Marine Pollution By: Zack, Ryann, Maddy, Jack, and Braden Trivia - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Marine Pollution

By: Zack, Ryann, Maddy, Jack, and Braden

Trivia Questions

1. How much garbage is disposed in the ocean every year (in metric tons)? 2. How long does it take for a plastic bag to decompose in the ocean? 3. How many marine animals are killed every year due to pollution in the

• cean?

4. What percent of plastic does the US recycle each year? 5. True or False? There are 25.5 trillion microplastic particles in the ocean today, which would be 250 times more than the number of stars in the galaxy 6. How many plastic grocery bags are thrown away each year? a. 1 million b. 400 million c. 13 billion d. 100 billion

• 7. In what year will do scientists predict plastic will outweigh fish?

a. 2025 b. 2046 c. 2050 d. 2075

https://www.earthday.org/oceans-plastic-pollution-quiz/

Overview: National Geographic Video

Sources of Pollution

• Plastic Debris

○

80% of pollution to the oceans comes from land

• Toxic chemicals from industries

○ Industrial and agricultural waste

• Large scale oil spills

○ Crude oil that is released in the sea lasts for years, and is harmful to marine life. Resulting animals to be suffocated, which leads to death after entrapment.

• Littering

○ More than 5 trillion plastic particles are littered into the ocean per year

https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-and-effects-of-ocean-pollution.php

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wH878t78bw

Noise Pollution

• Sea creatures use sound to

communicate.

• Commercial tankers

○ 60,000 ships

• Oil ships

○ Air compression seismic blasts every 10 seconds ○ Sound can travel 2,500 miles (~4,000 km)

https://www.nrdc.org/stories/ocean-pollution-dirty-facts http://www.tehrantimes.com/news/421181/Noise-pollution-in-Iran-s-megacities-20-times-above-standards

Interesting Fact: Sound travels 4 times faster in water than in the air.

Sonar: SOund Navigation And Ranging

Whales

• Sonar & hearing
• Feeding and Migration routes
• Reduced sensory range

“Whales were trying to hide behind rocks to escape in a sound shadow when seismic surveys were being conducted along the California coast”

• Christopher Clark

Cornell University Bioacoustics Expert

https://e360.yale.edu/features/how_ocean_noise_pollution_wreaks_havoc_on_marine_life

Nonpoint vs. Point Source Pollution

1) Nonpoint Source 2) Point Source

http://www.noaa.gov/resource-collections/ocean-pollution

Nonpoint Source Pollution

• Runoff

○ City streets → Streams → Rivers → Oceans :( ■ Street trash, Car fluid (oil), nutrients ○ Farm and crop fertilizer ■ Algal blooms ○ Difficult to control

• Definition: “NPS pollution is caused by rainfall
• r snowmelt moving over and through the
• ground. As the runoff moves, it picks up and

carries away natural and human-made pollutants, finally depositing them into lakes, rivers, wetlands, coastal waters and ground waters” (EPA, 2017).

http://www.noaa.gov/resource-collections/ocean-pollution

Rubbish in the Ocean

• Plastic: most common element of pollution found in the ocean

○ Microplastic ■ Eaten by marine life → entering our food source ■ UK Study

• Fishing nets
• Nutrients and algal blooms

○ Creating “dead zones”

https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/glitter-ban-environment-microbead-impact-microplastics-scientists-warning-deep-o cean-a8056196.html

“Rubbish Trash Vortex”

• Largest: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

○ Estimated to be more than twice the size of Texas

• Two separate patches circulating on a

current caused by the clash of warm and cold water

• Complicated clean up

○ Microplastics

• UK ban on microbeads

https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/glitter-ban-environment-microbead-impact-microplastics-scientists-warning-deep-ocean-a805

6196.html

“Dead Zones”

• Primary cause: Nutrients pollution from runoff

○ Creating an excess of algae ○ Why’s that bad?

• Algae sinks and decomposes,

which takes up oxygen

• “Hypoxia”
• Over 400 worldwide

http://aquaculturedirectory.co.uk/the-three-biggest-threats-to-global-fisheries-climate-change

• pollution-and-overfishing/

Point Source Pollution

Definition: “Any single identifiable source of

pollution from which pollutants are discharged, such as a pipe, ditch, ship or factory smokestack” (Hill, 1997).

