Ocean Pollution

Water Pollution: In our Oceans SCI/275

Introduction

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The sea is a wondrous place exhibiting an everlasting unique beauty that has impressed and captivated our civilization for many years. Since the days of books and novels depicting great tales of sea creatures that inhabit the oceans mysterious depths there has always been a connection that has sparked our interest and drive to explore and learn more about this underwater environment. The ocean is filled with living creatures that depend on a healthy environment that is free from obstructions and pollutants in the water. These past few years the Earths environment has seen a more wasteful and uncaring society that has contributed to high levels of mass pollution. This pollution has carried over into our lands, our skies, and most importantly our waterways. The Earths surface is seventy percent water; of the seventy percent only three percent is considered drinkable; of the three percent only one percent of the water is available to the worlds population since the remaining two percent is frozen.

Pollution in Our Waterways There are many types of pollution, which are all man-made of course, that can seep into and infect our waterways. Some of the more major types of pollution are organic pollution, toxic waste, runoff, agricultural pollution, and thermal pollution. The pollution epidemic is growing worse everyday as the worlds population continues to grow. In some cities where the population of people living is already in the millions, sewage treatment plants have started running into problems regarding the overabundant amounts of waste being produced; this makes it hard for the sewage treatment facilities to maintain sewage levels over their normal amount; this is when raw sewage begins to leak, from faulty lines and overflowing, into water supplies and possibly polluting our drinking water. Another form of water pollution that is spreading rapidly is trash,

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sludge, and waste being dumped into our oceans by way of cruise ships, container boats, and transoceanic vessels. Although these types of pollution are well known, these vessels can also cause noise pollution that disrupts marine life while beneath the surface of the ocean; noise pollution can be anything from propeller and engine clatter to low frequency sonar that makes marine life feel uneasy and produces an uncomfortable sounding pitch that drives sea life crazy. Container vessels have been known to lose over 10,000 containers a year due to storms, capsized vessels, and ship malfunctions. These types of pollutions have definitely made it hard on ocean life and will eventually cause catastrophic disaster regarding the trash and waste that is floating and polluting areas of the ocean from all parts of the world. The continuing pollution will only bring harm to our way of life and the survival of our species. Pollution can be prevented in the open seas, but only through awareness and producing options that will help control the pollution problem before it is too late.

Cruise Ship Pollution Cruise ships have been known to produce some of the most pollution a sea vessel can make due to the fact that these ships are like floating cities that can accommodate nearly 5,000 people. These cruise ships can produce tons of hazardous waste daily and have been known to expel hundreds of thousands of gallons of waste, grey water, and black water. Raw sewage, or black water, is pumped directly into the ocean where it pollutes and kills sea and plant life living beneath the surface.There are many other different types of waste, other than raw sewage, that is being dumped into the water by cruise ships; little is being done to keep these cruise companies honest and abide by the rules on the open sea. Governments have yet to come down hard on the

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major offenders that pollute our oceans and by not taking action only supports the hazardous operations that these cruise ships commit on a daily basis. There are many activists that support more laws, in the United States, governing the abuse sea fairing vessels take out on the ocean environment; a federal law was passed in the early 80s that regulated effluent discharges and industrial waste being dumped into North American rivers; this is a law that many activists have been trying to get the United States Government to pass regarding ocean areas within the U.S. boundaries. As of today, the States of California, Maine, and Alaska have implemented regulatory actions against any sea fairing vessels, regarding pollution, to protect air quality and the ocean environment; since the regulatory actions were implemented the State of Alaska, has seen fewer numbers of violations for both air quality and dumping of waste by cruise ships. Although, there are States like Alaska, California, and Maine, supporting a cleaner ocean environment, there are still a number of states that have not passed laws or regulatory actions against violators that are still free to do as they please. There is still much to be done, not only in the United States but the entire world, when it comes to regulating the pollution of our oceans. Until then, cruise ship violators will continue to dump waste and bilge into the open ocean with total disregard for the sea life and ocean environment that is dying off as a result every day. The activists and environmental groups supporting an ocean environment free from pollution seems to be the only voice, at this time, coming to aid in this world wide effort.

The Major Players

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There are many organization that support sea life and the ocean environment, but there are some organizations that stand out because of their efforts to establish a means for an ocean free from pollution. Some of the major organizations that not only support efforts to create a pollution free ocean environment are: World Wildlife Fund (WWF)WWF has been around for 45 years and is the worlds leading conservation organization. The WWF works in over 100 countries and has nearly 1.2 million members in the United States, and has over 5 million members worldwide. The WWF is a well-funded organization that spends most of their funding on projects dealing with the conservation and preservation of nature. y Greenpeace - Greenpeace is one of the most well known conservation organizations, mainly due to their non-violent protests regarding the death of animals and violations against nature. With over 2.9 million members worldwide and established in 41 countries Greenpeace is one of the leaders in the fight for not only natures survival, but our survival as well. y The Nature Conservancy The Nature Conservancy is one of the oldest conservation organizations, at age 60, and is considered to be one of the top advocates for nature amongst all of the conservation organizations. The Nature Conservancy Organization is not only made up of environmentalists, nature enthusiasts, and many scientists as well. The Nature Conservancy Organization is set up in over 30 countries and has 1 million members. This organization has an outstanding track record when it comes to using donated funds to aid in their fight for nature. y KAHEA KAHEA is based in Hawaii and is one of the smaller conservation groups focused on the conservation of nature, especially the preservation of our oceans and the

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sea life that inhabits it. One of KAHEAs main focal points is to rid the oceans of cruise ship pollution and waste mismanagement. There are many other conservancy organizations that, along with the four groups already mentioned, have pushed for a worldwide awareness to support the preservation of our oceans and the sea life that inhabits them. These groups have called for government and heads of countries to maintain a tighter grasp on sea fairing vessels and their open sea activities; mainly polluting.

