It is well know that there is an ongoing plastic debris epidemic with an estimated 8 billion tonnes of plastic waste being dumped into the ocean each year (Walter, 2015). With the increasing growth of the human population and the ever expanding affluence of lower income countries plastic waste is only going to increase. Marine ecosystems will be the brunt of this crisis with most terrestrial plastic waste ending its journey in the oceans. The most fragile ecosystems, coral reefs, will be the first to deteriorate from the ongoing epidemic unless changes are made. 50-*0% of all life on the planet live in the oceans (UNESCO, 2015)
Marine debris originates from two main sources, terrestrial and ocean based sources. Ocean based sources include debris …show more content…
Seals are particularly at risk of entanglement due to their inquisitive nature. It can cause lacerations fatal cuts and wounds which can develop into skin ulcerations. All these factors cause marine organisms to have deteriorating health and wellbeing and in some cases can lead to death. Another problem that has arisen from plastic marine debris is the concept of ghost fishing. Abandoned or lost fishing generally made of plastic or synthetic materials continue to catch fish despite no one using them (Department, Fisheries and Aquaculture, 2015). This can lead to economic losses for fisheries and reduce the number of wild fish stocks. Entanglement poses a specific problem to rare marine species as it reduces their number potentially leading to endangering the species or extinction. Fatal entanglement and ingestion of marine debris has increased by 40% in the last decade (Thompson, 2013) and will continue to rise without the implementation of legislations and …show more content…
All the impacts are detrimental and in many cases cause severe harm to individual organisms and the whole ecosystem. Currently there are no policies which address marine plastic debris as whole but this is due to the fact that no one person owns the oceans. It is very unlikely that the plastic epidemic will be addressed as a whole so, for there to be any major changes to the ongoing plastic epidemic a bottom up approach needs to be taken. It is clear smaller scale projects and changes by the consumer will have more effect on clearing the plastic away from the world’s oceans. If this plastic epidemic continues to worsen more and more marine organisms will suffer from entanglement and ingestion reducing global biodiversity. As the human population is still exponentially increasing it is vital that we maintain marine biodiversity so we have a source of food and genetic information for the future without this the human population could also go into decline. There must be a solution found before its o late or there will continue to be unforeseen implications to the whole marine ecosystem and maybe the whole
Marine debris originates from two main sources, terrestrial and ocean based sources. Ocean based sources include debris …show more content…
Seals are particularly at risk of entanglement due to their inquisitive nature. It can cause lacerations fatal cuts and wounds which can develop into skin ulcerations. All these factors cause marine organisms to have deteriorating health and wellbeing and in some cases can lead to death. Another problem that has arisen from plastic marine debris is the concept of ghost fishing. Abandoned or lost fishing generally made of plastic or synthetic materials continue to catch fish despite no one using them (Department, Fisheries and Aquaculture, 2015). This can lead to economic losses for fisheries and reduce the number of wild fish stocks. Entanglement poses a specific problem to rare marine species as it reduces their number potentially leading to endangering the species or extinction. Fatal entanglement and ingestion of marine debris has increased by 40% in the last decade (Thompson, 2013) and will continue to rise without the implementation of legislations and …show more content…
All the impacts are detrimental and in many cases cause severe harm to individual organisms and the whole ecosystem. Currently there are no policies which address marine plastic debris as whole but this is due to the fact that no one person owns the oceans. It is very unlikely that the plastic epidemic will be addressed as a whole so, for there to be any major changes to the ongoing plastic epidemic a bottom up approach needs to be taken. It is clear smaller scale projects and changes by the consumer will have more effect on clearing the plastic away from the world’s oceans. If this plastic epidemic continues to worsen more and more marine organisms will suffer from entanglement and ingestion reducing global biodiversity. As the human population is still exponentially increasing it is vital that we maintain marine biodiversity so we have a source of food and genetic information for the future without this the human population could also go into decline. There must be a solution found before its o late or there will continue to be unforeseen implications to the whole marine ecosystem and maybe the whole