to yield positive outcomes. The ocean encompasses more than 70% of the earth’s surface and extends to depths beyond ten kilometres. Hence it is a vast area for pollutants to disperse and economically and logistically prohibitive to clean completely. However, in some situations collecting pollutants and cleaning the marine environment is most viable option and there are examples of success. For example, some positive steps to remediate excess nutrients include integrated multi-trophic aquaculture (Buck et al. 2018 ). ‘Net Your Problem’ is a recycling program for fishers to dispose of derelict fishing gear ( www.netyourproblem.com ). Municipal-based and sea-based industry pollutants are often reduced through clean-up events. For example, large oils spills often require community volunteers to remove and clean oil from coastal environments and wildlife. Such activities provide increased awareness of marine pollution issues, and if data are recorded, can provide a baseline or benchmark against which to compare change. To address pollution at sinks requires us to prioritise efforts towards areas with high acclamations of pollution, (e.g., oil spills). Repeated removal or cleaning is unlikely to yield long term results, without managing the pollution upstream –whether along the route or at the source.

To achieve the More Sustainable Future, and significantly reduce pollution (thereby achieving the SGD targets in Supplementary Table 2), society must take ongoing action now and continue this movement beyond 2030. Prioritising the prevention of pollutants from their sources, using bans and incentives, outreach and education, and replacement technologies, is one of the most important steps that can be taken to shift towards a more sustainable future. Without addressing pollution from the source, current and future efforts will continue to remediate rather than mitigate the damage pollution causes to the ocean and organisms within. For pollutants that are not currently feasible to reduce at the source, collection of pollutants before they reach the ocean should be prioritised. For example, wastewater treatment plants and gross pollutant traps located at point-source locations such as stormwater and wastewater drains are feasible methods for reducing pollutants before they reach the ocean. Actions at the sink should target areas where the maximum effort per quantity of pollution can be recovered from the ocean. For example, prompt clean-up responses to large pollution events such as oil spills or flooding events and targeting clean-ups at beaches and coastal waters with large accumulations of plastic pollution.

These priority actions are not the perfect solution, but they are great examples of what can be and is feasibly done to manage marine pollution. Each action is at risk of failing to shift to a cleaner ocean without the support from governments, industries, and individuals across the whole system (from the source to the sink). Governments and individuals need to push for legislation that is binding and support sustainable practices and products. Effective methods for policing also need to be established in partnership with the binding legislation. Regardless of which zone are addressed, our actions on sea and coastal country must be guided by Indigenous knowledge and science (Fischer et al., 2020 ; Mustonen (in prep).

We recognise the major global disruptions which have occurred in 2020, particularly the COVID-19 pandemic. The futures presented here were developed prior to this outbreak and therefore do not consider the effects of this situation on global pollution trends. In many ways, this situation allows us to consider a ‘reset’ in global trajectory as discussed by Nash et al. ( 2021 ). Our sustainable future scenario may be considered a very real goal to achieve in the coming decade.

Below is the link to the electronic supplementary material.

Acknowledgements

We thank Lola, Rex and Vanessa Greeno for sharing their knowledge of the impacts of pollution on their art and culture. Thank you to Animate Your Science, JB Creative Services and Annie Gatenby for assistance with the graphical aspects of this project. Thank you to Rupert the Boxer puppy for deciding authorship order. This paper is part of the ‘Future Seas’ initiative ( www.FutureSeas2030.org ), hosted by the Centre for Marine Socioecology at the University of Tasmania. This initiative delivers a series of journal articles addressing key challenges for the UN International Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development 2021-2030. The general concepts and methods applied in many of these papers were developed in large collaborative workshops involving more participants than listed as co-authors here, and we are grateful for their collective input. Funding for Future Seas was provided by the Centre for Marine Socioecology, IMAS, MENZIES and the College of Arts, Law and Education, the College of Science and Engineering at UTAS, and Snowchange from Finland. We acknowledge support from a Research Enhancement Program grant from the DVCR Office at UTAS. Thank you to Camilla Novaglio for providing an internal project review of an earlier draft, and to guest editor Rob Stephenson, editor-in-chief Jan Strugnell and two anonymous reviewers, for improving the manuscript. We acknowledge and pay respect to the traditional owners and custodians of sea country all around the world, and recognise their collective wisdom and knowledge of our ocean and coasts.

Author contributions

P.S. Puskic and K. Willis share equal lead authorship on this paper. All authors wrote sections of this manuscript and contributed to concept design and paper discussions. N.F and H.P. wrote the narratives for Table ​ Table4. 4 . D.G. wrote Table ​ Table3. 3 . All authors provided edits and feedback to earlier drafts.

Declarations

The authors declare no conflict of interest. This work is original and has not been submitted for publication anywhere else.

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

P.S. Puskic and K.A. Willis share equal lead authorship on this paper.

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Home — Essay Samples — Environment — Ocean — The Impact of Pollution on Marine Ecosystems

The Impact of Pollution on Marine Ecosystems

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Impact of plastic pollution on the ocean environment and marine life, role of various pollutants and their lasting impact on marine biodiversity, challenges and opportunities in reducing ocean pollution, effective methodologies to reduce plastic pollution in the ocean.

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Marine plastic pollution

• Over 400 million tons of plastic are produced every year for use in a wide variety of applications.
• At least 14 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean every year, and plastic makes up  80% of all marine debris found from surface waters to deep-sea sediments.
• Marine species ingest or are entangled by plastic debris , which causes severe injuries and death.
• Plastic pollution threatens food safety and quality, human health, coastal tourism, and contributes to climate change .
• There is an urgent need to explore new and existing legally binding agreements to address marine plastic pollution.

