Humans and their impact on oceans — are we too late?
Few decades in the future, when our great-great-grandchildren look into their history books, instead of learning about the great ventures of Queen Victoria, they would come across our offensive, horrendous actions against mother nature. Some of them may not even forgive us for altering their future due to our silly mistakes, mistakes that have unjustified our evolution to the superior breed. A breed meant to preserve planet Earth and not bring it down to its knees. And though it may seem that we have already paved the way towards our destruction, making our species the asteroid that wiped out life millions of years ago. There’s always enough time to correct our misbehavior and transgression to our solitary home. Unfortunately, making dubious claims has become a well-practiced art in our regime, illusions formed by great world leaders, never to be completed. Yet the lives of billions rest in their hands.
Our basic structure and source of energy, hard to get rid away overnight, has cost our oceans dearly. Many over the years have taken place, yet governments don’t have appropriate measures set up in place to counter oil spills. What does it lead to, in simple terms? Pure destruction. Cutting of light to the primary producer, the death of phytoplankton can wreak havoc in multiple food webs and ecosystems. Being the skeleton to the entire framework of the ocean, populations of various organisms fluctuate, some of which reach to death’s doorstep. For those who survive, oil spills have quite a lot of tricks up its sleeve, not that any of them are entertaining. In many instances, oil clogs breathing holes of organisms, suffocating unspeakable souls, other times fishes swallow the oil unknowingly, which stops their essential organs. And even though mammals such as whales travel to other habitats for their safety, they may die as it will not be able to support itself. And when we even try to fix our wrongdoings, we just make it worse.
Research shows that the usage of oil dispersants affects corals and its surrounding habitats. The process named bleaching is seen in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and gives corals a white appearance. That’s when the process of natural selection kicks in, increasing the chance of death for bleached corals and the organism’s dependence on them. A similar effect is caused by ocean acidification due to an increase in oceanic carbon. Study shows that between 1750 and 2000, surface-ocean pH has decreased by about 0.1, from about 8.2 to about 8.1. The sudden increase in acidity can break down shells made out of calcium carbonate, hence putting entire populations of zooplankton and shellfish under risk as well as multiple shellfish industries. Damaged olfactory systems of fish larvae, as well as an outstanding decrease in fish populations, are few of the many horrible atrocities we are committing against marine life.
Moving forward to our most produced, widely available, a boon to humankind only, non-biodegradable plastics have caused devastation in all three realms of the Earth. Being its production or its discardation, there are problems associated in all of its sectors. If only talking about the ocean, plastics have taken up many forms, from microplastics to ghost gear, their toxicity has cost the lives of millions of organisms. Affecting their digestion or reproduction, the situation has come to a point that there are microplastics present within us. Microplastic has invaded even its creators leading to severe health issues. The effects have been so widespread, there’s no evidence regarding all its after-effects.
The story doesn’t stop there, in recent times hypoxia has become a major issue. One of its causes being chemical pollution, the conditions cause the animal to suffocate and in humans, to be exposed to Alzheimer and cardiac strokes. Another reason for hypoxia is the discharge of chemical nutrients, causing algae blooms and excessive plant growth and decay. Leading to sudden drops in oxygen content and outbreaks of pfiesteria. Another effect being red tides which can lead to the production of natural potent toxins. Seen on the coast of Canada, by the process of biomagnification in the food webs It can paralysis, nausea, vomiting, abdominal pain and even death in severe cases. The process is known as Eutrophication and in humans, it can lead to hormonal problems, reduced fertility, nervous system damage and kidney damage.
To you, although all these reasons may seem enough, all of them have led to a much-sophisticated issue known as global warming, hitting the ocean harder as each second passes by as we fuel its causes. Global sea levels have been rising ever since the industrial revolution, at a rate of 3mm/year previously from 2mm/year. Coastal recreational locations, beaches, wetlands, all are at risk from such drastic infuriating changes. Beachfront properties are susceptible to eroding land as well as massive natural disasters, which might make its owners homeless, causing immigration, loss of life and property and many more. Since wetlands are very productive ecosystems and support economies of local areas, governments around the world met in 1971, forming the Ramsar convention. The aim to protect wetlands was soon uplifted by many more countries, now consisting of 171 parties and 2000 designated areas spanning 490,000,000 acres. However, these policies are not being able to replenish the previously known diversity. Research has shown that the amount of newly created wetlands could be much smaller than the lost area of wetland, especially in developed regions.
Rising sea levels also increase both surface water and saltwater through saltwater intrusion. Increase in brininess in estuaries will threaten aquatic wildlife as they cannot tolerate high levels of salinity. Aquifers have become the main source of water for many regions over the world. A notable example being the many basins in Australia, continually being threatened by the low rainfall and increase in salinity. As the majority of South Australia, Western Australia and the Northern Territory are dependent on groundwater as a vital resource, the government has launched a groundwater replacement scheme.
Another result of our deeds is the rapid changes in ocean current patterns as well as an increase in ocean stratification. Ultimately leading to differences in the usual patterns regarding upwelling and downwelling affecting the distribution of nutrients and organic matter in the ocean, causing the food web to crumble. Change in rainwater patterns will cause an increase in cyclones and flooding in previously dry areas as well as making changes in natural life cycles of organisms. Taking an example of locusts, due to excessive rainfall and vegetation growth, they go through a phase known as the gregarious phase. Allowing them to cause massive food insecurity over large areas of lands, prompting governments to declare state of emergencies and threatening food scarce reasons with famine.
Luckily this is not the end, the full effects of global warming are yet to be unleashed thanks to oceans, nevertheless, it seems the end is soon. Responsible for absorbing nearly a third of harmful human-caused emissions, slower currents will lead to less carbon fixation causing more emissions to remain in the atmosphere. Hence, arming global warming with a much powerful tool.
Last of our unfavorable actions, overfishing is caused when fish are caught before they breed. According to a 2008 UN report, the world’s fishing fleets are losing US$50 billion each year due to overfishing and depleting stocks. Overfishing has eliminated the major jellyfish predator causing a boom in jellyfish populations, which are competing with commercial fisheries for food. As the seafood industry is one of the biggest animal protein industries and is responsible for feeding up to 3 billion people. If marine life is to go extinct, there will be a massive food insecurity causing suicide rates and deaths of fisherman to go up. Sudden changes in price will make a basic necessity, expensive. Directly impacting the government which will have to provide more subsidies to many families. Uprisings may also take place and food crises may become a common scenario. The economy of a particular country may collapse if it is based on aquatic life exports and the same goes for tourism.
Looking at all the damage we have done or for those who disagree … We are going too. Is it really worth continuing with our irrevocable actions and searching for nirvana in the hidden depths of the ocean? Is it really worth putting our survival at stake in the process? It is time to think. It is time to contemplate. It is time to decide. I think it’s time to pay heed to the warning of the world’s environmentalists, it’s better if we take a softer approach towards our scripted future by using cheaper, recyclable and go back to our so-called old age methods such as the usage of hair booms for cleaning up oil spills, implementing the three R’s on a wider scale to actually make an impact. Focus on reducing our carbon footprint by the usage of renewable sources as well as educating the widening world. I pledge to play my role, do you?
Arnav Goel(arnavgoel186@gmail.com) is a student at DPS International School. He current resides in Singapore and has a passion for computer science along with writing.
