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Pollution at Sea The Impact of Human Activity on Earth’s Oceans What is pollution? • • • • Chemicals and waste products Introduced by Humans Damaging to environment Sickens or kills living organisms Types of Marine Pollution • • • • • Sediment Agriculture Energy Sewage Solid Waste • Industry (chemicals, metals, radioactivity) • Oil • Biologicals Major Marine Pollutants • 10 billion tons of ballast water – Chemicals – Invasive Species • 10 billion gallons of sewage, annually • 3.25 million metric tons of oil annually • Millions of tons of solid waste Metals • Mercury, Lead and Copper have been introduced by human activity – Enter Food Chain – Toxic to organisms with neurological centers – Humans release 5X Hg, 17X Pb as is derived from natural sources • • • • Electric utilities; steel & iron manufacturing Fuel oils, additives, & combustion Incineration of urban refuse; land runoff; and dust Paint from ships, shipwrecks, and ship refuse Solid Waste • Non-biodegradable Plastic – 400 year molecular decomposition – 46,000 pieces of floating plastic/mile2 of ocean surface off the northeastern U.S. coast – Kill 100,000 marine mammals & 2 million sea birds annually • Sea Turtles – Plastic bags look like jelly fish – Cause internal blockages • Sea Lions & Seals – Entangled by nets & muzzled by 6-pack rings – Starve to death Oil Biological • International Maritime Organization’s Top 10: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. 10. Cholera Cladoceran Water Flea Mitten Crab Toxic Algae (R, G, B tides) Round Goby European Green Crab Asian Kelp Zebra Mussel North Pacific Seastar North American Comb Jelly Where does it all come from? • Land – 80% of non-biological marine pollution – Pipes discharge sewage, industrial, chemical, and food processing wastes – Runoff • Air – Acid precipitation – Dust and other aerosols • Maritime – Ballast water (legal and illegal dumping) – Designated dumping (munitions, sewage, ash, muds) – Accidental spills of hazardous and non-hazardous materials Impacts of Marine Pollution • Ecosystem and Public Health – – – – – Eutrophication Mutagenic Carcinogenic Toxicity Saprogenic (bacterial decay) • Recreational Water Quality • Economic Viability – Mechanical issues with engines, pumps and propellers Cost of Marine Pollution • 3.25 million metric tons of wasted oil (Jamaica uses 3.4 million metric tons of oil annually) • 100,000 mammal and 2 million bird deaths annually • Reduction of GDP by decreasing fishery resources and lost tourism earnings • Loss of biodiversity and potential life saving medicines Solutions to Pollution • Correction – costly and time intensive – Cleaning up what is there – May be virtually impossible • Prevention – change in attitudes – Not adding to the problem – Stiffer laws and consequences “We can no longer view our waste as someone else’s problem. We must think of it as a resource to use in a new and different way. In nature, nothing is wasted, everything is recycled.” • Reduce Consumption & Waste • Support a variety of Research & Engineering solutions • Encourage Policy-making • Planning of Marinas and Harbors • Bioremediation • Closed-system treatment of all storm runoff and sewage