Reagan TungFong

1-29-18

Ocean Pollution

Water covers more than 70% of our planet. Life revolves around water, it

helps feed the world and provide for millions of lives. We all have to understand that

the ocean’s resources are limited. If we don’t protect the ocean it will eventually be

gone. The ocean is home to most life on Earth, from microscopic algae to the largest

animal on earth, the blue whale. The ocean is threatened by pollution because of

people and sometimes natural causes. In order to protect this other world of life, we

must raise awareness to stop polluting the oceans. It seems to be an easier and

cheaper solution to just use the ocean as a toxic waste dump hoping that the ocean

can filter or recycle itself. Warming temperatures and overfishing are also negatively

affecting ocean waters and marine life. If we don’t act quickly, the sea will have to

suffer the consequences, then the world that we live in may not be as great a world

for our children as it was for us.

Before Columbus’s day, People assumed that the oceans were endless, but he

has proved that to be incorrect. Even In the 20th-century people still, believe the

ocean has unlimited resources because of its vast size. It’s only recently that

scientists have come to understand the devastating effects that we have done to our

oceans natural resources. In fact, every day the single-use plastic bags, water

bottles, drinking straws, and all kinds of plastic waste among 40,000 tons of garbage

from the major cities of America alone are dumped in the ocean. We witness this

pollution crisis happening all around the world. Currently, there is only very little

protection for marine life even though our global fish population is a critical source of

food for millions of humans. Overfishing is also a huge threat and can destroy the

balance of the ocean’s ecosystem all over the world. The chemical waste from
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commercial tankers, container ships, offshore drilling, and oil spills have a heavy

impact on the health of marine life as well. This directly affects humans health

through the food chain.

Life began in the ocean millions of years ago. But for a very long time, we have

taken the ocean for granted, acting as though it has immutable systems and infinite

resources. We have continuously polluted the oceans waters. This trend has not

decreased but instead, it has increased as time passed. The amount of waste is

likely to increase by an order of magnitude by 2025. We throw about 140 million tons

of plastic into the ocean. Most ocean life is killed by new chemical products that are

not only toxic but also keep displaying the same outcomes wherever they end up.

We must protect the seas and help the ocean heal. If we truly understand and

respect the ocean it will help us safeguard all life on earth.

The management of plastic clearly needs to change. “We currently only have 14

percent of plastics get recycled’’ according to a report from Guardian Sustainable

Business in 2015. First of all, we need to start lowering the production of plastic and

begin educating people to cut back the usage of the plastic bags. If we teach our

children to use less plastic and recycle more, it will help improve the environment.

Let us stop abusing our natural resources for even the ocean has its limits.

In conclusion, ocean pollution is a global problem in the world that risk many

organisms. It is important to think seriously to solve all pollution in the sea because it

is a place to keep marine species alive. Encourage recycling and reinforce the law,

use polluter pay principals, take individual action to use environmentally friendly

material. Also, we all have to consider that the ocean is one of the important

sources for humanity. If the ocean is polluted and or contaminated, it will directly
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cause an impact on human health and marine organisms as well as cause habitat

destruction for many living creatures. And we can take action as countries and

continents to make the world less polluted. By working together, we can make

pollution less of a problem, and the world a better place.