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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 realize 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 applying 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 decomposer's 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 bacterial levels is not as obvious in first world countries as in the third world countries. There are many outbreaks of disease because of the underdeveloped governments do not monitor the levels of bacteria.
Industry shapes the life of every person on this planet. The goods we buy are from industry and about everything we owned is manufactured in one way or another. These industries are vital but the vastness in which they pollute is amazing. Acid rain is formed when acids such as sulfuric and nitric acid react with water vapor in the air. Then when it precipitates this acid falls to the ground or water. When the precipitate hits the ground it will run into a body of water and if not directly then eventually in to the ocean.
The effect that acid rain has on the ocean is devastating it kills fish by poisoning them. The direct discharge from factories release many types of untreated toxins into the ocean. Some toxins that are released are PCBs, chloroform, arsenic, lead, and mercury. These toxins cause aquatic life forms to die. Also in one case Beluga whales, which are 1 / 3 fat, absorb the toxins into their fatty tissue and into there milk, which is fifty percent fat, and passed to the calves (Brand, 46).
This cause many deaths to young Beluga whales and to other marine mammals. Fish also readily absorb mercury which causes them to be unfit for human consumption. Power plants that use water to boil and turn a turbine to produce electricity release this water after it has been boiled with limited cooling and the hot water disrupts the marine life around the outlet. Proper application and choice of pesticides would reduce the amount of pesticides that are released into the ocean greatly.
There are regulations that are made by the federal and the provincial government that regulates the use of pesticides and sets out guidelines to follow when applying pesticides. There is a new way of applying pesticides that is called Chemigation. Chemigation is basically applying pesticides through an irrigation system. Some advantages to Chemigation are uniform distribution of pesticide, reduced mechanical damage to crops, and reduced operation hazards (Stanley, On-line). This process allows the farmer to apply exact amounts so pesticides are not over used and spills are less likely.
Runoff can be minimized by the use of GIS and GPS systems to produce a three dimensional computer image of your land and there by locate problem areas that precautions should be taken. This sort of a program is going on in Iowa and is funded by the government (Havens, On-line). Sewage treatment would greatly reduce the amount of harmful nutrients that cause eutrophication. There are many different way that different areas of the world go about reducing the release of nutrients into bodies of water. This is another use for GIS and GPS systems to produce three dimensional computer images that can allow us to better observe the extent of eutrophication. This project is being used in the Chesapeake Bay area (Eutrophication, On-line).
In California they are using marshes to filter partly treated sewage and the water that flows out on the other end is cleaner than the water that it is flowing into. The marsh cleans out the water and uses the nutrients to grow more algae which is good for marsh areas. In Nova Scotia they are treating sewage naturally. They are using large clear cylinders to hold snails, fish, and plants such as cattails and irises.
The irises and cattails absorb toxic chemicals and the snails eat the growth on the sides of the cylinders so sunlight can penetrate the glass and allow the plants to grow (Redwood, On-line). Industry contributes a lot in water pollution, but there are things that can be done to eliminate a lot of it. In the case of acid rain industries can install scrubbers to remove some of the acids from the exhaust being released. Also the waste that is release directly into the water can be treated by treatment plants that add chemicals that are antagonistic to the harmful chemicals and offset the effect.
The pollution in ocean environments is a serious problem that must be addressed immediately. There are ways to reduce each of the problems that have been discussed. Pesticides can be used in smaller amounts, better pesticides developed, and proper methods used. Sewage can be treated before it is released to reduce eutrophication. Industrial waste can be reduced by proper treatment and uses of pollution control devices such as scrubbers.
If each of these problems are addressed quickly and properly than the ocean could be on its way to being clean and flourishing once again.
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