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 ocean? 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.youtube.com/watch?v=4wH878t78bw
https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-and-effects-of-ocean-pollution.php Noise Pollution
● Sea creatures use sound to communicate.
● Commercial tankers ○ 60,000 ships
● Oil ships Interesting Fact: Sound travels 4 ○ Air compression seismic blasts times faster in water than in the air. 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
Sonar: SOund Navigation And Ranging https://e360.yale.edu/features/how_ocean_noise_pollution_wreaks_havoc_on_marine_life Whales
● Sonar & hearing
● Feeding and Migration routes
“Whales were trying to hide behind rocks to ● Reduced sensory range escape in a sound shadow when seismic surveys were being conducted along the California coast” -Christopher Clark Cornell University Bioacoustics Expert Nonpoint vs. Point Source Pollution
1) Nonpoint Source 2) Point Source
http://www.noaa.gov/resource-collections/ocean-pollution Nonpoint Source Pollution
● Definition: “NPS pollution is caused by rainfall ● Runoff or snowmelt moving over and through the ○ City streets → Streams → Rivers → ground. As the runoff moves, it picks up and carries away natural and human-made Oceans :( pollutants, finally depositing them into lakes, ■ Street trash, Car fluid (oil), rivers, wetlands, coastal waters and ground waters” (EPA, 2017). nutrients ○ Farm and crop fertilizer ■ Algal blooms ○ Difficult to control
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 ocean, 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 (Jarhead) ○ Estimated 210 million gallons ○ Estimated 14 billion in clean-up ○ Lasted 87 days ● Catistraphic for marine life and the ecosystem ○ Hydrophobic 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 Source: regions http://www.dw.com/en/almost-all-plastic-in-the-ocean-c omes-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
Source: http://www.sustainablepl astics.net/about
http://www.dailynews.lk/2016/12/20/features/102387 Health of the Planet and People
● The Health of the Planet is dependent on oceans, which are ~70% of the Earth. If the ocean 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 our 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 our 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? Questions on marketing: ● Who influences you? ● How are we each affected by marketing to ● What are their motives? 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 How is this related to plastic in the oceans and to? pollution? ● 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 our 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? Minamata Disease Protests