Ocean Pollution | Under 2 Minutes
The rate of pollution in the oceans around the world are at alarming levels and increasing fast. This is responsible for an array of problems that we face today.
What is Ocean Pollution?
Ocean pollution or Marine pollution occurs due to the dumping of pollutants like chemicals, organic and inorganic materials, industrial, agricultural and residential waste, noise and the spread of invasive organisms into the ocean.
Eighty percent of ocean pollution comes from land. Human activities like industrial dumping, agricultural runoffs and dumping of trash in the water bodies that ultimately flow into the oceans are a major component of it. Air pollution is another significant contributor as it carries and dumps toxic and harmful pollutants like iron, carbonic acid, nitrogen, silicon, sulfur, pesticides or dust particles into the ocean.
Key Statistics Around Ocean Pollution
Statistics display the devastating extent and effects of ocean pollution.
- Every year, 100 million marine animals die due to plastic waste alone.
- Ocean pollution affects almost 1,000 species of marine animals.
- There are over 500 ocean locations recorded as dead zones where marine life cannot exist.
- By 2050, plastic waste would outnumber fish in the ocean.
- The Great Pacific Garbage Patch has become twice as big as the state of Texas. The plastic there outnumbers sea life by 6 to 1.
- Agricultural runoffs, the release of nutrients and pesticides and untreated sewage make up 80% of the global ocean pollution.
- 50% of the world’s ship cargo is considered dangerous to the environment. 90% of the world’s international trade is done by ship.
- Oil spills are vastly dangerous to the oceans, but only 12% come from actual spills — the rest comes in from drains and rivers.
- The Mississippi River dumps 1.5 million tons of nitrogen pollution into the Gulf of Mexico annually.
- Coastal water contamination causes 250 million clinical cases of human diseases every year.
Current Scenario
The Convention on the Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes and Other Matter, popularly known as the London Convention, is one of the first international agreements for the protection of the marine environment from human activities. It came into force on August 30, 1975. As of March 2018, the London Convention has been signed by 87 parties.
The London Convention aims to address the deliberate disposal of waste matter at sea from vessels, aircraft, platforms and other structures as well as the deliberate disposal at sea of vessels, aircraft, platforms or other man-made structures themselves. Member parties of the London Convention agreed to control dumping by enacting regulatory laws for controlling dumping.
Head to WeNaturalists’ dedicated section on ‘Ocean Pollution’ to learn more.