• Specific instances that are very dangerous for the
• cean, but are less common and easier to

regulate

• Examples include, but not limited to…

○ Factories ○ Animal Agriculture ○ Pipe bursts/ Oil spills

http://content.time.com/time/health/ article/0,8599,1984338,00.html

Oil Spills

• Gulf War Oil Spill (1991)

○ Estimated 450 million gallons ○ Act of War

• BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill

○ Estimated 210 million gallons ○ Estimated 14 billion in clean-up ○ Lasted 87 days

• Catistraphic for marine life and the ecosystem

○ Hydrophobic

(Jarhead)

Possible Solutions

• 1. Local and Personal Conscientiousness
• “Thinking globally and acting locally”
• In the home
• In the community
• Local legislation

Source:

https://www.sailorsforthesea.org/programs/ocean-watch/plastic-pol lution-and-its-solution

Possible Solutions

• 2. Preventing Existing Channels of

Waste

• “about 90% of all the plastic that

reaches the world’s oceans gets flushed through just 10 rivers”

• Common theme among these regions?
• Possible Solution: implementation of

waste collection systems and proper recycling infrastructures in these regions

Source: http://www.dw.com/en/almost-all-plastic-in-the-ocean-c

• mes-from-just-10-rivers/a-41581484

Possible Solutions

• 3. Ocean Cleaning Devices
• Sea Bin:

https://youtu.be/UgZ_3zmcw-Q

• The Ocean Cleanup

Source: https://www.theoceancleanup.com/

Possible Solutions

• 4. “Shutting off the Tap”
• David Katz https://youtu.be/mT4Qbp89nIQ
• Potential of Bioplastics

http://www.dailynews.lk/2016/12/20/features/102387

Source: http://www.sustainablepl astics.net/about

Health of the Planet and People

• The Health of the Planet is dependent on oceans, which are ~70% of the Earth. If the
• cean suffers, we all suffer.
• The planet is in critical danger due to human derived damage. It’s all of our

responsibility to mitigate damage to our oceans and environment. This section will cover: Corporations Consumers Economics Human health and our relationship with the environment

The Corporation

Corporations are by nature psychopaths. Maximum profits and returns to

shareholders will always supercede the right and responsible thing to do if left unchecked. Health of the planet is not on the list of priorities of any decent size corporation. Adam Smith (father of capitalism): “When the regulation, therefore, is in favor of the workmen, it is always just and equitable; but it is sometimes otherwise when in favor of the masters. Chapter x, Part II, p. 168.” Marketing: How corporations and even governments can program people and hijack collective consciousness, change what is deemed “normal”. Green washing.

Green Washing

Exxonmobil Greenwashing Advertisement

Corporate Industrial Food & Supermarkets

• vs. Farmers Markets & Local Food

Food For Thought:

• Corporations will take the path of

cheapest manufacturing for products in order to maximize profits. Is this at the expense of the environment and

• ur health?
• Do corporations have our best

interests in mind?

Farmers Markets and Local Food

Consumers, Consumerism, Materialism

“Just as there is a dichotomy in law: innocent until proven guilty as opposed to guilty until proven innocent, let me explain my rule as follows: what Mother Nature does is rigorous until proven otherwise; what humans and science do is flawed until proven otherwise.” - Nicholas Nassim Taleb, Antifragile Questions to consider:

• Why do we want new stuff? The latest fashion, gadgets, cars?
• Why do we take the path of most convenience? Is it ethical? (Fast food, excessive

shopping?)

• Are we consumers, or are we people? Is the environment a resource to be exploited?
• What do corporations want from us? Understanding dopamine dependence and its role in
• ur society and lives.
• Who wins in our economy? Who loses?

Critical Thinking

Just because certain behaviors and patterns are normal, doesn’t mean it’s good. The difference between declarative and normative statements. The importance of critical thinking -

• why are you doing what you’re doing?
• What motivates you?
• Where are you getting your information

from?

• Who influences you?
• What are their motives?

How is this related to plastic in the oceans and pollution?

Questions on marketing:

• How are we each affected by marketing to

buy products that harm ourselves, our environments, and that we ultimately don’t need? What do we take for granted that we think is true? What paradigms do we hold on to?

• How can we stop being affected by marketing

and peer pressure, and come to our own conclusions?

Critical Thinking continued...

Questions to consider:

• Are each of us responsible for the condition of
• ur planet? Is ignorance an excuse in the age of

information?

• What are sources of information we can trust to

inform us?

• What are some lifestyle changes we can each

make?

• Do consumers lack faculties to make rational

decisions? Does responsibility lie upon corporations or consumers?

Economics

Mo Money Mo Problems

• Ending our relationship with growth. We need to focus on

sustainability, conservation, and living within our means. Continuous growth is both impossible and unsustainable.

• Correlations between countries with higher equality and

environmental protection. See Environmental Performance Index and Gini Coefficient Map. The importance of economic development and equality on the environment Intro to Doughnut Economics as an alternative Questions to consider:

• How can our governments make a difference? What role do

they play? What role should they play?

• What are some alternative goals for society?

Conclusion: Our health and our relationship with the environment

We only have one planet. The pale blue dot. To continue on our trajectory is suicide. Our health depends on the environment’s health. Pollution in the oceans is killing us. If we lose our oceans, we lose the world’s largest CO2 bank, our fish supply, and collapse of biodiversity. Our relationship with our environment is the same as our relationship with ourselves. How do we want to treat ourselves? Our children? Is the environment something we’ll only appreciate once it’s gone?

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