Pardon your Pollution

This afternoon, we shall continue with POLLUTION: One of the most pertinent issues faced by oceans. Pollutions come in all forms, everywhere!

We have large scale pollutions like the infamous British Petroleum (BP) oil spill (also known as the Deep Water Horizon oil spill), which spread over 68000 square miles of ocean, or phenomenons such as ocean acidification, where the rising carbon dioxide content in oceans (as a result of climate change) has led to rising acidity of the oceans. We also have small scale pollutions like fertilizers & pesticides from subsistence or commercial farming or sewage. Pollutants also come in various sizes. They may be as small as nanoparticles, with dimensions under 100 nanometers, to plastic resins, that are broken down from larger plastics that do no biodegrade, to large tyres or abandoned cars.

Fertilisers containing nitrogen and phosphorous that seep into water bodies, via surface run-off or groundwater flow, from farmlands encourage a phenomenon called algal bloom. This is a result of eutrophication where the excess nutrients in water bodies lead to rapid growth of plants, or more specifically, algae. This simple occurrence of rapidly growing plants leads to pretty serious implications. For starters, this leads to a decrease in concentration of dissolved oxygen in oceans (creating anoxic conditions) that lead to large scale fish kills, affecting the marine food chain system. This also prevents sunlight from reaching entering the water, limiting photosynthetic processes of plants and micro-organisms that are dependent on it. This alteration of the chemical & biological systems has extensive implications on our oceans.

Algal bloom in Lake Erie in 2004

The recent uptake of nanotechnology in markets have also led to the prevalence of nanoparticles in our environment. Nanotechnology refers to the manipulation of atoms and molecules under 100 nanometer, The minute nature of such particles make them very light & highly mobile, as such, most of them can be airborne or waterborne. Although it has yet to be confirmed, these particles can be taken up by plants & consumed by animals, leading to the bioaccumulation of toxic (sometimes mutagenic or carcinogenic) substances in top predatory animals. What's more pressing is the fact that the removal of such minute particles in environments is an issue that has yet to be covered by many (or in fact most) States. It should be noted that even though the effects of nanotechnology have yet to be confirmed (as it is still relatively new), their impacts on living things & environments are likely to be harmful & deleterious, to the extent that States have been debating if the Precautionary Princple should be imposed on it.

Even though I have only covered 2 forms of pollutants in this post, it is important to note how severe the impact of pollutants have on oceans, in terms of its extent and magnitude. Oceans are an asset we should fiercely guard. The inter-connectivity of the marine system to organisms & other habitats mean that the goodness & benefits of a healthy ocean can spread & benefit its periphery, & vice versa. Moreover, the accumulated impact of the plethora of pollutants on oceans will definitely lead to a deteriorating global ocean habitat. What degree of ocean degradation will make us realise the fatality of our actions? & even if that time should come, how shall we face the irreversible impacts we exerted on our oceans?

Sometimes I think of the hopelessness of the world. Its hopelessness begun in us. What on earth were we thinking, really..


References:

• Gudmundsson, Bohgard & Dawidowicz. (2010). Airborne nanoparticles are a health risk – Sustainability. [ONLINE] Available at: http://sustainability.formas.se/en/Issues/Issue-1-February-2010/Content/Focus-articles/Airborne-nanopartiles-are-a-health-risk/. [Accessed 15 October 2014]
• Hester & Harrison, R.E.H., R.M.H., (2007). Nanotechnology: Consequences for Human Health and the Environment. 1^st ed. Cambridge, UK: The Royal Society of Chemistry.
• World Wildlife Fund Global. 2013. WWF - Threats to oceans and coasts. [ONLINE] Available at:http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/blue_planet/problems/. [Accessed 15 October 14].
• National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 2004. Harmful Algal Blooms. [ONLINE] Available at:http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/hazards/hab/. [Accessed 24 October 14].
• IUPUI. 2013. What causes algal blooms? | Center for Earth and Environmental Science. [ONLINE] Available at: http://www.cees.iupui.edu/research/algal-toxicology/bloomfactors. [Accessed 24 October 14].
• National Geographic. 2014. Marine Pollution -- National Geographic. [ONLINE] Available at:http://ocean.nationalgeographic.com/ocean/critical-issues-marine-pollution/. [Accessed 24 October 14]