Government Involvement The United States Government, along with the rest of the governments from around the globe, have been trying to create a solid prevention program that encompasses the worlds pollution problem, primarily regarding the oceans. There are many governments that have been paying close attention and regulating the amount of pollution coming from sea fairing vessels, mainly cargo and cruise ships. The United States is long over due for a change in the system governing the amount of waste that is dumped into the sea by cruise and cargo vessels. The Clean Water Act (CWA) of 1972 was set up by the Federal Government of the United States to control water pollution. There are many that feel that the Clean Water Act can use a definite overhaul or a new bill with more stricter guidelines and repercussions regarding the mass pollution of waste coming from cargo and cruise ships. The Pacific Ocean Pollution Prevention Program (PACPOL) is set to be the primary reduction unit, which will offer surveillance and possibly reduce the amount of waste and pollution that is given off by sea fairing vessels, has recently updated their primary scope of operations. PACPOL will be working mainly in the Pacific and South Pacific region of the ocean and will be acting as the primary security in the

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region, whose job is to regulate and cite any blatant offenders.Through the efforts of groups like PACPOL and the governments of the world making their own regulations regarding the evergrowing pollution problem in our oceans, we will be able to see definite change in our oceans.

The Plan for Pollution Prevention My plan would be for the governments of the world to create a worldwide trash buy-back program, primarily involving the ships and sea fairing vessels that navigate our oceans. The trash can be used to make fuel in huge digesters that turn the waste into a natural gas; gas that can be used to provide us with the electricity for our homes. The digesters are being used as we speak; these digesters are a brainchild of Dr. Ruihong Zhang, who is a Bioenvironmental Engineer at the University of California Davis. The digester that Dr. Ruihong devised was a new kind of digester that can be built to be any size depending on the operation. The digester is the first digester that uses two different strains of bacteria in two different tanks (see figure 1).

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Figure 1 Detailed diagram of the digester turning waste to natural gas.

The process would normally take a long time to complete, but microbiologists have come up with a way to separate the process into two stages making it faster to produce natural gas. These digesters can even be made big enough to fuel an entire processing plant full of smaller digesters making fuel at the same time. As time goes on there will definitely be newer digesters and products that can fulfill the needs of a society that is out of control where pollution is concerned. Waste from ships is produced by the tons in some cases (see figure 2). There are approximately 47,228 ships in the world that are guilty of creating ballast water and pollution active on the open sea. There are If a purposed digester and buy-back plan was presented to the governments of the world the sheer tons of waste could possibly be used for energy for our homes; just one ton of waste can fuel and provide electricity for 25 homes in one day.

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Figure 2 - Distribution of deadweight in the world fleet.

Deadweight refers to the amount of cargo or payload stored on the ship; there is a group of numbers that is located on the front and sometimes rear of the ship that measures the cargo in storage. Sometimes these ships overload their hold and violate the amount of weight allowable to keep from riding too low and possibly hitting the ocean floor in some shallow areas. This type of neglect and uncaring way of managing is what causes hazards to become reality.

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The result would be that there could possibly be more environmentally conscious human beings fueled by incentives, mainly capital, to keep from polluting and killing an already dying ocean environment. At the same time, we could also be producing an alternative fuel used to support our cities, businesses, and living environment. The neglect we have shown our waters can be healed and cared for if the majority of those dumping waste into our waterways make immediate changes that will allow for a healthier environment. Of course, our governments would have to get involved and create a message that is serious and educational; this message will be part of the awareness process that will ultimately be centered around the fact that our civilization may not survive if the carelessness continues by polluting our oceans. Through a worldwide movement every country along with every conservation organization and their countrys governments full-fledged involvement is the only way that this plan willwork. If we can achieve worldwide support we might just be able to save our oceans and waterways.

Conclusion The ocean is slowly dying and hazards lurk around every corner, especially if those who continue to litter the ocean with man-made pollutants show no signs of stopping. Our neglect and lack of response to all of these tragic events, including the recent disaster in the Gulf, should be cause for concern as the slow death of the ocean can easily be sped up due to a continuation of total disregard for the warningsigns in front of us. The sea life and under water environment has been here a lot longer than humans and history tells us that we are not the only species that has walked the Earth eating and using all of the worlds natural resources; in fact, the one species,

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specifically dinosaurs were spit out and ended up on the planets last known visitors lists; this could easily be us if we do not start to make the appropriate changes to help preserve and replenish the Earths natural resources. We must all pull together, governments, organizations, and the entire earth, as one and stop dumping hazardous waste back into the environmentor we too will be remembered, by the next species in line, as a civilization that was mysteriously wiped out by a single massive destruction.

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References

Greenpeace International. (2010). Greenpeace. Retrieved from http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/publications/reports/greenpeace-andthe-dumping-of/

Hull, R. (2006, September). Cruise Ship Waste. Canadian Journal of Health and Nutrition, 287(154). Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.

Kahea. (2010). KAHEA The Hawaiian-Environmental Alliance. Retrieved from http://www.kahea.org/cruiseships/

Katsioloudis, P. (2010). Green Ships: Keeping Oceans Blue. Technology Teacher, 69(5), 5-9. Retrieved from Academic Search Complete database.

The Nature Conservancy, (2009).The Nature Conservancy. Retrieved from http://www.nature.org/initiatives/freshwater/files/iie_issue10_eng.pdf

World Wildlife Fund. (2010). WWF. Retrieved from http://Greenpeace International. (2010). Greenpeace. Retrieved from http://www.greenpeace.org/international/en/publications/reports/greenpeace-andthe-dumping-of/

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