Pollution In Ocean Environmets Essay Research Paper

Pollution In Ocean Environmets Essay, Research Paper

Pollution in Ocean Environments

The ocean is a fragile ecosystem that must have a element of constancy

to ensure that life can continue. The plants and the animals alike depend on

the ocean and it is being destroyed by toxins from human activities.

Pesticides like DDT are lethal to the animals in the ocean if given in large

enough amounts and in some areas there is enough DDT to do just that.

Sewage left untreated or improperly treated has the same effect as DDT. The

chemicals that come out of the sewage system in the right amount will kill the

plants and animals in the area. Industry is a vital part of the way we live, we

need electricity and all of the other goods industry provides. But industry

cause major environmental problems to the ocean. There are safe practices to

using pesticides that would reduce if not eliminate the problem. Also the

proper treatment of the sewage and industrial wastes would reduce the

amount of toxins released into the ocean.

Pesticides are a major problem to the environment, but they are also

very important to keep crop yields high. The pesticides reach the ocean

primarily through the tributaries of large rivers that eventually empty into the

ocean. The pesticides get into the rivers by runoff or wind deposition.

Pesticides have regulations that must be followed when spraying your crops

to ensure less runoff, but there was no such regulations in the past. Farmers

could spray their field with as much pesticide as they felt it required, so

obviously they sprayed on a lot. They did not relize that spraying more

pesticide than was necessary is less effective as spraying a proper amount.

This caused the ground water to become polluted with the pesticides and the

pesticides would ultimately end up in the river. When a heavy rainfall occurs

there is a lot of sediment erosion and water runoff. In this sediment and

water runoff pesticides are carried and get into the river systems. The chart

below shows the volume of pesticides used in the United States in different

activities in millions of pounds of active ingredients (Mellanby, 153).

Herbicides Insecticides Fungicides Other Total

Agriculture 525 225 51 60 861

Industrial 115 40 21 0.1 176.1

Home/Garden 30 35 12 0.1 75.1

Total 670 300 84 60.2 1112.2

That is in millions of pounds of the active ingredients only. That is a lot of

toxins being used in the United States and how much was properly stored,

applied and disposed of. Improper use occurs a lot, whether it is a spill or

aplying too much people do not properly use the chemicals and it ends up

hurting the environment. The pesticides that are used are made to be as

dilute as possible to prevent toxins escaping. The pesticides might need to

become stronger now because the pest have become resistant to the pesticide.

There are 428 arthropods, 36 weeds and at least 90 plant pathogens that are

resistant to pesticides (Mellanby, 125). If the pesticides do not effect the

pests then they are going to have to make new pesticides that will be stronger.

Sewage flows into coastal waters all over the world and in many places

it is left untreated. In Hartlepool, England 300 million gallons of untreated

sewage enters the sea every day (Raw Sewage, On-line). This causes a

problem because the sewage that is released untreated carries organic waste

and nutrients, and disease causing bacteria. Organic waste and nutrients

cause oxygen depletion in the water, this is called eutrophication. Nutrients

such as nitrogen and phosphorus provide algae and other aquatic plants with

perfect environment for growth. The plants then overpopulate the area and

when they die the decomposers take oxygen from the water causing fish to

die in excessive amounts because the environment is not suitable for life.

Also eutrophication cause the water have algae slime and other aquatic plant

to wash up on shore or float on top of the water and there by making bad

aesthetics. This causes many places that have relied on the water for tourism

and a source on income to go out of business. Disease causing bacteria

require the closing of beaches and shellfish beds. There has been many cases

of people getting viral hepatitis, cholera, typhoid fever and many stomach

and intestinal diseases from eating bad shellfish or swimming in areas with

high levels of bacteria. In 1993 beaches were temporarily closed over 2400

times in the Unites States because of high bacterial levels (Raw Sewage, On-

line). Many U.S. states monitor bacterial levels in the water and a few others

do not and there are many cases of sickness. The problem of unmonitored