Death, Destruction, Devastation of our Oceans
The beauty of ocean life is so fragile that a single act can have devastating consequences. Many living creatures need water to survive including human beings. We share the world with many elegant, exotic, glamorous, and colorful animals, however, some selfish and greedy corporations are destroying our environment, contaminating our oceans and polluting the air. Due to their inconsiderate actions the diversity of our oceanic ecosystem is slowly being eliminated.
Oceans have many functions, some of which include: being the habitat of many sea creatures, providing 80 percent of the air we breathe, absorbing the carbon dioxide human- beings produce, and most specifically regulating the weather and temperature worldwide
Scientists have found a big garbage patch in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. This patch is twice the size of Texas and it is located between the Hawaiian Islands and the West Coast of the United States. The great Pacific garbage patch is five million square miles, but this patch in not the only one on our oceans. Scientists have recently found another patch in the Atlantic Ocean.
Since 1970, we have been dumping garbage into our biggest masses of water. This contamination has been caused by the daily products we no longer use. The garbage we think has been classified as recyclables has ended up in our oceans. 80 percent of the garbage produced on land ends up in the ocean. The remaining 20 percent is produced by boats, factories, oils spills just to name a few. In addition, noise pollution affects marine life by being irritating, distracting, and/or physically dangerous.
We do not think that plastic bottles, bags, boxes, and other items will affect the life of many innocent animals, however, some fish and turtles get confused. They think plastic bags are jellyfish and eat them. Moreover, birds get confused and eat the garbage. This confusion has taken many lives. The garbage that continues to be dumped into the oceans includes more than just plastic bottles or bags. Car batteries, tires, and computers are amongst the waste and contain dangerous acids inside them. As they disintegrate they spread their toxins into the water. Many species are been impaired due to toxins and acids we dumped every day into our oceans. Some of these species include: seashells, planktons, oysters, corals, pteropods (Pteropods are tiny snails that are found throughout the oceans and are an important link to the marine food web. They are gobbled up by a variety of fish, whales, and seabirds), salmons, sea otters, polar bears, clownfish, and many other species.
The oceans regulate their temperature by creating vortexes, or gyres (A large, horizontal, circular-moving loop of water). They are mainly used in reference to the circular motion of water in each of the major ocean basins centered in subtropical high-pressure regions, so that way water can travel from the bottom of the ocean to the surface and vice versa. Unfortunately, the vortex traps the garbage and toxins from the surface, and it sucks to the bottom, now those toxins are contaminating not only the water but the sea bed as well.
The increase in acidification has been caused by electric plants, and factories dumping their wastes into rivers. Some rivers are connected with oceans. Also, they produce carbon dioxide which is released into the air. The mix of carbon dioxide and oxygen is released into our oceans in form of rain. These new additions, have been altering the pH in water – pH scale is a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution, numerically equal to 7 for neutral solutions, increasing with increasing alkalinity and decreasing with increasing acidity. The pH scale commonly in uses ranges from 0 to 14. A little alteration of pH in water may provoke species to subside into extinction because they have not adapted their molecule structure for those changes.
Fishing is threatening marine life. We are capturing and selecting big and strong species to eat leaving behind the weak, smaller and limited number of certain species to be eaten to other species, so they can survive. This trade will terminate some species and ultimately alter the food chain. Many fisher men are reporting massive economical lost in part by the low percent of species.
Rabindranath Tagore said, “The water in a vessel is sparkling; the water in the sea is dark. The small truth has words which are clear; the great truth has great silence.” Our oceans are suffering, but they are resilient. We can help them to recover with moderate fishing, reusing plastic bags and bottles, and limiting the use of fossil oils. It is in our hands to save and protect our bio diverse ecosystem, so our grandchildren would be able to admired and enjoy.
"Huge Garbage Patch Found in Atlantic Too." by Richard Lovett
Barry Carolyn. "Plastic Breaks Down in Ocean, After All -- And Fast." National Geographic News. 20 August 2009. Web. 29 November 2013.
