Ocean Pollution: |
My first idea is the broad topic of marine pollution. Only up until recently in history did people assume that the ocean was so big that it didn't matter how much garbage we dumped in it. The phrase people used was, "The solution to pollution is dilution". Now we can see that diluting the waste by dumping it in the ocean is the worst thing to do because of all the dead zones showing up in the ocean. These dead zones are where no life can survive at all due to all the pollutants in the water. Pollutants can get in the marine ecosystems in many different ways and forms. Some of the more common ways the water gets polluted are due to pesticides, herbicides, chemical fertilizers, oil, detergents, sewage, and plastics. Since these pollutants can't break down quickly, they travel down to the bottom of the ocean where they are consumed by small organisms. These small organisms are eaten by larger predators and now the pollutants are in the marine food chains. So, it is not just the water we are polluting, it's the life in it too. Because we eat a lot of fish and other marine life, we are also being polluted because the food we are consuming is polluted. Another way the ocean is being contaminated, is because of the nitrogen-rich fertilizers we are using to farm. The run-off water from the fields with the nitrogen soil is going into the streams, which go into bigger bodies of water which eventually leads to the ocean. These nitrogen rich waters create an algae field which blocks the sunlight in the water causing a dead zone where no life can live. Since our civilization is becoming more and more aware of the dangers of ocean pollution, the government has made laws that say dumping any waste in the ocean is now illegal. Once more people start to become aware of this law, I think the pollution in the ocean will go down drastically. #saveourwaters