History of Marine Pollution

Article by Manya Kewalramani

Marine pollution is increasingly turning into an issue that threatens to disrupt food cycles and the natural climate for centuries to come. It can be described as a combination of chemicals and trash, most of which comes from land sources.This pollution results in damage to the environment, health and to economic avenues throughout the world. The problem of marine pollution persists in modern society but it originates from way back.

In 1870 Jules Verne talked about how floating debris accumulates in ocean gyres in the chapter on the Sargasso Sea in his famous novel Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea.You’ll be posting loads of engaging content, so be sure to keep your blog organised with Categories that also allow visitors to explore more of what interests them.

Pollution in Effect

Pollution can enter the ocean directly. This is often how minerals and substances from mining camps find their way into the ocean. Other than that, marine litter can be succinctly correlated with the increased development of plastics. Before 1972, people globally discarded trash, sewage sludge, and chemical, industrial, and radioactive wastes into the ocean without realising that it would give rise to such hazardous amounts of pollution. Research shows that there has been a significant and steady increase in ocean plastic since 1990. At least 8 million tons of plastic end up in our oceans every year. Floating plastic debris are currently the most plentiful items of marine litter. Waste plastic makes up 80% of all marine debris from surface waters to deep-sea sediments.

However, in very recent years the number of plastic bags found in the ocean has decreased but it's unclear whether that's related to banning plastic and charges being introduced around the world

Works Cited

“Brief Issues”. “Marine Plastics.” IUCN, 5 Dec. 2018, www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/marine-plastics.

Gill, Victoria. “Early Ocean Plastic Litter Traced to 1960s.” BBC News, BBC, 16 Apr. 2019, www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-47914580.

Howard, Jenny. “Marine Pollution Facts and Information.” Environment, National Geographic, 10 Feb. 2021, www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/oceans/critical-issues-marine-pollution/.

National Geographic Society. “Marine Pollution.” National Geographic Society, 27 June 2019, www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/marine-pollution/.