5/21/2018 World Geography: Understanding a Changing World - Marine Pollution

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MARINE POLLUTION
Marine pollution is the release of pollutants such as oil, heavy metals, toxic
chemicals, plastics and other debris, and radioactive wastes into the ocean. The
discharge of these materials into the oceans causes disease and death among
marine plants and animals as well as health problems for humans living on land.

The practice of ocean dumping re ects an age-old philosophy that the open
seas are a convenient and inexpensive repository in which humans can dispose
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of their unwanted garbage. Covering nearly three quarters of the planet's Click to Enlarge
surface, the oceans have traditionally been seen as a virtually boundless "black
5/21/2018 World Geography: Understanding a Changing World - Marine Pollution

hole" into which wastes could be discharged without causing harm to humans or any other living organism.
Governments began passing laws to restrict marine pollution only recently. In the United States, for example,
the U.S. Congress passed the Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 in attempt to reduce the dumping of raw
sewage into the nation's lakes and rivers. It was the rst piece of environmental legislation passed in this
country. Even then, the concept of marine pollution was essentially unknown until 1967, when the tanker
Torrey Canyon accidentally released more than 100,000 tons of crude oil into the ocean 20 miles o the
coast of Cornwall, England. For the rst time in history, the threat posed by human activities to Earth's
oceans became a topic of worldwide concern.

Types of Marine Pollution

Oil spills have long been the best-known example of marine pollution. Accidents
like the Torrey Canyon incident have received widespread publicity. But such
accidents account for only about 5% of all marine oil spills. The remaining 95%
come from runo of municipal and industrial oil spills (about 363 million gallons
per year), routine maintenance on marine vessels (137 million gallons), air
pollutants that dissolve in water (92 million gallons), seepage from natural
underwater sources of oil (62 million gallons), and o shore drilling (15 million
Click to Enlarge gallons). Heavy metals, toxic chemicals, and radioactive wastes from industrial
operations, agricultural activities, home and garden projects, and trucks, cars,
and other vehicles are sometimes dumped intentionally or sometimes washed away accidentally into the
oceans. Marine debris includes glass, plastic, metal, and other materials that do not decompose readily and
may pose a hazard to plants and animals, including humans. Marine debris may take a staggering variety of
forms, ranging from shing nets and plastic bottles to unexploded bombs and drums of toxic chemicals.

The major risk posed by marine pollution is the toxic character of most pollutants, including petroleum,
heavy metals, toxic chemicals, pathogens in sewage, and radioactive materials. These pollutants may kill
marine plants and animals directly or may be ingested and then passed on to higher organisms—including
humans—by whom they are eaten. Forms of debris that are not toxic can still cause harm to marine
organisms. Marine birds and mammals may become entangled in shing nets or plastic bottle rings, or they
may be injured by broken glass or sharp pieces of metal.

Laws and Treaties to Prevent Pollution

A number of national laws and international treaties dealing with marine pollution have been adopted.
These laws and treaties include the Convention on Fishing and Conservation of the Living Resources of the
Sea (1958), the Brussels Intervention Convention on oil spills (1969), the International Convention on Civil
Liability for Oil Pollution Damage (1969), the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution by
Ships (1973), the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (1982), and the Convention of the
Prevention of Marine Pollution by Dumping of Wastes (1990).

A host of human activities still threaten the health of the world's oceans. Huge new cruise ships now produce
up to 30,000 gallons of sewage each day, most of which is dumped directly into the oceans. Companies in
Indonesia are building new gold mines that will release 3,000 to 4,700 metric tons of wastes—containing
cyanide, arsenic, and other toxic substances—into o shore waters every day. High concentrations of toxic
chemicals in narwhals and belugas (whales that form an important part of the diet of people who live in
Arctic regions) threaten the survival not only of the whales, but also the lives of humans who eat them. Many
e orts have been made to solve the problems of marine pollution, but many more challenges remain.
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David E. Newton
5/21/2018 World Geography: Understanding a Changing World - Marine Pollution

Further Reading

Birkland, Thomas A. "In the Wake of the Exxon Valdez." Environment 40 (1998): 4-11; Burger, Joanna. Oil
Spills. Piscataway, NJ: Rutgers University Press , 1997; Clark, R.B. Marine Pollution. New York: Oxford
University Press, USA, 2001; Keeble, John, and Natalie Fobes. Out of the Channel: The Exxon Valdez Oil Spill in
Prince William Sound. Spokane, WA: Eastern Washington University Press, 1999.

MLA Citation

Newton, David E. "Marine Pollution." World Geography: Understanding a Changing World, ABC-CLIO, 2018,
worldgeography.abc-clio.com/Search/Display/1444127. Accessed 21 May 2018.

View all citation styles (/Tools/Cite/1444127?view=Cite).

Entry ID: 1444127

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