The human population is rising at an exponential rate. And with more humans, comes more land, more food, and more waste. Where does all that waste really end up? Well luckily, humans have the ocean-- an enormous dumping ground that absorbs large amounts of waste. So no problems right? Wrong. With the exponential population rate, humans can’t keep up with all their waste, so it piles up in the ocean. Since there weren't that many humans 50 years ago, it didn’t seem to be that big of an issue. But even the ocean has its limits, and, unfortunately, it has already exceeded them.
As the population of humans on Earth grows, there is less land available, especially when it comes to dumping trash. So instead of properly disposing of this waste, humans choose to dump it into the world’s largest landfill - the ocean. As this goes on, more and more marine ecosystems are destroyed, causing a wave of disastrous effects that impact not only marine life, but humans themselves. And even worse, 70% of all ocean garbage sinks to the bottom, meaning it is unlikely to ever be cleaned up.
In the past 10 years, humans have produced more plastic than they have in the past century. By itself, plastic makes up over 90% of all trash in the oceans, with over 12 million tons of plastic entering the ocean every single year. And by 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish.
Humans created 300 million tons of plastic in one year, 50% of which is single-use only. 200 million tons of that plastic is thrown away, most of the time ending up in the oceans. Only 9% of that total plastic is actually recycled. This is a global issue, as the oceans are slowly filling up with trash. Overall, there are an estimated 6 trillion pieces of plastic in the oceans.
Before the 1960s, fishing nets were made from rope, but since then the nets have been made from nylon - material that is much stronger and cheaper. The problem with nylon is that it’s made from plastic and does not decompose. It is estimated to take 600 years, but humans haven’t been alive long enough to see one decompose. The problem is the fishing industry. Fisheries are one of the largest industries in the globe. The global economy relies heavily on these fishing industries, which is why the fishing nets aren’t addressed even though those alone are one of the biggest ocean pollutants. The majority of fishing is also done in international waters, meaning governments won’t take responsibility for it, and the fishing industries are left to dump as much fishing equipment as they please. `
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a swirling trash accumulation zone located in the ocean, halfway between California and Hawaii. Much of the garbage that ends up in the ocean is buoyant, so it can travel large distances from the ocean’s currents. Those currents take the trash all the way to where currents meet, called gyres, that swirl up and accumulate trash floating in the ocean. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) is the largest of the trash accumulation zones in the world’s oceans. It is about twice the size of Texas, roughly the size of Alaska. However, the patch also extends over 20 feet down into the ocean. The GPGP contains an estimated amount of 2 trillion pieces of plastic ALONE, or about 250 pieces of plastic per person on Earth. 705k more tons of garbage found in the GPGP are fishing nets alone. Of the total amount of trash, 80% is from North America and Asia, China being the number one polluter in the globe.
As the human population rises, the amount of pollutants going into the air rises as well. On average, humans produce over 22 million tons of Co2 every single day. Before the human population began to exponentially rise, the ocean did a good enough job of regulating the amount of Co2 in the air, preventing the Earth from warming too much. The ocean regulates 83% of the global carbon cycle, but even the ocean has it’s limit, having absorbed over ⅓ of all Co2 produced by humans. Therefore, the rest, mostly what has been produced in recent years, is trapped within our atmosphere causing increased heat and energy to build up over time. Up until the 1970s, the oceans had absorbed 90% of warming emissions caused by humans, but has slowed immensely with the greater number of emissions being produced. Had that heat gone into the atmosphere, the Earth would be 100 degrees F warmer. From 1901 to 2020, ocean temperature rose at an average of 0.14 degrees F per decade.
Because of the mass damage the planet has suffered already, it is unlikely that reducing greenhouse gas emissions would have much effect since the world’s oceans and glaciers have already suffered too much, and the upcoming damage is unavoidable. In fact, recent climate change reports have begun to stop recommending nations to largely reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and have now started to point out how countries should start adapting to the many unavoidable changes the Earth will face in coming years.
With the increasing global temperatures from these greenhouse gases, glaciers, sea ice, and the arctic have begun to melt. Floating sea ice alone has been declining at unprecedented rates and will continue for the next 1,000 years. Global sea levels will rise about 2 feet this century because of ice sheets and glaciers melting. Small islands will be wiped off the map in coming years because of rising sea levels, and has already begun to happen with several island nations throughout the pacific. It’s likely that many coastal cities will have to build large sea walls in order to stop the rising water and many populations will have to move away from low-level areas. Many cities, such as New York City, have already begun to create plans for sea walls if sea levels continue to rise. If greenhouse gases keep piling up unchecked in the atmosphere at the current rate, sea levels could rise over 17 feet by 2300.
That doesn’t even begin to cover the other 80% of what the global ocean pollution really is- water runoff. This is something that usually isn’t even thought of, but pollutants traveling through the Earth’s natural water cycle are the worst of all. As the water cycle continues, more and more pollutants are leaked in the water by humans, which the majority of eventually gets to the ocean via rainfall, rivers, floods, etc. These pollutants are then spread across beaches, marine ecosystems, and out into the ocean. As the Earth heats up, that water begins to evaporate, carrying the pollutants up into the clouds. Then, rainfall brings those pollutants back down. That rain combines with the already polluted water on the ground and helps it flood towards the ocean, continuing the cycle as the pollutants pile up endlessly.