November 2021

What is the issue ? 

Plastic is a synthetic organic polymer made from petroleum with properties ideally suited for a wide variety of applications including: packaging, building and construction, household and sports equipment, vehicles, electronics and agriculture. Over 400 million tons of plastic are produced every year, half of which is used to create single-use items such as shopping bags, cups and straws. If discarded improperly, plastic waste can harm the environment and biodiversity.

At least 14 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean every year . Plastic debris is currently the most abundant type of litter in the ocean, making up 80% of all marine debris found from surface waters to deep-sea sediments . Plastic is found on the shorelines of every continent, with more plastic waste found near popular tourist destinations and densely populated areas.

The main sources of plastic debris found in the ocean are land-based , coming from urban and stormwater runoff, sewer overflows, littering, inadequate waste disposal and management, industrial activities, tyre abrasion, construction and illegal dumping. Ocean-based plastic pollution originates primarily from the fishing industry, nautical activities and aquaculture.

Under the influence of solar UV radiation, wind, currents and other natural factors, plastic breaks down into small particles called microplastics (particles smaller than 5 mm) or nanoplastics (particles smaller than 100 nm). The small size makes them easy for marine life to ingest accidentally.

Many countries lack the infrastructure to prevent plastic pollution such as: sanitary landfills; incineration facilities; recycling capacity and circular economy infrastructure; proper management and disposal of waste systems. This leads to ‘plastic leakage’ into rivers and the ocean. The legal and illegal global trade of plastic waste may also damage ecosystems , where waste management systems are not sufficient to contain plastic waste.

Plastic pollution is found in all areas of the ocean and in marine organisms.

Why is it important ?

Plastic pollution is a widespread problem affecting the marine environment. It threatens ocean health, the health of marine species, food safety and quality, human health, coastal tourism, and contributes to climate change.

Impacts on marine ecosystems

The most visible impacts of plastic debris are the ingestion, suffocation and entanglement of hundreds of marine species. Marine wildlife such as seabirds, whales, fish and turtles mistake plastic waste for prey; most then die of starvation as their stomachs become filled with plastic. They also suffer from lacerations, infections, reduced ability to swim, and internal injuries. Floating plastics also help transport invasive marine species, thereby threatening marine biodiversity and the food web.

Impacts on food and human health

Microplastics have been found in tap water, beer, salt and are present in all samples collected in the world’s oceans, including the Arctic. Several chemicals used in the production of plastic materials are known to be carcinogenic and to interfere with the body’s endocrine system, causing developmental, reproductive, neurological, and immune disorders in both humans and wildlife. Recently, microplastics were found in human placentas but more research is needed to determine if this is a widespread problem.

Toxic contaminants also accumulate on the surface of plastic as a result of prolonged exposure to seawater. When marine organisms ingest plastic debris, these contaminants enter their digestive systems, and over time accumulate in the food web. The transfer of contaminants between marine species and humans through consumption of seafood has been identified as a health hazard, and research is ongoing.

Impacts on tourism

Plastic waste damages the aesthetic value of tourist destinations, leading to decreased income from tourism. It also generates major economic costs related to the cleaning and maintenance of the sites. The build-up of plastic litter on beaches can have a negative impact on a country’s economy, wildlife, and the physical and psychological wellbeing of people.

Impacts on climate change

Plastic production contributes to climate change. If plastic waste is incinerated, it releases carbon dioxide and methane (from landfills) into the atmosphere, thereby increasing emissions.

The UN 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development calls for action to ‘Conserve and sustainably use the oceans, seas and marine resources’ (Goal 14) and ‘By 2025, prevent and significantly reduce marine pollution of all kinds, particularly from land-based activities, including marine debris and nutrient pollution’ (Target 14.1).

What can be done?

Efforts should be made to adhere to and strengthen existing international legislative frameworks that address marine plastic pollution. The most important are the 1972 Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping Wastes and Other Matter (the London Convention), the 1996 Protocol to the London Convention (the London Protocol) and the 1978 Protocol to the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution from Ships (MARPOL).

Regional and national governments should also explore national legislative frameworks on Extended Producer Responsibility . These are emerging as innovative, low-cost solutions, as are policies to promote circular economies.

Governments, research institutions and industries need to work collaboratively to redesign products , and rethink their use and disposal to reduce microplastic waste from pellets, synthetic textiles and tyres. Consumers and society must shift to more sustainable consumption patterns . This will require solutions which go beyond waste management and consider the whole lifecycle of plastic products; from design to infrastructure, and household use.

More funding for research and innovation should be made available to provide policymakers, manufacturers and consumers with the evidence needed to implement technological, behavioural and policy solutions to address marine plastic pollution.

Methodologies to identify, measure and address marine plastic pollution sources and plastic leakage are available, including from IUCN.

