Trash in our Oceans
Alex Chu
Trash in our Oceans
First and foremost, an endless flow of trash into the ocean will affect the health of humans and wildlife alike as well as compromise the livelihoods that depend on a healthy ocean. Trash and debris such as fishing gear, straws, and plastic bags pose a deadly threat to marine life. Fishing gear can trap helpless sea turtles and cut through flesh of whales, while plastic bags are easily mistaken as food and consumed by animals. Straws can be hazardous in that they cab get stuck in a nostril, blowhole, an eyesore even a throat.Each year an estimated 8 million metric tons, or 17 billion pounds, of plastic flows into the ocean.
"There are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris in the ocean. Of that mass, 269,000 tons float on the surface, while some four billion plastic microfibers per square kilometer litter the deep sea."
80% of ocean trash is a product of land based sources including the items listed above plastic bags, straws, bottles plastics that are used once and then discarded can end up in the ocean. Marine based pollution accounts for 20% of ocean trash, coming from marine vessels, cruise ships, and ocean-based industry such as oil rigs. Not surprisingly, 75% of land based ocean plastic is from uncollected waste that makes its way to waterways eventually reaching the ocean. The other 25% comes from waste that was collected but escaped the system. If we don’t change our lifestyles soon, there could be one ton of plastic for every three tons of fish in the ocean by 2025.
The idea of trash in the ocean is intrinsically associated with giant islands of trash floating in remote places, never reaching life-forms again. Contrary to popular belief this is entirely not the case. Not only does ocean plastic and debris span from the water’s surface all the way to the sea floor, but it fragments into small microplastics—plastic particles smaller than five mm in diameter. Think of microplastics like a posting to the web. Once you put something on the internet it is there forever, no matter how buried it may seem to get. Plastic that reaches the ocean is the same. Although it may seem to have disappeared, it has really only continued to breakdown into smaller and smaller pieces that will infiltrate the marine ecosystem for the foreseeable future.
"It is estimated that 1.15 to 2.41 million tonnes of plastic are entering the ocean each year from rivers. More than half of this plastic is less dense than the water, meaning that it will not sink once it encounters the sea"
What would you do to change trash in the oceans in the beach?How would you do it?And who would you do it with?For what causes would you pick up trash on our oceans?Stop using straws save the turtles!
"It is estimated that 1.15 to 2.41 million tonnes of plastic are entering the ocean each year from rivers. More than half of this plastic is less dense than the water, meaning that it will not sink once it encounters the sea"
(Questions)
1.How do you imagine fish living in conditions with trash around them everywhere they go?
2.what would you do to stop littering on beaches and oceans?
3.Were you surprised that by 2025 that for 3 ton of fish that there would be 1 ton of trash?
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18 comments:
With all the trash in our oceans, fish cannot live their normal lifestyles. Fish should not have to have plastics and other trash inside thier body and die because of it. Even other life outside oceans such as seagulls may have plastics bottle holders end up choking them because of humans. Although I or my peers do not live near an ocean, our litter can reach the oceans very easily. I hope to convince my family and friends to stop littering and pick up trash we see around because soon we could make an impact. Even one person being mindful of their trash can make a small impact on ocean life, as less trash is going in from the day before. Hopefully we can stop the trash from reaching marine life all together. The fact that 2025 is close to 5 years away and the state of our ocean is like this shocked me. The ocean should be teeming with life, not trash. As a class and society, we can do our part to stop this statistic from even happening by disposing plastics and trash properly.
Just because we do not live next to ocean does not mean we cannot pollute it. Whenever we throw gum wrappers on the ground or discard a plastic bag, it can eventually end up in the ocean no matter how far inland we live. The trash finds it ways to the sewers at a certain point and manages to get to the ocean. While a single gum wrapper or plastic bag might not be much, when hundreds of thousands of people throw away trash daily, it builds up and destroys the marine ecosystem. Therefore, we should be more aware about the consequences of our daily actions and work together to help save marine life.
The fact that 80% of ocean pollution comes from land-based sources, although alarming, is not surprising. Humans have been using plastic for years now, and still do not realize the consequences of being careless with their waste. Oceans are increasingly getting worse, consequentially harming the marine habitats and all of the sea animals that live in them. If this rate of pollution continues, the damage will cross a point of return. The most effective and efficient way to bring about change is for the leaders of the world to pass legislation and implement regulations. Of course, it is necessary that humans cut down on the amount of plastic they use everyday as well. Now, is the time to change, and help the ocean and the entire Earth.
Fish in the ocean should be surrounded by life and nutrients, not gum wrappers or plastic. The statistics that support the idea that trash will take over the oceans is not only alarming, but it is also not surprising. Every day, especially when driving around, we see litter in the streets. While some cities have a much higher amount of litter than others, every bit of trash on this Earth could potentially end up in the ocean. The marine life should not be killed due to inhaling or ingesting plastics. Despite having only a few years before this problem becomes exponentially worse, we still have time to fix the mistakes of others. We can enforce the rules more, and have more areas for people to recycle and trash items. Though we cannot stop the laziness or the lack of trash locations that is associated with littering, we can try to slow is down enough to save the marine life.
It is upsetting that our marine life have a habitat that is so polluted and destroyed. Fish will and already are being affected by these pollutants and it is causing them to lose life. In order to better control the situation, I would propose to limit the use of single-use plastics and to better protect the cleanliness of our oceans. Now these statements do bot sound nearly harsh enough paired with the fact that "by 2025 for every 3 tons of fish there will be 1 ton of trash" which is insane to think of. I thought that our seas/oceans were polluted but not to that extent!