Agriculture is one of the largest industries in the United States and exists all throughout the country. But these large corporate farms often use tons of pesticides, fertilizers, and chemicals to increase food output. All of those pollutants are washed into the ground or water supply from rainfall, and are carried to the ocean. Majority of these products contain nitrogen - a nutrient proven to cause algae to bloom rapidly. However, because these algae blooms are produced artificially, they cause extreme damage to marine ecosystems. These blooms sink after a while and the bacteria on the seafloor consumes it, using up most of the oxygen in the water to multiply. This results in the oxygen-depleted dead zone at the bottom of the ocean where few creatures can survive, which is gradually getting larger. The nutrients from farming chemicals also destroy entire ecosystems as it leaks into the water. Coral reefs become bleached from the severity of chemicals and all marine life in those areas dies off, causing massive dead zones in areas of high runoff.
While humans proceed to pollute the ocean, there is rarely any consideration for the billions of marine life who live there. Entire ocean ecosystems are being wiped out. Millions of animals each year are dying from swallowing trash. Coral reefs are being bleached. Beaches are drowning in dead fish, trash, and toxic algae. Marine life is declining at an unprecedented rate, and it might be too late to even recover.
As the ratio of garbage to fish grows, more marine life die from trash related issues. Marine plastic pollution is found in 100% of turtles, 90% of marine birds, 60% of whales, and 40% of seals. Over 50% of the sea turtle population has died from plastic-related causes. Every single year, over 100 million marine animals die from plastic waste ALONE. But as this trash makes its way into marine life, it travels all throughout the food chain. Broken down trash is eaten by fish, which is then caught by fishermen and put onto human plates. The majority of that fish caught by fisheries contains ingested microplastics and microfibers. Therefore, humans are really consuming much of the microplastics that came from what they dumped into the ocean in the first place. Moreover, fishing nets by themselves cause hundreds of deaths. Marine life becomes caught in the nets and can suffocate or starve to death. They also become caught on coral reefs and the currents pull the nets, ripping the reefs apart.
As the temperature of the ocean rises, underwater ecosystems such as kelp forests, coral reefs, and seagrass meadows are all expected to suffer dire consequences. The increasingly warmer climate has begun to cause more frequent heat waves within the ocean, expecting them to become 20 to 50 times more frequent this century. These heat waves wipe out fish, seabirds, coral reefs, and sea plants as well as cause toxic algae blooms, like the red tide, that kill even more marine life on top of what trash in the ocean already causes.
Because of the increasing heat and greenhouse gases being absorbed into the ocean, the upper levels of the ocean are losing oxygen rapidly, causing the acidity of the water to also rise, killing even more marine ecosystems. The ocean has suffered a 25% increase in acidity from its normal base pH. This acidic environment has caused shellfish to lose their hard calcium shells and structures, consequently hurting the very large shellfish industry across the globe. And it’s even more acidic in areas of high pollution, such as coral reefs which are usually close to the land. These areas are known as “dead zones”, where rarely anything lives/grows. There are over 500 dead zones in the world which roughly equal the size of the United Kingdom.
Diseased algae blooms caused by high nutrient runoff are known as the red tide. When the red tide comes, massive numbers of fish and other animals end up washed up dead on beaches. The algae alone suffocates the gills of marine life, smothers coral reefs, and blocks vegetation from performing photosynthesis. Furthermore, it causes massive outbreaks of bacteria that poisons shellfish. This is known as paralytic shellfish poisoning, which can kill fish, mammals, birds, and even cause illness or death in humans. Because of this, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has developed a system which tracks where algae blooms are likely to occur in order to monitor the area for signs of the toxin and warn the public.
So now you're probably wondering what you can do. What can YOU do to save the Earth from certain destruction? Well the answer is bleak, because there's not much one tiny person can do to help decrease pollution at the rate humans are going. But, you can reduce your footprint, and if everyone does that, there's a chance we could make a difference. However, the real villains are the many capitalist companies that value money over going green. Educate yourself on companies you rely on in order to see whether they are helping or polluting the Earth. Spread this information to your neighbors in order to stop those companies from obtaining so much business. Figure out what your state or county is doing to stop pollution and advocate for better policies. There's not much one person can do, but education is the first step, and it's up to you to spread the world. Because the oceans are dying, quickly, and it might be too late to save them.
Reduce, Reuse, Recyle!!
Conserve Water
Fish Responsibly
Use Less Energy
Dispose of Litter Properly
Respect Marine Life & Habitats
Vote on Ocean & Pollution Issues
Educate Your Friends & Family
Avoid Single-Use Plastics
Use Nontoxic Chemicals
Shop Sustainable Companies
Reduce Vehicle Pollution
Bring a Reusable Bag to Shop
Practice Safe Boating
Eat Sustainable Seafood
Adovocate for Ocean Conservation
Explore the Oceans (Responsibly!) Before They're Gone
CREATED BY: DAKOTA ROBERTS