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Facts on Ocean Pollution

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Facts on Ocean Pollution 17/05/2017 Stephen Macko Department of Environmental Sciences University of Virginia [email protected] A Perspective on Coastal Marine Pollution May 17, 2017 “Charleston Flooded” BATIK by Mary Edna Fraser, Charleston, SC, USA Facts on Ocean Pollution Over 80% of the pollution in the ocean is runoff from the Land Almost 90% of all floating materials in the ocean is plastic Marine debris, especially plastic, kills more than one million seabirds and 100,000 mammals and sea turtles every year Dead Zones which are areas of oxygen deficient water were life ceases to exist, have increased drastically over the past decade Most of the oil entering the ocean does not originate from ajor accidets or spills 1 17/05/2017 Difficulties in Identifying the Sources of Coastal Marine Contamination Point Source Non-point Source Types of Coastal Marine Pollution Metals, Chemicals, Oil, Nutrients, Plastic (garbage), Noise, Sewage, Carbon Dioxide 2 17/05/2017 Shipping Routes: 20% 3 17/05/2017 The usual suspects Methane has >10-20 times the effect of carbon dioxide, but does not reside in the atmosphere as long Most of the emissions come from the developed world, and chiefly a few countries. This will change with higher and warmer seas. 4 17/05/2017 The ocean is now > 0.1 pH units lower than pre- industrial times and contains about 400 billion tonnes of fossil fuel CO2. The “other “ Carbon Dioxide problem Photo Stephen Macko Metal Sulfide Deposits 5 17/05/2017 Slide courtesy: Se-Jon Ju, KIOST Slide courtesy: Se-Jon Ju, KIOST 6 17/05/2017 Impacts: Manganese Nodules “Harvesting” • contain concentrations of valuable minerals • iron, manganese, copper, nickel, cobalt http://teachers.sduhsd.net/hherms/herms/ocean/sedimentation/nodules.gif http://content.answers.com/main/content/img/McGrawHill/Encyclopedia/images/CE403150FG0010.gif Fertilizers Fertilizers that runoff from farms and lawns is a huge problem for coastal areas. The extra nutrients cause Eutrophication. The run off encourages algal growth which decomposes and depletes the water's dissolved oxygen and suffocates other marine life. Eutrophication is caused by the addition of artificial or natural substances, such as nitrates and phosphates, through fertilizers or sewage, to an aquatic system. Eutrophication has created enormous dead zones in several parts of the world, including the Gulf of Mexico and the Baltic Sea 7 17/05/2017 Sewage In many parts of the world, sewage flows untreated, or under- treated, into the ocean. For example, 80% of urban sewage discharged into the Mediterranean Sea is untreated. This sewage can also lead to eutrophication. In addition, it can cause human disease and lead to beach closures. Dead Zones in the Gulf of Mexico 8 17/05/2017 Chemicals: Pesticides, Herbicides, Endocrine Disrupting Compounds Chemicals accumulate in organisms, becoming concentrated in their bodies and in the surrounding water s and sediments. These animals are in turn eaten by larger animals, which can travel large distances with an increased chemical load. People become contaminated by eating contaminated seafood. Evidence is mounting that a number of man-made chemicals can cause serious health problems - including cancer, damage to the immune system, behavioral problems, and reduced fertility. 9 17/05/2017 Metals Mercury Minamata Disease About 3000 victims At Fukushima in 2014, a peer review estimated that 80% escaped into the Pacific Ocean. Radioactive materials continue to be released into the Pacific via groundwater. 