I find it to be upsetting that the ocean is this polluted, because the root of the cause lies in the responsibility of one species...human beings. If the behavior continues, a huge portion of marine life will die and we have very little time to reverse the issue before it becomes worse. First, we must work to clean the ocean, I suggest promoting incentives for those who work towards cleaning the ocean and also using inventions like the SeaVax (a solar powered boat that vacuums plastic particles out of bodies of water it also packs an 150 ton holding tank) and micro plastic removing rover. We then pass harsh penalties on those who litter near the ocean and even harsher fines and deductions on companies that do so.
This problem has become a near epidemic. We realized the oceans getting more and more dirty a long time ago, yet we have only allowed the problem to get worse. This says a lot about the current state of what we are doing here on earth. Instead of solving major issues that affect the entire planet, we are too caught up in our own internal issues. A polluted ocean hurts so many different systems and things that go on here on earth, yet isn’t being actively fixed by any organization or country. That’s outrageous and needs to be addressed.
Through the description of the seventeen billion pounds of plastic in the ocean per year, you were able to effectively demonstrate the difficulties these marine organisms live through each and every day. Our inability to clean up after ourselves, specifically something as simple as a straw, has led to detrimental effects in marine life. To us these minute pieces of trash do not seem like much, but in reality, they have proven to add up to 5.25 trillion pieces in the ocean. As 80% of the ocean’s trash comes directly from land, it is important to target the people who allow this to happen. Learning about the environment should be a must in school and even required to those past that point. The only way to allow people to understand the damage they cause by littering is to support their growth in knowledge of our environment’s state.
The comment about the fishing gear made me think about a different kind of debris that went into the ocean. I normally thing about normal trash or pollution from beaches being the main issue, but the old, lost, or destroyed fishing gear made me think about how industries affect the oceans and how it is not just individuals. The industries of the world need to make an effort to help preserve the oceans and the animals that live in them. If that is not enough, they need to think about how it will eventually come back to hurt humans and our way of life on the mainland. The oceans and the land of Earth are connected wether we realize it or not, and companys, ships, and other industries that use the ocean need to take better care of it.
With the big amounts of trash in our oceans, fish aren’t able to live in there regular conditions because this pollution of plastic and other trash can kill fish. Oceans are increasingly getting polluted, and harming aquatic life and land animals as well. The most effective way for people to stop littering is if the government can pass a law on this issue. Yes, I was surprised of this stat, however, now we should take action and start to be cautious of our surroundings and not litter.
One of the worst things about plastic in the oceans is that the plastic will ultimately stay in our oceans for thousands of years because they are not biodegradable and take very long to break down before it doesn’t cause any harm to the environment. Since the plastic pieces are so small, they infiltrate the ecosystem, and it’s not until the plastic pieces start affecting humans that we start to care so it’s important to care for our oceans otherwise we will end up hurting ourselves with our carelessness with how we handled things that harm the environment.
People do not realize how much of an effect they have on ocean trash and marine life, especially those of us living inland. However, we all DO affect the oceans’ ecosystems even if it is not directly, and we need to be conscious of this and act accordingly. If the general public was more aware of not only the consequences but how to dispose properly and reduce waste, we could make great strides towards cleaning our oceans.
Since there is so much trash in our oceans and waterways, fish have to adapt to this new lifestyle. They sometimes mistake plastic and trash as food, and die from eating these things. If I could change littering by the oceans I would have people patrolling the oceans daily picking up trash, and giving people fines for littering. This would help because people will be less likely to litter if they get a fine, and more trash would be picked up. I was very surprised that for every 3 tons of fish, there would be 1 ton of trash in the ocean by 2025, which is only a few years away. It is important for humans to start taking care of the ocean, and to stop littering because one day it will all be gone.
The amount of trash in our oceans is astronomical, and it’s not only affecting specific animals but entire food webs. Species are dying because people don’t know how to dispose of trash properly. One little piece of trash might not seem like anything at first, but as soon as it builds up, many consequences follow. It's not up until this moment where people start to have concerns and try to do something about it. It takes species dying and populations disappearing for the problems to catch people's eyes. If we don't start cleaning our oceans and restricting our waste, we will be living in a world full of filth.
Your comparison between the internet and the trash that we throw into the ocean is very true. Just like how the stuff we post stays forever, trash stays in the ocean forever without us even knowing about it. As trash continues to pile up day by day, more and more marine animals die. If we don’t learn to control the amount of trash that is disposed and if we don’t control littering, the surplus of trash in the ocean will soon lead to major consequences that cant be fixed. We should start trying to save the ocean now instead of putting it off until later.
Trash continues to purge our harbors drifting into the mouths of marine life. Fish living in these conditions most likely have conditioned themselves to adjust to the growing amounts of trash in their habitats which should not be the case. The trash clogs their habitats making it difficult to navigate freely. Often times, people litter due to a lack of trash cans in sight. Setting up sporadic trashcans by trees and rocks could lessen the amount of littering, so people know where to throw away their trash. No it does not surprise me. The amount of litter that appears even in the streets of the city is enormous. The beach is yet another major attraction area in which people bring trash but no intention of throwing it away.
Your topic is very similar to Eric’s. However, you have made it clear that it is not only plastics that destroys the ocean’s habitats and ecosystems, but just trash in general. Makes people think twice before throwing anything away. Moreover, the fact that there is an overwhelming amount of trash in our oceans that creates a floating island is just awful. Your concept of posting something on the internet and micro plastics in the ocean is very eye opening. Great analogy! All in all, it is apparent that trash in our oceans is just bad news and good for literally nobody; with so much trash in the ocean, I will participate in the act of reducing, reusing and recycling.
I imagine that the marine life’s living condition are horrible. If I had to love surrounded by trash, I would be miserable. I would provide trash cans that close so trash won’t come out. I would also pick up the litter, to prevent further littering. I wasn’t surprised by those numbers, just because people are still using plastic in everyday life.
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