The impact of human society on the ocean ecosystem. In relation to man made waste and the chemical imbalance caused by increased disposal of waste into the oceans
Scientists estimate that the Earth has been around for more than 4-billion years. In that relatively short timeframe by universe standards, our planet has witnessed more changes take place than any other body in our solar system. Once a desolate place, the Earth was uninhabitable, nothing thrived here but water and ice which almost covered the entire planet. Eventually, climate changes and some geological events produced an environment in which life slowly started to grow and adapt.Over the course of 4-billion years, life of all types has roamed our planet. From the dinosaurs before us to our hairy ancestors, the apes, Earth has been the home of many species. Of all the steps among the evolutionary scale, humans are without a doubt the most deadly to our loving mother. Apes walked upright and became men before the tectonic shifting of the plates moved continents to where we now know them to be on our globe. We were all in one relatively small area as humans. Our species evolved with a few key characteristics and dispositions. We needed to eat, be safe, and procreate. They were early mans only concerns.
As the years passed, the Earth slowly started to fill up with people. As the thinking-man became king of the evolutionary chart, humans started to divide, conquer, and inhabit all the continents in the world. From humble beginnings to over 6-billion people on today’s planet, we’ve caused more than our share of harm to the Earth’s natural resources. People produce waste; it’s just a byproduct of living. Both human waste which occurs naturally through the ingestion and digesting of food, and man-made waste like plastics and chemicals that we dump into the oceans.
Our oceans absorb a great deal of the carbon dioxide and other pollutants being dumped in them. But pollution levels of our entire Earth system are reaching beyond carrying capacity. As the human population has increased, so has the deterioration of the Earth’s ocean ecosystems. Over two-thirds of the major cities in the world are built along the coastlines, and millions of people visit them each year. Pollution from developed areas drains into the oceans and kills marine life, threatens our health as humans, causes toxic algae blooms and forces beaches to close which has effects on the shorelines and the economy.
Our large population is destroying coral reefs and coastal habitat which are vital for breeding, food and shelter of the marine species. Vast amounts of pollutants are draining into our waters every day from human consumption. Ocean currents can carry pollutants far from the point of entry and further out in the ocean where different species consume and absorb them. Pollutants have caused major declines in species, and are threatening the Earth’s ecological stability; and therefore, threatening our life-support system.
We consume and dump a lot of harmful things into our oceans. We do so with reckless abandon and most of us refuse to face the facts. We can’t treat our planet so utterly terribly without facing consequences for our actions. The evidence is already there, and it is enormous. Ocean water is not a never-ending filter. Just because the bodies of water are extremely large, doesn’t mean they will absorb and cleanse themselves. Just imaging putting a little drop of bleach or another harsh chemical in a gallon of drinking water, would you still want to drink it? Imagine the harm it’s causing the marine life. Our oceans are littered with chemicals and other pollutants that are turning the water acidic and resulting in damaging acid rains. This chemical imbalance could, in theory, correct itself if given enough time. But the pollution must stop.
The list of things we dump into our oceans is large. Some of the toxins include: Sewage, toxic chemicals, pulp mill and manufacturing wastes, soaps, fertilizers, detergents, litter and refuse disposal, oil spills and leaks, runoff, radioactive wastes, plastics, and much more. All of these things are contaminating our oceans at an alarming rate. The fresh water, which makes up only about 3% of the Earth’s water, is also being polluted by these dangerous items. It is too much in excess of what the natural filtering and recycling systems can sustain. As some hazardous chemicals are banned locally and or worldwide, many other chemicals continue to be developed and dumped which cause harm to our oceans and its natural ecosystem.
When you think about man-made waste, you must think of things like huge cruise ships. These ships are like floating cities out on our oceans. Imagine the cumulative effect of what gets dumped into our oceans from ships that carry close to five-thousand passengers. If you calculate the more than half a million passengers that take these ships in just one summer season cruising the Alaska’s Inside Passage dumping over 200,000 gallons of wastewater daily, that’s millions of gallons a year. The world is full of cruise ships which do the same thing each year; they are all contributing factors to our problem of pollution. Ships carry non-native species and pathogens in their ballast waters and discharge them in water at destination ports. These exotic species can take over the native species and cause catastrophic harm and completely change the marine ecosystem and biodiversity.
We also litter the oceans with plastics and nets. Wildlife is dying from litter and uncontained trash improperly discarded by people. Plastic drink holders are killing fish and other animals like birds that are part of the oceans ecosystem. Marine animals sometimes mistake debris for food and they can swallow them or become caught and die. Debris and trash can be carried downstream in our rivers and endanger all life on its way to the ocean where it will drift along the ocean currents for years to come. Plastic floating in the ocean can resemble marine life like jellyfish. As a result, many creatures like the leatherback turtle can die from mistaking the plastic for its favorite food.
We dump approximately 7 billion tons of litter into our oceans annually. About 60% of that is plastic. Plastic items can take up to 20 years to decompose. That’s a very long time to have so many murder weapons in our ocean. Along with the waste dumped in by humans, it’s a wonder that our oceans can even support life. With the amount of abuse we dish out, they should have become inhabitable years ago. It won’t be long before they are.
Tags: chemical, ecosystem, inbalance, oceans, Pollution, seas
