Ocean Pollution: Is it really a big deal?
You and I are part of a delicate time in Earth’s history that is sure to be remembered as a critical turning point for humanity.
We’re constantly reminded of our daily choices and their impact on the environment. Every action we make has an immediate consequence, and though that has always been true, it’s a more tangible sentiment in today’s age than in the past. The fruits of our labor are either contributing to the goal of a healthier planet or they’re counting against it. As a species we no longer have the luxury of belated consequences and it’s detrimental for tomorrow’s child to assume there won’t be any consequences at all.
Our oceans are in a steady and rapid state of decline.
For far too long our oceans and its inhabitants have borne the brunt of our throwaway culture. Sylvia Earle, a National Geographic explorer-in-residence since 1998, comments “Fifty years ago, we could not see limits to what we could put into the ocean, or what we could take out. Fifty years into the future, it will be too late to do what is possible right now” (Earle, 2012). Earle has spent over 7,000 hours underwater during her career and even more time exploring as a child in coastal Florida. This gives her a unique perspective of our ocean’s past, present and future.
Plastic pollution is perhaps the most obvious and most documented form of ocean pollution but wait! There’s more.
Toxic metals, petroleum, fertilizers, pesticides, manufactured chemicals, agricultural runoff, industrial waste, and sewage make up the rest of our pollution problem. These various types of man-made pollution found an unlikely friend in the warming waters of our planet and have begun altering the chemistry of seawater and littering every part of the food chain in our oceans; it is crucial that we don’t forget who is at the top.
So, how does the ocean’s declining health affect us humans beyond just plaguing our conscience?
I’ll start with the easiest target: plastic.
If you find yourself dismissing the notion that plastic waste is a big deal, or if you’re minimizing the work of those who are demanding we stop using plastics altogether to an act of greenwashing, think again.
We now know the dangers of exposure and ingestion of plastic. There have been substantial increases in the number of BPA-free products on the market due to research findings that suggest many health issues are caused by BPA exposure. Plastics are composed of many different toxic chemicals that make it more durable. These chemical components include many carcinogens, neurotoxins, and endocrine disruptors and they’re proven to interfere with hormones, cause cancer, birth defects, and reduce fertility (McGlade, Landrigan, 2021). In short, because we are eating the marine animals that are eating the plastic pollution, we are increasing the amount of microplastics in our bodies. The number of plastics detected in the human body, young and old, have already reached an alarming level due to our everyday interactions with plastic. Any additional exposure to these harmful chemicals is damaging to our health.
It’s estimated that there are at least 10 million tons of plastic waste entering the ocean every year. In addition to the plastic that’s already there, that’s a massive annual increase.
Every piece of plastic that’s ever been created still exists somewhere; imagine how much the ocean has swallowed.
Naturally, plastic eventually breaks down into microplastics as it reaches the ocean, and this has recently proven to be far more problematic and threatening than previously understood.
Last year scientists conducted a study by measuring the amount of microplastics in the waters off the coasts of the UK and the US. They used nets that were made of a finer mesh than what is typically used to collect microplastics and discovered that there is a much higher concentration of microplastics than zooplankton per cubic meter. What’s scary is these same scientists say there are even smaller microplastics than those they were able to collect. In an article that references this research, Damian Carrington points out “Plastic pollution is known to harm the fertility, growth and survival of marine life. Smaller particles are especially concerning because they are the same size as the food eaten by zooplankton, which underpin the marine food chain and play an important role in regulating the global climate” (Carrington, 2020).
So, not only do we have to worry about microplastics affecting our health due to eating contaminated fish, but if they’re triggering a decline in planktonic species what does that mean for our fragile climate?
Toxic metals pose a great threat as well.
Mercury is the most recognized and concentrated toxic metal in the ocean and it’s a byproduct of burning coal
Mercury vaporizes when coal is burned and ends up in our atmosphere, therefore eventually ending up in the ocean via the water cycle. Pregnant women are instructed to avoid eating fish that may contain high levels of mercury such as tuna or swordfish and this is because when exposed to mercury in utero, developing brains are subject to irreversible damage such as reduced IQ, autism, and ADHD. When adults are exposed to mercury, they are more likely to develop heart disease and dementia (McGlade, Landrigan, 2021).