More information

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Marine pollution and ecological degradation—issues and challenges

• Published: 16 April 2024

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• S. Krishnakumar 1 ,
• D. Satheesh Herbert Singh 1 ,
• Babu Nallusamy 2 &
• M. A. Mohammed Aslam 2  

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The marine environments are directly or indirectly connected with the total environmental conditions including bio-geo-hydro and atmospheres. The marine areas especially marginal marine areas including aquatic organisms were recently facing a lot of environmental crises. The discharge of large volumes of nitrogen and phosphorus is generally considered a common source of pollution in the marine environment, with inputs derived from various point and diffuse sources. The negative impact of these issues is most probably eutrophication and increases in the occurrence and severity of marine diseases (Strain et al. 2022 ). Pollutants such as pesticides, toxic elements, microplastic, and other persistent organic chemicals are previously unknown for their adverse environmental and health effects. Recent research has demonstrated that microplastic materials (MPs) taken up from the water column and sediments especially plastic particles between 1 µm and 5 mm can have physical, chemical, and biological impacts on organisms. These MPs can occur directly through ingestion or dermal uptake, especially through respiratory surfaces (gills). Exposure to MPs caused elevated mortality, increased inter-brood period, and decreased reproduction and physiological alterations such as decreased food consumption, weight loss, decreased growth rate, and fecundity and energy depletion (Zhang et al. 2021 ). The leachate materials such as catalysts, solvents, and additives leaching from plastic materials are possible to generate negative effects on biological systems.

Similarly, Pesticides and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons(PAHs) are toxic, teratogenic, carcinogenic, and mutagenic and they are still commonly detected in different environmental media these chemicals have an extremely long half-life and are also found from coastal beaches to the deepest ocean trenches (Jamieson et al. 2017 ., Zhao et al. 2017 ; Pradhap et al. 2021 ). Due to the extensive residues and the occurrences of these pollutants in the environment especially in marine matrixes and their direct or indirect health risks to humans, they have become global environmental pollutants that cannot be ignored (Qian et al. 2020 , Radhakrishnan et al. 2023 ).

The recent updates in this field are increasing scientific interest in the presence of newly identified POPs such as perfluoroalkyl and poly-fluoroalkyl substances, polychlorinated naphthalenes, flame retardants, and paraffins in in the marine environment. The eco-friendly and cost-effective method studies for marine pollution are more important to environmental sustainability and biodiversity health. To meet the objective of the SI, we have conducted the national seminar on “Marine Pollution and Ecological Degradation”—MPAED 2022 from the 27th to the 29 th July 2022. The topic of the special issue includes the Source, fate, and distribution of environmental contaminants in the aquatic environment including marine, estuaries, and brackish water environments, eco-toxicological and risk assessment studies on the marine environment, climatic change-related impact on the marine environment including extreme events and the introduction of novel contaminants and the national and International policies and Regulations for marine environmental pollution. The scientific meeting had 6 keynote presentations and 36 presentations. The special issue was invited for this scientific meeting to publish marine pollution and its impact on the ecological environment. Over nine research articles and one review article were included in this special issue. For example, Selvaraj et al. ( 2023 ) investigated the trace element concentration and environmental risk of Arasalar River Estuary sediments Tamil Nadu, India; Padmachandran et al. ( 2023 ) studied the microplastics in estuarine environment from Kavvayi and Kumbla backwaters of Malabar Coast, Kerala, India; Priyadharshini et al. ( 2023 ) discussed the baseline human health risk assessment due to consumption of dried fish in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India: a baseline report; and Nyambar et al. ( 2023 ) carried out the hydrochemistry, water quality, and pollution risk studies on urban lakes along the coastal region of Miri, NW Borneo. The outcome of the published research work in the conference proceedings and special issue perhaps promotes awareness about marine environmental pollution. The conducting of continuous awareness programs and scientific campaign movements along the coastal areas and common public is helpful and provides a good solution to these efforts. Further, we feel that the research papers of these SI probably create awareness about the marine pollution-related ecological impact and fulfill the scientific knowledge gap around research communities.

We, the guest editors, would like to thank the Editor-in-Chief of the ESPR Journal, the editorial assistant, and all the supporting staff for giving us this opportunity. We convey our special thanks to the Management of Malankara Catholic College, Mariagiri, Kaliyakkavilai, Kanyakumari District, for providing all the necessary facilities and moral support for this national seminar and during the progress of the special issue.

Jamieson AJ, Malkocs T, Piertney SB, Fujii T, Zhang Z (2017) Bioaccumulation of persistent organic pollutants in the deepest ocean fauna. Nat Ecol Evol 1(3):0051

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Nyambar INA, Mohan Viswanathan P (2023) Assessment on urban lakes along the coastal region of Miri, NW Borneo: implication for hydrochemistry, water quality, and pollution risk. Environ Sci Pollut Res 1–23

Padmachandran AV, Sreethu N, Nasrin F, Muthuchamy M, Muthukumar A (2023) Presence of microplastics in estuarine environment: a case study from Kavvayi and Kumbla backwaters of Malabar Coast, Kerala, India. Environ Sci Pollut Res 1–13

Pradhap D, Gandhi KS, Krishnakumar S, Neelavannan K, Radhakrishnan K, Saravanan P (2021) Baseline distributions and sources of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in reef-associated sediments of Vembar group of Islands, Gulf of Mannar, India. Mar Pollut Bull 171:112727

Priyadharshini M, Ahmed MS, Pradhoshini KP, Santhanabharathi B, Ahmed MFS, Alam L, Musthafa MS (2023) Human health risk assessment due to consumption of dried fish in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India: a baseline report. Environ Sci Pollut Res 1–14

Qian Z, Mao Y, Xiong S, Peng B, Liu W, Liu H, Qi S (2020) Historical residues of organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in a flood sediment profile from the Longwang Cave in Yichang, China. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 196:110542