Center for Biological Diversity. "Endangered Oceans." Ocean Acidification. Web. 29 November 2013.
National Public Radio. "Garbage Mass Is Growing in the Pacific." The Bryant Park Project. 28 March 2008. Web. 18 November 2013.
Scientists have found a big garbage patch in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. This patch is twice the size of Texas and it is located between the Hawaiian Islands and the West Coast of the United States. The great Pacific garbage patch is five million square miles, but this patch in not the only one on our oceans. Scientists have recently found another patch in the Atlantic Ocean.
Since 1970, we have been dumping garbage into our biggest masses of water. This contamination has been caused by the daily products we no longer use. The garbage we think has been classified as recyclables has ended up in our oceans. 80 percent of the garbage produced on land ends up in the ocean. The remaining 20 percent is produced by boats, factories, oils spills just to name a few. In addition, noise pollution affects marine life by being irritating, distracting, and/or physically dangerous.
We do not think that plastic bottles, bags, boxes, and other items will affect the life of many innocent animals, however, some fish and turtles get confused. They think plastic bags are jellyfish and eat them. Moreover, birds get confused and eat the garbage. This confusion has taken many lives. The garbage that continues to be dumped into the oceans includes more than just plastic bottles or bags. Car batteries, tires, and computers are amongst the waste and contain dangerous acids inside them. As they disintegrate they spread their toxins into the water. Many species are been impaired due to toxins and acids we dumped every day into our oceans. Some of these species include: seashells, planktons, oysters, corals, pteropods (Pteropods are tiny snails that are found throughout the oceans and are an important link to the marine food web. They are gobbled up by a variety of fish, whales, and seabirds), salmons, sea otters, polar bears, clownfish, and many other species.
The oceans regulate their temperature by creating vortexes, or gyres (A large, horizontal, circular-moving loop of water). They are mainly used in reference to the circular motion of water in each of the major ocean basins centered in subtropical high-pressure regions, so that way water can travel from the bottom of the ocean to the surface and vice versa. Unfortunately, the vortex traps the garbage and toxins from the surface, and it sucks to the bottom, now those toxins are contaminating not only the water but the sea bed as well.
The increase in acidification has been caused by electric plants, and factories dumping their wastes into rivers. Some rivers are connected with oceans. Also, they produce carbon dioxide which is released into the air. The mix of carbon dioxide and oxygen is released into our oceans in form of rain. These new additions, have been altering the pH in water – pH scale is a measure of the acidity or alkalinity of a solution, numerically equal to 7 for neutral solutions, increasing with increasing alkalinity and decreasing with increasing acidity. The pH scale commonly in uses ranges from 0 to 14. A little alteration of pH in water may provoke species to subside into extinction because they have not adapted their molecule structure for those changes.
Fishing is threatening marine life. We are capturing and selecting big and strong species to eat leaving behind the weak, smaller and limited number of certain species to be eaten to other species, so they can survive. This trade will terminate some species and ultimately alter the food chain. Many fisher men are reporting massive economical lost in part by the low percent of species.
Rabindranath Tagore said, “The water in a vessel is sparkling; the water in the sea is dark. The small truth has words which are clear; the great truth has great silence.” Our oceans are suffering, but they are resilient. We can help them to recover with moderate fishing, reusing plastic bags and bottles, and limiting the use of fossil oils. It is in our hands to save and protect our bio diverse ecosystem, so our grandchildren would be able to admired and enjoy.
Sources:
Barry Carolyn. "Plastic Breaks Down in Ocean, After All -- And Fast." National Geographic News. 20 August 2009. Web. 29 November 2013.
Center for Biological Diversity. "Endangered Oceans." Ocean Acidification. Web. 29 November 2013.
National Public Radio. "Garbage Mass Is Growing in the Pacific." The Bryant Park Project. 28 March 2008. Web. 18 November 2013.
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