Environmental Impacts on Oceans

Environmental Impacts on Oceans

by Sarah Reid

​Sources of Ocean Pollution

• ​Point Source Pollution Sources

• ​NonPoint Source Pollution Sources

• ​Only 13% comes from activities in the Ocean

• ​The rest originate on Land

​Solid Waste Pollution

• ​What is it?

  • plastics, glass, foam, metals

• ​What problems does it cause?

  • Animal ​Entanglement

  • ​Animals Eat It

  • ​It does not degrade- microplastics

  • ​Becomes trapped in Gyres

​The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

• ​Located in the Pacific Ocean

• ​Could be up to 2x the size of Texas

• No big efforts to clean it up

  • cost

  • responsibility

  • logistics

​Excess Sediment

• ​Erosion Runoff

  • ​Sediments can clog filter feeders (clams, sponges)

  • ​Can block sunlight, increase temperatures

  • ​inhibits photosynthesis

• can cause photosynthetic marine organisms to die

​Excess Nutrients Cause Algal Blooms

• ​nutrients like nitrogen and phosphates cause plants like algae to grow

• could come from land based fertilizers, waste, and runoff

• causes algae to grow and reproduce quickly and in large numbers

• algae can produce harmful toxins

• when the die and decompose it uses the Oxygen in the water

• other organisms can die from a lack of oxygen

• ​Coral are very sensitive to temperature changes (even 1 degree)

• Coral Bleaching is the loss of color in coral that occurs when stressed coral expel the algae that live in them

• This leads to the death of the coral

• impacts that whole ecosystem

  • food chains

  • shelter for other fish

​Coral Bleaching

• ​as the temperature of water increases the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water decreases

Dissolved Oxygen levels Decrease

• as Carbon Dioxide in the Atmosphere increases the amount of CO2 dissolved in seawater also increases

• CO2 mixing with water creates carbonic acidic which lowers the pH of the water

• This impacts marine organisms ability to use carbonate and makes it more difficult for them to absorb calcium

  • This impacts the strength of their shells, and skeletons

  • Can impact the food chain- plankton make protective plates

Affects of Increasing CO2 Ocean Acidication