Are oceans dumping grounds?????

After I went through my earlier posts i felt the need to elaborate on each and every resource which we have polluted and i don't understand the reason why our political leaders couldn't understand an issue as simple and as grave as this.We drive cars, run factories and pollute Earth in every possible manner. But Earth has such a composition that it made alternatives to curb every possible mischief that we humans do. We pollute and Earth has got its own way of absorbing this pollution and it do this with the help of oceans. 25 percent of CO2 that we emit is being absorbed by oceans. But this is one of issues which should raise an alarm and is to be discussed about. To make a beginning first let me post definition of ocean pollution or marine pollution. As taken from Wikipedia,
"Marine pollution occurs when harmful effects, or potentially harmful effects, can result from the entry into the ocean of chemicals,particles, industrial, agricultural and residential waste, noise, or the spread of invasive organisms."


On giving a closer look i could easily interpret that when we drive car, burn crackers, run factories, dispose chemical wastes, spray pesticides it is the oceans which in the end suffer. so elaborating on each point here are the various causes of ocean pollution:

1. Easily said it is the emitted carbon dioxide and other gases which pollute ocean water thereby increasing the carbon content.
2. There are case of ship accidents and oil spills which are major polluters of sea.
3. Factories dump chemical wastes without treatment into seas and oceans.
4. Its the household waste, plastics and other sewage lines that directly mix with ocean water.
5. pesticides that are sprayed on to the crops are finally washed off into the oceans.

So these were some of the common pollutants. But the effect that they have on the sea life and through the food chain on to the land animals and humans is devastating. Lets discuss some bad or adverse effects on the ecosystems caused by ocean pollution:

1. pollution due to any source cause large amounts of lead and other harmful chemicals and metals to be injected into the sea. it pollutes water and sea plants and when these consumed by sea life pollute them as well. We might have not been affected by disruption of sea life but we need to understand that it is ultimately we human beings that consume large quantities of polluted sea food which is disastrously harmful for human health causing immense range of diseases.
2. Pesticides that are washed off into the oceans water along with the toxic metals can lead to serious mutational and dna changes thereby making entire food web susceptible to all possible diseases.
3. Oceans act as carbon sinks but when such huge amount of carbon is fed into oceans its capacity to absorb carbon will definitely decrease and will thus lead to global warming and we very well know the dangers of this as we have so called copenhagen meets to solve this grave issue.
4. in oceans we have a twilight zone where very few marine life survives because it is at greater depth where pressure is much higher along with low oxygen content ans very less sun light. But toxic metals and increasing carbon content has nearly wiped out this marine life and many species are endangered.
5. Most of the marine life lives in sunlight zone(where there is ample oxygen and sunlight). But when these are affected the precious marine life living in midnight zone(bottom of sea) where there are no plants and all surviving creatures are predators, their food chain is got to be disturbed and we know marine life has got a major role to play in maintaining balance of nature.
6. Lastly, the acid rain and increasing carbon content pose grave risk to the precious corals. Increasing acidification of seas and oceans will destroy corals and will seriously affect the ability of sea fish to form sea shells.

SO what we can do to contribute from our side in preventing ocean pollution. Apart from trying to reduce pollution and planting more and more trees we can:

1. to control the amount of waste water we produce.
2. recycle plastics, recharge batteries, use minimum water and try to be more accommodating like encourage car pools.
3. Force governments to set norms for industries to treat their chemical waste before being dumped into the sea or be ready to face huge fine and cancellation of license.
4. Help in cleaning beaches by forming groups and communities.
5. Make sure that only rain goes down the stormwater drain without mixing with sewage.
6. Ensure that any household chemicals and substances such as paint or oil are disposed of properly. Many local authorities have special collection points that can help to avoid these chemicals polluting the water supply.
7. Look out for environment friendly cleaners and detergents.

It is very important that we understand the need to save ocean life. We ought to learn to live green Because it is said that it is never too late but in this matter of saving earth if we do not show urgency then we surely will have to regret deeply and will be toooo late!!!!!!!!