Radhakrishnan K, Prakasheswar P, Pradhap D, Akramkhan N, Rajkumar A, Maheswaran S, P, Krishnakumar S (2023) A baseline study on polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHS) in surface sediments, Kerala Estuaries, West Coast of India. Total Environment Research Themes 100055

Selvaraj V, Pandu P, Saradhambal SR, Sankarappan R, Anandarao R (2023) An appraisal of trace element concentration and environmental risk of sediments: a baseline study of sediments from Arasalar River Estuary, Tamil Nadu, India. Environ Sci Pollut Res 1–16

Strain EMA, Lai RWS, White CA, Piarulli S, Leung KMY, Airoldi L, O’Brien A (2022) Editorial: marine pollution-emerging issues and challenges. Front Mar Sci 9:918984

Zhang C, Wang J, Pan Z, Wang S, Zhang L, Wang Q, Zou J (2021) A dosage-effect assessment of acute toxicology tests of microplastic exposure in filter-feeding fish. Fish Shellfish Immunol 113:154–161

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Zhao Z, Jiang Y, Li Q, Cai Y, Yin H, Zhang L, Zhang J (2017) Spatial correlation analysis of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) in sediments between Taihu Lake and its tributary rivers. Ecotoxicol Environ Saf 142:117–128

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Department of Geology, Malankara Catholic College, Mariagiri, Kaliyakavilai, Kanyakumari District, 629153, Tamil Nadu, India

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Department of Geology, Central University of Karnataka, Kalaburagi, 585367, Karnataka, India

Babu Nallusamy & M. A. Mohammed Aslam

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Krishnakumar, S., Satheesh Herbert Singh, D., Nallusamy, B. et al. Marine pollution and ecological degradation—issues and challenges. Environ Sci Pollut Res (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-024-33201-4

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Essay on Marine Pollution : Causes, Effects & Solutions

February 2, 2021 by Study Mentor Leave a Comment

Table of Contents

What is Marine pollution?

Marine pollution can be defined as the contamination of marine water, mainly big seas and oceans with pollutants and contaminants like industrial effluents, oil spills from huge vessels, chemical displacements, chemical spills, sewage etc.

Plastics, garbage, litter etc that we throw into our waste baskets ultimately end up in far off oceans, also contributing to marine pollution.

In general, pollution can be defined as any physical, chemical or biological agent that tends to contaminate the air, water and soil of an environment.

It has the ability to transform/toxicate the basic elemental components that degrade the natural balance of the ecosystem.

Pollution can be of various types, air pollution, water pollution, noise pollution, radioactive pollution etc. Aquatic pollution can be categorized into marine pollution and fresh water pollution.

Due to uncontrolled developmental activities, urbanization and various anthropogenic activities, there is dumping of hazardous waste directly or indirectly into marine waters.

Most of this dumping happens without our knowledge and thus directly or indirectly, we are responsible for the hordes of waste and dirt that set sail on far off ocean waters.

Sources of Marine pollution

• One of the biggest sources of marine pollution is the oil spill due to collision of oil tanks.
• A considerable amount of runoff from the excessive use of pesticides and fertilizers in fields is the second largest contributor to marine pollution.
• Oil exploration and shipping industries are also one of the major contributing factors of marine pollution. This, coupled with transportation of large amounts of crude oil from one place to another often results in marine pollution.
• Thermal power plants release huge quantities of hot water in bulk which in turn leads to thermal shocks and loss of insulation in aquatic animals.
• Natural processes like volcanic activity, tremors, and cyclones play a catastrophic role in accidental spillage of petroleum and oil.

We have for sure visited seas and oceans and admired nature and its beauty. The scenic waters, the boundless beauty of nature sure catches our attention when we visit a place tucked in the lap of nature.

Amidst all this, we even crib about the dirt that keeps sailing on ocean waters. Unknowingly, we ourselves are responsible for the throw of such dirt that is afloat on sea and ocean waters.

The garbage that we throw into collection points at home gets segregated at appropriate units and the wet wastes go into the dumping ground.

The rest of the dry waste heap is dumped at places in the outskirts of cities. With the forces of nature, they are gradually taken too far off, unknown places which ultimately land in sea and ocean waters.

This is what we find sailing on beaches, seas and oceans. If we are unable to see the dirt on waters, we can imagine how choking they must be to the marine life inside the sea water.

Let us remind ourselves that there is a world of life inside the marine waters, some of which we know and majority of which we don’t know.

The life under marine waters seems mysterious at the same time curious for the exploitative minds. We have been talking about how pollution causes disturbance to the ecology on land.

We have hardly thought about the creatures underwater.

If we dwell further into this topic, we would find that the life under ocean is very beautiful, at the same time threatened by man-made factors, killing and choking them to death.

Marine life was undisturbed till a certain time ago when oil spills became a normal thing, the spill of chemical wastes into big oceans was just another thing and there were no special attachments to it.

Hence we find the marine life disturbed by a whole lot of factors such as oil spills, chemical interferences, sewage contributions etc. These specific causes pollute the marine waters, thus causing huge damage to marine life.

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Effects of Marine pollution

• Natural pH of the water body is altered; therefore it does not support the aquatic flora and fauna.
• There is a reduction in the Dissolved oxygen in the aquatic system, causing asphyxiation.
• Aquatic fauna is suffocated as the hydrocarbons in oils clog the gills and other structures of fish.
• There is widespread contamination of commercial fish. When the spillage is over a large area, it creates a thin film on the sea surface called oil slick. It contaminates the internal organs of creatures and thus causes food poisoning upon consumption.
• Deteriorates the aesthetic value by water fouling and algal bloom.
• Loss of biological diversity and destabilization of food chains and food webs.

