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The Actions We Can Easily Do to Heal Our Oceans

1. Reducing the Use of Plastics

According to Law, a researcher from Sea Education Association (2017), plastic garbages are one of the biggest causes of the pollution in the ocean, and many marine species are died due to plastic trash. If we are able to avoid the use of plastic products, we will save a number of sea lives. The easiest way that we can minimise the use of plastic products in our daily lives is skipping single-use plastics such as plastic bags, PET bottles, plastic straws, plastic lids, plastic food containers, plastic cutleries and plastic wraps.

2. Stop Buying Products that Take Advantages from Marine Life

Products which are made by marine life cause negative effects to marine populations and ecosystems because every life in the ocean needs to rely on each other. Here are some lists of products that exploit the ocean life including shark fins, shark teeth, coral jewellery, natural pearl, tortoiseshell hair accessories, sun block and lipsticks which contain “ squalene ”, oil from livers of sharks or whales (Roth, 2018).

3. Supporting Organisations that have the aim to protect the ocean

In today’s world, there are plenty of non-profit organisations that work for saving our oceans. There are two main options in order to support those organisations which are being as a volunteer and donating money. For example, “ Project AWARE Foundation “ is a non-profit organisation for a global ocean protection by the group of people that loves marine adventures for the purpose of the ocean conservation. We are able to donate money for this organisation to support their marine conservation purposes, and we can also join them as a volunteer in the coming up events (Project AWARE Foundation, 2019).

References

Law, K. (2017). Plastic in the marine environment. Sea Education Association. Retrieved from: https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev-marine-010816-060409

Project AWARE Foundation. (2019). Who we are. Retrieved from: https://www.projectaware.org/aboutus

Roth, A. (July 23, 2018). There might be shark in your sunscreen. National Geographic. Retrieved from: https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2018/07/sharks-news-cosmetics-squalene-health/

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How Humans’ Activities Destroy the Ocean

The ocean provides a home for over thousands of species on Earth, and it is also significant for human beings. However, while a million of species rely on the ocean for producing foods and habitats, some of the humans’ activities are killing them.

Pollution and Dumping

Humans pollute a lot of plastic trash into the ocean. According to Ocean Conservancy, an organization which creates science-based solutions for a healthy ocean and the wildlife (2019), in 1980, eight-million tons of plastic trashes are thrown away into our sea every year, including plastic straws, bags and so on. Those plastic garbages are like dumping a New York City plastic trash truck into our oceans in every minute each day. Besides, oil spills from oil industries are the large cause of pollution in the ocean. For example, the accident like the Deepwater Horizon explosion on 20 April 2010 can pollute a large number of dangerous chemical substances into the ocean. Many innocent populations of the ocean have to die, and the ecological systems of the sea are threatened by humans for decades.

an image of the Deepwater Horizon explosion in 2010

Greenhouse Gas Emissions

Many humans’ activities create a huge amount of greenhouse gases such as fossil fuel combustion, biomass burning and industrial processes. To explain, the greenhouse gas emissions react with seawater then it reduces pH in the seawater which will increase the acidity. When the acidity in the ocean is increased, it negatively affects the growth of some animals and plants in the ocean, such as shellfish and weakening coral (ICUN, n.d.).

References

IUCN: The International Union for Conservation of Nature. (n.d.). The ocean and climate change. Retrieved from: https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/ocean-and-climate-change

Ocean Conservancy. (2019). The problem with plastics. Retrieved from: https://oceanconservancy.org/trash-free-seas/plastics-in-the-ocean/