Photo by Win McNamee
One of the forms of ocean pollution we’re perhaps more familiar with, petroleum spills, has a much greater impact on marine life than what you may imagine. Flashbacks of Dawn dish detergent commercials may come to mind, or pictures of animals covered and suffocating in oil, but the organisms it affects the most are perhaps the most important to human health.
When there is an oil spill, the microorganisms that produce most of the oxygen on Earth have an incredibly difficult time photosynthesizing and converting CO2 into oxygen.
Photo courtesy of EPA
Sylvia Earle, who is also a marine biologist and oceanographer, explains “Planktonic species, as well as seagrasses, mangroves, kelps, and thousands of other kinds of algae and ocean organisms do the heavy lifting in terms of taking up carbon dioxide and water via photosynthesis, producing sugar that drives great ocean food chains, and yielding atmospheric oxygen along the way. As much as 70 percent of the air we breathe is produced by underwater life” (Earle, 2012).
This exact point is the one we ought not forget. Protecting the health of our oceans should be just as important as protecting rainforests and countering deforestation.
Industrial waste, agricultural runoff, and sewage are types of pollution in the ocean that all contribute to loss of marine life and harmful algal blooms like red tides, brown tides, and green tides.
These types of pollution are immediately damaging to marine life the same way they’d be harmful to humans if we were to keep them on land.
Ciguatera and domoic acid are the main powerful toxins that accumulate in fish and shellfish during the harmful algal blooms that result from this type of ocean pollution. When theses toxins are ingested they cause dementia, amnesia, paralysis, and even rapid death. Therefore, people are instructed to avoid the beaches during these outbreaks. If these toxins are ingested via sea spray, they will cause asthma (McGlade, Landrigan, 2021).
Furthermore, a byproduct of CO2 emissions that is not often discussed, is ocean acidification.
Dr. Triona McGrath is a chemical oceanographer and postdoctoral researcher at the National University of Ireland, Galway who has studied ocean climate change since 2008. In her TED talk she reports,
“There has already been an increase in ocean acidity of 26 percent since pre-industrial times, which is directly due to human activities. Unless we can start slowing down our carbon dioxide emissions, we're expecting an increase in ocean acidity of 170 percent by the end of this century” (McGrath, 2017).
McGrath and her colleagues experimented how marine life will cope with these projected pH levels and the results were shocking.
During these experiments they exposed pteropods and healthy tropical corals to the increased pH levels they’ve projected. The pteropod’s shell dissolved after 45 days and the coral was nearly completely dissolved within 6 months. McGrath further explains, “Coral reefs support 25 percent of all marine life in the entire ocean. All marine life. So, you can see how ocean acidification is a global threat” (McGrath, 2017).
Ocean acidification has only been documented and studied in recent years. It is a topic that is not widely understood and advocated against, but it’s an important aspect of CO2 emissions that should not be overlooked.
Though the research is sobering, there is still room for hope.
Countries around the world have contributed to the goal of healthier oceans, including the United States, but it is imperative that we demand more to be done. We must be more progressive with our actions.
We’re all aware of the climate crisis we’re in, yet you’ll likely find that people tend to have very different perceptions of the severity of it. Some individuals are simply in denial of the impending doom we’re facing and refuse to accept any responsibility, and there are others who understand and are troubled by the thought of what we’ve gotten ourselves into, but they’re at a loss for what should be done about it. A smaller group of people are those who have the power to create systemic changes through new policies and the correction of environmental injustice, and these are the officials who need more recognition and support.
Knowledge is power and it’s up to people like you and me, people who care deeply about our oceans and our children’s futures, to bring more power to the people through environmental advocacy.
References
Carrington, D. (2020, May 22). Microplastic pollution in oceans vastly underestimated – study. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/may/22/microplastic-pollution-in-oceans-vastly-underestimated-study
Earle, S. (2012, September 19). The sweet spot in time: why the ocean matters to everyone, everywhere. VQR. https://www.vqronline.org/essay/sweet-spot-time
McGlade, J., Landrigan, P. (2021, February 1). Why ocean pollution is a clear danger to human health. The Conversation. https://theconversation.com/why-ocean-pollution-is-a-clear-danger-to-human-health-152641
TED. (2017, June 19). How pollution is changing the ocean’s chemistry [Video]. YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KJPpJhQxaLw&t=5s
