OCEAN POLLUTION AND CLEANING

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 are 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.
 Fertilizers
Oil Spills

Sewage Pipes Chemicals

 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 billion

pounds of plastic each year,
about 10% ends up in the
ocean, 70% of which eventually
sinks
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.
• There's also the problem of the oil that goes down with the ship, which
can contaminate the seabed and 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.
 Sewage Pipes

 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.
PREVENTIVE STEPS

• CUT DOWN ON PLASTIC USE

• HOLD COMPANIES ACCOUNTABLE

• RECOGNIZE THE HARM OF INDIVIDUAL LITTER

• DON'T THROW ANYTHING OVERBOARD

THANK YOU