Let us just imagine that there has been an oil spill from a huge vessel and by the time the authorities wake up to the spill, it has already spread far and wide.

Since oil cannot dissolve in water, the surface of the water is seen colored badly with the spread of oil. The marine life under the spilled area is highly under threat.

The natural composition and constituents of water has totally changed and there is hardly any way the natural balance of marine water can be restored.

Nature takes its time to restore the natural balance of the good waters, so a significant damage has thus set in.

If we were given a glass of water mixed with cooking oil to swallow, would we be able to do it, I wonder.

It’s just not possible because the penetration of oil particles into water molecules alters the constituent composition of water and makes it an altogether different mixture.

So, water mixed with oil becomes a varied mixture, not rendering its natural efficacy.

Just a drop of such water kept on our tongue gives us such a bad feeling.

So, we should be able to understand how difficult marine life under such unfit waters should be living with. In short, marine life, once toxicated with chemical elements loses its natural beauty and it takes many years to restore the natural life balance again.

Solutions for marine pollution

• We can adhere to the 3R policy that is reuse, reduce and recycle our resources to reduce consumption and waste management.
• Organize a cleanup spree with awareness campaigns to highlight the importance of a clean healthy environment.
• Substituting jute bags over plastic bags.
• Consciously, reducing in the overall ecological and carbon print by carpooling, cycling, turning off the lights and fans when not in use.
• Commonly used method for an oil spillage is skimming; it is because the density of oil is lighter than the density of water because of which they can be easily separated.
• Usage of absorbents, natural absorbents like sponges can soak the contaminants leaving the area pollutant free.

We cannot avoid huge oil spills, because most of these incidences occur after taking enough precautions while transporting oil in vessels from one region to another.

We should at least take preventive measures and work towards reducing pollution in areas that we can achieve less toxicity and less contamination.

Such measures may include proper waste management systems, recycling of waste water for purposes like gardening, washing cars, etc.

Instead of channeling all wastes ultimately towards the oceans, we must give a thought to the life under waters too.

If we bring in a supported approach, a scientifically incubated approach that will drift away the accumulation of wastes away from marine waters, we would be successful in providing a second life to aquatic and marine creatures.

As per article 51-A, it is the duty of every citizen to protect and improve the natural environment including forests, lakes, rivers and wildlife.

The more we try to understand the functioning of such complex systems, the more we come to realize that these systems are systemic in nature and are interrelated and interdependent on each other’s components.

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Essay on marine pollution: sources, effects and control.

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Essay on Marine Pollution: Sources, Effects and Control!

Marine pollution is defined as the introduction of substances to the marine environment directly or indirectly by man resulting in adverse effects such as hazardous to human health, obstruction of marine activities and lowering the quality of sea water.

Sources of Marine Pollution :

a. Municipal waste and sewage from residences and hotels in coastal towns are directly discharged into sea.

b. Pesticides and fertilizers from agriculture which are washed off by rain enter water courses and finally to sea. India is estimated to use 55,000 tons of pesticides annually and about 25 percent of it is carried to-ocean.

c. Petroleum and oil washed off from roads normally enter sewage system and finally into seas.

d. Ship accidents and accidental spillage at sea can therefore be very damaging to the marine environment.

e. Off shore oil exploration also pollute the sea water to a large extent,

f. Dry docking: All ships periodic dry docking servicing; cleaning the hulls etc. during this period when cargo compartments are emptied, residual oil goes into sea.

g. Pollution due to organic wastes: When O 2 concentration falls 1.5 mg/L, the rate of aerobic oxidants reduced and replaced by the anaerobic bacteria that can oxidize the organic molecules without the use of oxygen.

h. Pollution due to oil: Crude oil is transported by sea after a tanker has unloaded its cargo of oil; it has to take on sea water ballast for return journey. This ballast water is stored in cargo compartments that previously contained oil.

During unloading of cargo certain amount of oil remains clinging to the walls of container and this may amount to 800t in a 200,000t tankers. The ballast water thus contaminated with oil. When fresh crag of oil is to be loaded these compartments are clean with water which discharges the dirty ballast along with oil into sea.

i. Tanker accidents: In the natural process, a large no. of oil tanker accidents happens every year. Sometimes this can results in major disasters.

j. Volcanic eruptions in the sea.

k. Deep sea mining is a relatively new mineral retrieval process that takes place on the ocean floor. Ocean mining sites are usually done at about 1,400 – 3,700 meters below the ocean’s surface. The vents create sulfide deposits, which contain precious metals such as silver, gold, copper, manganese, cobalt, and zinc. These raise questions about environment damage to surrounding areas. Removal of parts of the sea floor will result in disturbances to the benthic layer, and habitat of benthic organisms. Beside from direct impact of mining the area, leakage, spills and corrosion would alter the mining area’s chemical makeup.

