Global Issues, Written by Carson Land

 

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Dead zones are areas in the world’s oceans and Great Lakes that are hypoxic. This means that these areas lack a sufficient amount of oxygen. This is caused by the excessive nutrient pollution from human activities such as chemical discharge and ocean runoff (such as fertilizer). Another cause of this issue is global warming. This is a serious threat to marine life because this lack of oxygen is not enough to support life at the bottom and near-bottom of the ocean and Great Lakes.

The University of California study published in the Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences where they collected and studied fossils of over 5,400 marine animals. They discovered that within only 130 years the oceans underwent devastating changes that led to complete collapse of invertebrates on the sea’s floor. At this rate of the growth of ocean dead zones, we could see drastic changes to the marine life biodiversity.

How can we help prevent these ocean dead zones? We need to be aware of how other environmental aspects are connected. The best way to physically stop these dead zones is  to develop a better way to discharge chemicals. Currently, our chemical discharge system involves factories stationed along rivers discharging chemicals into the river which flows into the ocean. Another way to avoid these dead zones is by using less fertilizer. This will reduce the amount of runoff that goes into the ocean which will decrease the amount of nitrogen and phosphorous in the oceans.

You can learn more about what ocean dead zones are and how to prevent them by visiting:

https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2015/04/how-can-we-stop-the-spread-of-ocean-dead-zones/

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Overfishing is when a type of fish is removed from a body of water at a rate at which the fish cannot replenish in time. This is wiping out complete species of fish which is greatly effecting the ecosystem. The overfishing of sharks has lead to a complete upset of entire marine ecosystems. Most overfishing is caused by fisheries. Most of this overfishing can bee seen in the Atlantic Ocean.

One major issue with overfishing right now is that the biomass of of global fish stocks have run down to the point where there are barely even enough fish to catch anymore. Another major issue is that some areas in Africa are not having enough fish to eat for themselves because the large scale fisheries are taking them all for themselves to sell to the people who don’t need it as much as the starving people in Africa.

The two best ways to fight overfishing is by advocating for sustainable seafood. Sustainable seafood is seafood that is fished in a way that maintains or increases the population of the fish. The other way that some people are doing to prevent overfishing is by using different fishing types that minimize the amount of unnecessary fish being caught. One of these techniques is using nets with larger holes which allows the smaller fish to go un-captured. The WFF (World Wildlife Fund) is doing a great job of preventing overfishing in many areas.

You can learn more about overfishing and how it’s being stopped by visiting:

https://www.worldwildlife.org/threats/overfishing

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When you think about the noises of the ocean, you probably imagine the relaxing tides at the beach, and for us humans, that’s about right. Some people (including myself) even play those noises while they sleep because it’s relaxing. But theres another side of ocean noises that is starting to become more and more harmful to marine animals. In the past 10 years, the overall “underwater sounds” have increased by 10db. This might not sound important to you, but when a vast majority of marine animals use sound as a means of communication and locating food, this is starting to affect them in a negative way.

The biggest cause of this issue is seismic blasting. Researchers graphing the underwater terrain use this technique. What happens is large research boats go out into the ocean with a string of high powered air canons trailing behind it. These air canons all  go off simultaneously to measure the depths of the terrain underwater and graph it out. The noises that these canons make are around the same volume level of a jet at takeoff. 10 or 15 of these going off at the same time can have a serious effect on marine life, specifically whales and dolphins.

These seismic surveys can go on for weeks at a time, which causes whales and dolphins to have to completely change their location where communication is limited. This is a huge problem considering that whales and dolphins do nearly all of their tasks using complex sound systems. The group Oceana is doing lots of work to abolish seismic blasting, and are doing a great job so far.

Learn more about how Oceana is boycotting seismic blasting by visiting:

https://usa.oceana.org/our-campaigns/seismic_airgun_testing/campaign

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Every day, huge masses of litter enter the sea. The main form of debris that enters the ocean are plastics. The amount of plastics entering the ocean every day is steadily increasing which is bringing about real problems. The biggest problem we are dealing with currently is that there is no extremely effective way to deal with this. According to the NASU (National Academy of Sciences in the United States of America) around 6.4 tonnes of of garbage litter the ocean every year. But that was concluded in 1997, here in 2018 it’s hard to tell but the numbers are marginally higher.

The best way, currently, to help prevent this problem is just to be mindful of what you do with your trash. Always make sure to recycle your plastics being that plastic is a substance that can not be completely removed from this earth. Remember that marine animals that inhabit our oceans can choke on your trash, so you shouldn’t throw it right into the middle of their habitat.

You may not think that this is a big deal because it “doesn’t directly impact us as humans” but it does impact us a lot more than you would initially think. These marine animals are swallowing the trash that you throw into the ocean, and then we as humans are eating these animals. In other words, we are eating our own trash. This reason shouldn’t be the only reason you’d want to prevent ocean debris, but it should definitely be in the back your mind next time you think about throwing your garbage in the ocean.

To learn more about ocean debris and how it is affecting our planet, you can visit:

https://worldoceanreview.com/en/wor-1/pollution/litter/

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Often called “rainforests of the sea”, coral reefs are some of the most diverse ecosystems on earth. Coral reefs are important for lots of reasons, some of which include protecting the coastline, providing a habitat for a huge variety of marine life, and they’re the source of nutrients for many marine chains.

Coral reefs are threatened by multiple impacts, such as water pollution, overfishing, and sedimentation. One of the most disturbing impacts is that divers intentionally break off parts of the coral reefs and sell them in gift shops. Another huge reason is that boats are anchoring on top of the coral reefs when even touching them lightly can harm them. Coral reefs are living organisms and not harming them is just as important as not harming marine animals.

But how can we stop threatening the coral reefs? An easy way to avoid threatening the coral reefs is to simply not buy coral reef souvenirs. We should never take anything out of the ocean or buy it in a shop. The country of Belize is doing a great job to prevent damage to coral reefs by making it illegal to sell coral reef items. Another way to protect the coral reefs is to avoid littering at the beach, or especially in the ocean. This trash is called “marine debris” and it can smoothen out the surface of the coral reefs as well as harm the marine animals which are required for the survival of the coral reefs.

For more information about how Belize is protecting our coral reefs, you can visit Nat Geo’s page about this topic:

https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/04/belize-restores-coral-reefs-oil-drilling-ban-environment/

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