10 17/05/2017 Plastic Unlike most other trash, plastic isn't biodegradable Sunlight does eventually break down the plastic, reducing it to smaller and smaller pieces, but that just makes matters worse. The plastic still never goes away, it just becomes microscopic and may be eaten by tiny marine organisms, entering the food chain. The world produced 300 million tonnes of plastic each year, about 5-10% ends up in the ocean, 70% of which eventually sinks 8 MT/year;10,000 piece/ sq Km 11 17/05/2017 Oceans to have more plastic than fish by 2050 Plastic packaging is usually used only once then discarded World Economic Forum 12 17/05/2017 Great Pacific Garbage Patch Demand for fossil fuels will remain high as population grows Source: IEA 13 17/05/2017 Oil Spills Oil spills have huge and immediate economic, social, and environmental impacts. Local people lose their livelihoods as fisheries and tourism areas are temporarily closed; the clean up costs are enormous; and tens of thousands of marine animals and plants are killed or harmed. And the damage goes on. The chemicals used to break up the oil can be toxic, and it's impossible to remove all the spilled oil. Even after an area has been cleaned up, it can take decades or more to fully recover: Exxon Valdez. There's also the problem of the oil that sink, which can contaminate the seabed and smother marine organisms. This oil can also resurface. In 2001, a cyclone off the island of Yap in Micronesia disturbed the oil tanker USS Mississinewa, which was sunk during World War II. For two months, thousands of liters of oil and gasoline leaked out of the rusted ship wreck onto the beaches of the atoll, stopping the 700 islanders from fishing. There are hundreds of other shipwrecked tankers around the world. Oil Transport 14 17/05/2017 1967 Torrey Canyon 119,000 tonnes Amoco Cadiz 1978; 227 tonnes 15 17/05/2017 Amoco Cadiz 1978;; 227 tonnes 16 17/05/2017 17 17/05/2017 0.5 million Tonnes spilled, 1980-1981 18 17/05/2017 2M gallons of Corexit sprayed Deepwater Horizon BP / Transocean registered out of Marshall Islands 20 April – 19 September 2010 210M gallons= 660,000 tonnes Ixtoc 1 PEMEX 68,000 square miles June 1979- March 1980 130M gallons; 30,000 Failed blowout preventer gallons/day; 11,000 sq miles Lowest end of winter ice 2017 Lowest end of summer ice 2012 19 17/05/2017 Arctic Resources 25 geologic regions USGS Perhaps 100 billion barrels of oil 13% of world’s undiscovered oil 30% of world’s undiscovered gas 84% is offshore, shallow deposits US EEZ: 30 billion barrels of oil 74 billion barrels gas(eq) Closest Coast Guard 1000mi 20 17/05/2017 21 17/05/2017 Impacts: Shipping route 40% shorter across the Arctic Source: UPEP GRID Arendal 1969 Manhattan transits NW passage with 1 barrel of oil 22 17/05/2017 Photo credit: Stephen Macko Figure 17_07 While the path forward looks complex and risky We depend on you 23 17/05/2017 There is no other option Winston Churchill Terima kasih Thank you 24 17/05/2017 The ocean is now > 0.1 pH units lower than pre-industrial times and contains about 400 billion tons of fossil fuel CO2. 25 17/05/2017 Declining pH of the Ocean: increasing acidity, declining carbonate Year 1750 2000 2100? CO2 ppm 275 375 (1.36x) 750 (2.73x) pH of the 8.13 7.87 8.24 Ocean (1.29x H+) (2.35x H+) Lowest pH in millions of years Effect is highly predictable 26 17/05/2017 Coccolithophores and Ocean Acidification A bloom of coccolithophore plankton recorded near Newfoundland in 1999 by NASA’s SeaWiFs satellite Acidification of the ocean waters means difficulty in calcification by phytoplankton Graphic courtesy Introduction to Recognize change Oceanography, Sverdrup et al. Prentice Hall cascades with trophic level 27 17/05/2017 Zooplankton also. Foraminifera: composed of calcium carbonate a–d, Live pteropod, Clio pyramidata, collected from the subarctic Pacific exposed to undersaturated (aragonite) for 48 h. The whole shell (a) : the shell surface (b) etch pits and exposure of aragonitic rods; the prismatic layer (c), peeling (d) advanced dissolution. No exposure pteropod Limacina helicina helicina. Arctic pteropod (pelagic sea mollusk) Limacina helicina (Spitzberg) 28 17/05/2017 Lower pH negatively affects larval stages of planktonic stages: increased mortality, affects hardening of chitin with calcite formation Blue king crab zoea Juvenile blue king crab Coral Reefs 29 17/05/2017 Potential economic impact of ocean acidification on US fisheries (Cooley and Doney, 2009) 30.
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