Effects of Marine Pollution :

a. Apart from causing Eutrophication, a large amount of organic wastes can also result in the development of ‘red tides’. These are phytoplankton blooms because of which the whole area is discolored.

b. Commercially important marine species are also killed due to clogging of gills and other structures.

c. When oil is spilled on the sea, it spreads over the surface of the water to form a thin film called as oil slick. This damages marine life to a large extent. Commercial damage to fish by tainting which gives unpleasant flavor to fish and sea food reduces market values of sea food and causes death of birds through its effect on feathers. Birds often clean their plumage by pruning and in the process consume oil which can lead to intestinal, renal and liver failure.

d. For salt marshy plants oil slick can affect the flowering, fruiting and germination.

e. Organic waste addition results in end products such as hydrogen sulphide, ammonia and methane which are toxic to many organisms. This process results in the formation of an anoxic zone which is low in its oxygen content; from which most life disappears except for anaerobic microorganisms and renders the water foul smelling.

f. The coral reefs are the productive ecosystems offer many benefits to people. These coral reefs are threatened by (a) the sediments from deforestation carried by the runoffs, (b) the agricultural and industrial chemicals reaching through river discharges. To mention an example. River Ganga is estimated to carry 1.5 billion tons of sediments due to deforestation and intensive farming in India, Bangladesh and Nepal through which it flows to Bay of Bengal.

g. Drill cuttings dumped on the seabed result in the production of toxic sulphides in the bottom sediment thus eliminating the benthic fauna.

Control Measures of Marine Pollution :

a. Introduction of sewage treatment plants to reduce BOD of final product before discharging into sea.

b. Cleaning oil from surface waters and contaminated beaches can be accelerated through the use of chemical dispersants which can be sprayed on the oil.

c. Load on top system reduce oil pollution cleaned with high pressures jets of water.

d. Crude oil washing: The clingage is removed by jets of crude oil while the cargo is being unloaded.

e. Skimming off the oil surface with a section device.

f. Spreading a high density powder over the oil spill, so that oil can I be sunk to the bottom.

Related Articles:

• Speech on Water Pollution: Sources, Effects and Control of Water Pollution
• Essay on Water Pollution: Sources, Effects and Control of Water Pollution

Marine Pollution

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Earth Day 2024: Planet Vs. Plastic

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Born in 1970, Earth Day has evolved into one of the largest civic events of all time. When we observe the 54 th Earth Day on April 22, the health and safety of the planet couldn’t be timelier, especially when it comes to dealing with the proliferation of plastic.

Over the past 60 years, around eight billion tons of plastic has been produced, according to a recent study in the journal Science Advances — 90.5 per cent of which has not been recycled . As a result, this year’s Earth Day theme— “Planet vs. Plastic”— demands a 60% reduction in the production of all plastics by 2040.

Just how big of a challenge is this? What type of numbers are we talking about? Here’s some perspective:

• In 1950, the world produced just two million tons of plastic. We now produce over 450 million tons .
• Half of all plastics ever manufactured have been made in the last 15 years.
• P roduction is expected to double by 2050.
• More than one million plastic water bottles are sold every minute.
• Every year, about 11 million tons of plastic waste escapes into the ocean.
• Only 9% of plastics ever produced has been recycled.
• Plastics often contain additives that can extend the life of products, with some estimates ranging to at least 400 years to break down.

Plastic is literally everywhere

An advertisement from the American Plastics Council in a 1997 edition of the New Yorker suggested that plastic wrappers and containers were the “sixth food group” that were there to keep contaminates out of our food.

Close up shot of microplastics on a hand.

In a twisted type of irony, Microplastics are now in almost everything and everywhere. Even in in much of the food we eat and water we drink! Microplastics are tiny particles of plastic (from ½ inch to microscopic) is synthetic that never disappears. As Stephen Jamieson recently explained in a Future of Supply Chain podcast, “We're ingesting a credit card size worth of plastic every single week as humans, and the real health impacts of that, we don't truly know and don't truly understand.”

What is the world doing about it?

In the Podcast, Stephen discussed the upcoming fourth session of the United Nations Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee he is attending in Ottawa, Canada from 23rd to the 29th of April. The goal is to develop an international legally binding instrument on plastic pollution, including in the marine environment, that will, as Stephen stated, “by early next year, actually ratify a new treaty at the United Nations to eliminate plastic pollution by 2040”.

What can businesses do about it?

Think about optimizing your entire supply chain for sustainability, rather than just individual functions.

For example, you may be pulling certain levers in your design processes, or manufacturing plants, only to realize that the sustainability gains in that process are offset by much a much larger negative impact on logistics or at the end of life of a product.

Perform Life Cycle Assessments on your products

A Life Cycle Assessment is a method for the compilation and evaluation of the inputs, outputs and the potential environmental impacts of a product throughout its life cycle (ISO standard 14040).

In simple terms, it’s a way by which you can understand the sustainability footprint of a product throughout it’s full lifecycle, from “cradle to grave.”

By enabling product footprints periodically across the entire product lifecycle, you can gain insights on the environmental impacts of your products across the entire lifecycle for disclosure and internal product and process optimization.

Design with end of life in mind

As Earthday.org says, “We need to invest in innovative technologies and materials to build a plastic-free world”.

And this starts with how we design products and packaging material in the goods we manufacture and deliver. The sooner we phase out all single use plastics, the better. We need responsible design and production solutions that facilitate a product and package redesign that enables companies to engage in the circular economy and reduces waste without sacrificing quality.

Enforce compliance at each step of the product lifecycle

If you look at most companies’ website for their mission statement or purpose, sustainability is front and center. And supply chain sits right in the middle, both as a major contributor to the problem, and a major opportunity to improve.

But you can’t manage regulatory and sustainability requirements, track registrations and substance volumes, classify products, and create compliance documents, as well as package, transport, and store hazardous materials properly with accurate labeling you won’t be able to measure how you are performing.

