Ocean Pollution Essays and Research Papers

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You’re faced with a task of writing an ocean pollution essay and you have no idea what to write about? Сheck out ocean pollution essay examples on our website to get an idea what other people are writing about. But first let’s start with a topic overview to understand what it all is about.

The development of civilization has led to an increase in the pollution of the World Ocean. The situation began to deteriorate from about the middle of the twentieth century, which was associated with the development of the chemical and oil refining industries. Today, several types of ocean pollution can be distinguished:

• Physical. Garbage, especially plastic, which is practically non-degradable, is a huge problem for the ecology of the oceans. On the surface of the oceans, millions of tons of plastic waste drift, and, according to experts, 80% of this garbage fell into the ocean from land and only 20% was dumped or washed away from ships. Garbage damages more than 250 species of marine animals and birds and releases toxic substances into the water;
• Biological. Ocean pollution can be caused by alien bacteria and various microorganisms, as well as organic waste, inevitably leads to a disruption of the fragile ecological balance;
• Chemical. Chemicals and heavy metals are used in a wide variety of industries. Together with wastewater, they enter the ocean, and in huge quantities. Mercury, which accumulates in living organisms as well as pesticides, is especially dangerous. However, it is not only large factories that are responsible for the ocean pollution by chemicals: a lot of chemicals get into the water and from the sewers because we constantly use synthetic detergents;
• Oil.  Oil and oil products are the main sources of ocean pollution. Oil gets into the water as a result of man-made disasters, tanker wrecks, and well drilling, but ordinary sea transport also dumps a lot of oil products. Oil spills lead to the death of a huge number of marine animals, fish, and birds, and in addition, they impede normal heat exchange between water layers;
• Thermal. Wastewater, which is discharged into the oceans by power plants, locally increases the temperature of the water, which leads to the mass death of creatures that cannot survive at such high temperatures. This disrupts food chains and leads to the extinction of many animal species. At the same time, some types of algae begin to multiply too actively, resulting in water bloom;
• Radioactive. The ocean has long turned into a radioactive waste cemetery.

WWF experts have calculated the cost of all the resources of the World Ocean. The figure is impressive – $ 24.2 trillion, but experts themselves say that it is, in fact, underestimated, since many resources are difficult to estimate in monetary terms.

Oil and oil products, wastewater, chemicals, heavy metals, radioactive waste, mercury, and plastic are the main sources of ocean pollution. It is difficult to say which of the types of ocean pollution is the most dangerous – all of them, to one degree or another, affect the planet’s ecosystem, including humans. According to research papers mentioned in almost every ocean pollution essay written by students, toxins can build up in the tissues of game fish, making them unsuitable for human consumption. For example, tuna from the Adriatic Sea is often found to have a very high content of mercury, and fish from the northern seas often have an increased content of lead. Poisoning from seafood containing toxins can be fatal: Minamata disease, caused by poisoning from seafood high in mercury, has killed at least 70 people.

The blooming of coastal waters, caused by the dumping of organic waste and fertilizers, makes them unsuitable for fishing, as fish die in the blooming water. This not only deprives gourmets of seafood delicacies but also takes away the work of hundreds of thousands of people. Against this backdrop, turning heavenly beaches into fetid dumps seems like the lesser of the problem.

In order to write a great ocean pollution essay, you need first to gather information on the topic, read some essay examples, and you can also watch the documentary on ocean pollution down below to discover more useful facts on the topic: