Qishuang. Li
Marine Life is calling: “Help, Help, Help…”
With the development of human society, human activities in marine life have
become increasingly frequent, and soliciting of advantages from the oceans is
increasing more and more. The impact of human activities to the marine environment
has become evident. Marine pollution is getting worse and worse, threatening the
survival and thriving of marine life more and more strongly. Like we were marine
organisms, we should be concerned about the deterioration of the marine
environment, which threatens marine organisms, and do our best to curb the
momentum of deteriorating and to improve the living environment of them, ultimately
to achieve the harmony between human and nature, and to reach common evolution.
What is the survival status of marine life currently?
In the 18th and 19th centuries, the mainstream scientists thought that the
development ability of human being was extremely limited relative to the
inaccessibility of oceans and strong regeneration ability of all kinds of fish. Thus they
believed that human activity did not affect the survival of marine species. This blind
and subjective thought caused that it is difficult for most people to think of the risk of
extinction that fish and other Marine life would be facing. However, it’s not true now.
The latest research magazine published on the ‘science’ reports that the global marine
species in the past 50 years not only in quantitative terms but also in types has
dropped by about 50%, especially in the North Atlantic (Cause of Decline).
In Alaska’s marine ecosystems, some species of marine animals and seabirds
have been declining for 30 years. Some kinds of animals such as Stellar sea lions and
northern sea otters have been listed as threatened or endangered on the Endangered
Species Act. The decline has been particularly amazing (Cause of Decline).
Coral reefs have survived in the ocean for about ten thousand years. However,
many of them may not be able to keep surviving because of the environmental
damage from humans. More than one-quarter is already considered damage which is
unable to recover or to be repaired. Another two-thirds are under serious threat (Coral
reefs: threats).
The Polar bear is the symbol of the Arctic, the largest land predator and the
biggest bear on the earth. They have heavy fur and adapted to the climate amazing.
However, polar bears maybe one of the first animals that lost in global warming. They
are facing unprecedented threats (Polar Bear).
What has been causing so harsh living conditions of sea creatures? Obviously, the
answer is pollutions from human activities without concerning and controlling the
results of them to nature environment.
Over 80% of marine pollution came from land-based activities. Most of the waste
that we produce on the land such as plastic bags and pesticides will finally reach in
ocean from run-offs through drains and rivers. Oil spills are also big problem to the
marine pollution, which about 12% of the oil is entering the seas every year.
According to a report from the US National Research Council, 36% of it comes down
drains, rivers with waste and runoff from the cities and industries. In addition, another
huge problem for coastal areas is fertilizers runoff from farms and lawns. Excess
nutrients cause eutrophication of water bodies, and consume dissolved oxygen in
water where the algae are blooming with a large scale of red tides and thus suffocation
of Marine organisms. Eutrophication has been found in several parts of the world such
as the Gulf of Mexico and the Baltic Sea. Another pollution source in marine is toxic
chemicals. Most marine organisms, from the tiniest plankton to whales to polar bears,
are contaminated with chemicals made from human such as pesticides and chemicals
used in common consumer products. Some of these chemicals are dumped into the
ocean deliberately. The oceans had been become a good and convenient dumping area
for waste in past centuries until 1970s (Marine problems: Pollution).
The burning of fossil fuels is a major source of energy for both industry and
transportation. Cars burn gasoline, and chemicals and particulate matter are released
into the atmosphere. Carbon, sulfur and nitrogen are three substances released into the
atmosphere from the burning of fossil fuels which contribute to air pollution, with
resulting effects on the water into oceans. Acid rain occurs as the result of airborne
sulfur dioxide and nitrous oxide reacting in the atmosphere to form sulfuric acid and
nitric acid. These fall to the earth through precipitate, acid rain. Acid rain is a global
issue that affects many species including marine organisms. It has resulted in raising
the acidity of lakes and rivers and areas of oceans near coastlines to the point that they
no longer can support fish populations, or where only very hardy (and less desirable)
species of fish and aquatic plant can survive with difficulties.
More frequent vessel traffic, seismic testing for oil and gas, and other industrial
activities will increase noise pollution in oceans. Noise can impact marine life in the
following ways: It interferes with communications, including abilities to recognize
each other, avoid predators, capture prey, navigate and orient themselves, choose
mates and bonding between mothers and offspring. It masks natural sounds since
background noise makes it difficult to distinguish important auditory information. It
causes their physical harms and injuries including loss of hearing. It disrupts their
behaviors including separating mothers from offspring and forcing marine life to
abandon important habitat.
On the surface, the Gulf of Mexico does appear to be returning to normal two
years after the calamity on the Deepwater Horizon drilling rig that killed 11 workers
and sent more than 200 million gallons of crude oil gushing into sea over the next
three months. New Orleans seafood restaurants are again packing in customers,