This takes a stepwise approach to:

Record: The first step is to gather all necessary ESG (Environmental, Social and Governance) data along the entire value chain. This data cannot be found easily in one single system. Currently this is a highly manual and therefore time consuming effort compounded by data quality challenges.

Report: There are more than 600 ESG frameworks/standards out there and they are being constantly developed further (Take the evolving plastics taxes across Europe for example). The requirements for companies are constantly changing. A high effort is required to keep up with the current requirements to report along the respective regulatory & voluntary frameworks.

Act: In many companies sustainability action is already happening but in many cases this this is still partly disjoint from the strategy or not yet covering all business processes

What can we as individuals do about it?

The reality is that everybody has a role to play in the “Planet vs. Plastics battle, and the sustainability of the planet in general.

Little things like using reusable bottles and straws and bringing reusable bags to the store are great first step.

You can also go to earthday.org to learn more about the battle between planet vs. plastics, and find an event near you where you can help clean up the planet.

Let’s make every day Earth Day, to protect this beautiful rock we live on for future generations.

To learn more, listen to The Future of Supply Chain Podcast – Earth vs. Planet .

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Climate Doom Is Out. ‘Apocalyptic Optimism’ Is In.

Focusing on disaster hasn’t changed the planet’s trajectory. Will a more upbeat approach show a way forward?

Credit... Photo Illustration by Doug Chayka

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By Alexis Soloski

• April 21, 2024 Updated 3:18 p.m. ET

The philanthropist Kathryn Murdoch has prioritized donations to environmental causes for more than a decade. She has, she said, a deep understanding of how inhospitable the planet will become if climate change is not addressed. And she and her colleagues have spent years trying to communicate that.

“We have been screaming,” she said. “But screaming only gets you so far.”

This was on a morning in early spring. Murdoch and Ari Wallach, an author, producer and futurist, had just released their new PBS docuseries, “A Brief History of the Future,” and had hopped onto a video call to promote it — politely, no screaming required. Shot cinematically, in some never-ending golden hour, the six-episode show follows Wallach around the world as he meets with scientists, activists and the occasional artist and athlete, all of whom are optimistic about the future. An episode might include a visit to a floating village or a conversation about artificial intelligence with the musician Grimes. In one sequence, marine biologists lovingly restore a rehabbed coral polyp to a reef. The mood throughout is mellow, hopeful, even dreamy. Which is deliberate.

“There’s room for screaming,” Wallach said. “And there’s room for dreaming.”

“A Brief History of the Future” joins some recent books and shows that offer a rosier vision of what a world in the throes — or just past the throes — of global catastrophe might look like. Climate optimism as opposed to climate fatalism.

Hannah Ritchie’s “Not the End of the World: How We Can be the First Generation to Build a Sustainable Planet” argues that many markers of disaster are less bad than the public imagines (deforestation, overfishing) or easily solvable (plastics in the oceans). In “Fallout,” the television adaptation of the popular video game that recently debuted on Amazon Prime Video, the apocalypse (nuclear, not climate-related) makes for a devastated earth, sundry mutants and plenty of goofy, kitschy fun — apocalypse lite.

“Life as We Know It (Can Be),” a book by Bill Weir, CNN’s chief climate correspondent, that is structured as a series of letters to his son, centers on human potential and resilience. And Dana R. Fisher’s “Saving Ourselves: From Climate Shocks to Climate Action” contends that the disruptions of climate change may finally create a mass movement that will lead to better global outcomes. Fisher, a sociologist, coined the term “apocalyptic optimism” to describe a belief that humans can still avoid the worst ravages of climate change.

In confronting the apocalypse, these works all insist that hope matters. They believe that optimism, however qualified or hard-won, may be what finally moves us to action. While Americans are less likely than their counterparts in the developed world to appreciate the threats that climate change poses, recent polls show that a significant majority of Americans now agree that climate change is real and a smaller majority agree that it is human-caused and harmful. And yet almost no expert believes that we are doing enough — in terms of technology, legislation or political pressure — to alleviate those harms.

Intimations of doom have failed to motivate us. Perhaps we will work toward a better future if we trust that one, with or without mutants, is possible. When it comes to climate catastrophe, is our best hope hope itself?

‘An Impatient Optimism’

For the past 50 years, and perhaps even before, most imaginative projections of the future have seen it through dark glasses, as World’s Fair-style visions of jet packs and gleaming cities gave way to arid landscapes populated by zombie hordes and rogue A.I. The appeal of a dystopia, in terms of entertainment, is obvious. The stakes — the survival of humanity — are enormous and the potential for action vast. There have been occasional utopian inventions, such as Kim Stanley Robinson’s extraordinary 2020 climate change novel, “The Ministry for the Future.” But in most cases, a future of environmental responsibility and cooperation, with or without jet packs, rarely makes for a best seller or a blockbuster.

Paradoxically, it was the likes of “The Hunger Games” and the “Mad Max” franchise that inspired Murdoch, the wife of James Murdoch, the former chief executive of 21st Century Fox, to create “A Brief History of the Future.” One day, her daughter, then 16, surprised Murdoch by telling her that she didn’t feel there was a future to look forward to. The books, films, television shows and graphic novels the girl consumed all took a dim view of humanity’s chances. None imagined a future more hopeful than the present. So Murdoch and Wallach, partners in Futurific Studios, set out to sketch one, which they hope to follow with video games and fiction films. Two graphic novels are already in the works.

The goal for “A Brief History of the Future” wasn’t to ignore climate change or other seam rippers of the social fabric but, in classic Mr. Rogers style, to look to the helpers. “There’s a huge amount of focus in the news and storytelling in general on what could go horribly wrong,” Murdoch said. “What I really wanted to highlight was all the work that’s happening right now to make things go right.”

This was also Ritchie’s project. A data scientist by training, she began her career overwhelmed by climate pessimism. That feeling of hopelessness took a personal toll and a professional one, she believes, interfering with her ability to turn her mind toward solutions. Scientist colleagues who had once needed to push back against the public’s climate skepticism were now facing people who believed in a coming global catastrophe perhaps too much.

“There’s been a really rapid shift in the narrative, from almost complete denial to, Oh, it’s too late now, there’s nothing we can do, we should just stop trying,” Ritchie said.

Anger, fear and sorrow might motivate some people, Ritchie said. But they hadn’t motivated her. Her book, which emphasizes the progress that has already been made (clean energy) and the progress that might still be made (increased crop yields), is a deliberate alternative, participating in what she calls “impatient optimism.” Doomerism is not only a bummer, she argues, it’s also a cliché.

“The more negative slant, it’s already been done a million times,” she said.

But a bummer may be what we deserve. Climate activism has scored the occasional win — a reduced hole in the ozone layer, the comeback of the California condor. Still, any sustained inquiry into the challenges we face in the future, and even right now, as the world warms faster than predicted, offers a gloomier prospect.

To emphasize a cheerier one, examples tend to be cherry picked or gently massaged. A section in Ritchie’s book argues, correctly, that deaths from extreme weather events are fewer than they were in the past. But this section all but ignores the fact that extreme weather events are becoming more severe and more frequent, a trend that will continue even if harmful emissions are slowed. And it ignores any deaths from extreme heat, which Ritchie attributed, in conversation, to the insufficiency of the data.

The journalist Jeff Goodell has studied that data. The title of his recent book, “The Heat Will Kill You First: Life and Death on a Scorched Planet,” suggests a more sober perspective. (In conversation, he described himself as broadly bullish about the climate crisis, which came as a surprise.) He wanted to use his storytelling, he said, not necessarily to inspire hope or even anger, but to communicate what the planet faces. “Because you can’t talk about solutions until you understand the scope and scale,” he said. He is also skeptical, he said, of much of the sunny, solutions-minded messaging.

“It makes it feel like climate change is like a broken leg, “ he said. “With a broken leg, you’re in a cast for six or eight weeks. You suffer some pain, then you go back into your old life.” He doesn’t believe that’s the case here.

“We’re not going to fix this,” he said. “It’s going to be how do we manage to live in this new world.”

Imagining a Better Future

The fixes on offer in these recent works tend to be of the techno-futurist variety, trusting in human ingenuity. “A Brief History of the Future” also offers squishier solutions — empathy, community, trust. Sacrifice (unhopeful, unsexy) is rarely mentioned, or it’s the kind that a person in relative economic comfort can feel good about: eating less red meat, driving an electric car.

“Not the End of the World” is almost determinedly apolitical, though there is one mention of a populist campaign to ease air pollution and a polite reminder to vote for leaders who support sustainability. “I deliberately wanted to make this a very nonpartisan book,” Ritchie said. Introducing specific policies might have alienated some readers. “I feel like that would split my audience when I want to try to bring them together,” she said.

The desire to engage audiences across the political spectrum also motivated Murdoch. While there is one brief interview with President Emmanuel Macron of France and another with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg, the series is far more comfortable when discussing rewilding or kelp farming. “If we’re going to get there, we need everybody,” Murdoch said. “So part of this is to try to not have it be about politics, but really to be about the future.”

Can a better future arrive without political intervention? Fisher doesn’t think so. Her book, “Saving Ourselves: From Climate Shocks to Climate Action,” which she describes as a “data driven manifesto,” posits a world in which climate shocks become so great that they spur mass protest and force government and industry to transition to clean energy.

“It’s the most realistically hopeful way to think about where we get to the other side of the climate crisis,” she said.

That realism imagines a future of food scarcity, water scarcity, climate-spurred migration and increasing incidences of extreme weather. Fisher also predicts some level of mass death. “There’s no question that there are going to be lives lost,” she said. “Already lives are being lost.” Which may not sound especially optimistic.

But Fisher’s research has taught her to believe in, as she terms it, “people power.” She has found that people who have had a visceral experience of climate change are more likely to be angry and active rather than doomy and depressed.

“The whole point of apocalyptic optimism is being optimistic in a way that actually helps get us somewhere,” she said. “It’s not shiny and rosy and like cotton candy. It’s a bitter pill. But here we are and we can still do something.” In this sense, hope is a spur, a prod, an uncomfortable goad. And imagining a better future is a brave and even necessary act.

Storytelling — whether through fiction, documentary, data science or sociology, and however optimistic — might seem a limp response to the climate crisis. Narrative won’t stop coral bleaching or the leaking of methane from Arctic soil into the atmosphere. But it’s a tool that’s available, cheap and endlessly renewable. And as a society, we will not act on climate change until we’re convinced that our action is useful and urgent.

“In order to build a better world,” Ritchie said, “you need to be able to envision that one is possible.”

Alexis Soloski has written for The Times since 2006. As a culture reporter, she covers television, theater, movies, podcasts and new media. More about Alexis Soloski

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