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Today’s Music:“The New Pollution” - Beck
Chapter 15
The Human Presence in the Ocean
“By acquiescing in an act that can cause suffering to a living creature, who among us is not diminished as a human being?”-- Rachel Carson, The Silent Spring
“By acquiescing in an act that can disrupt and destroy delicate ecological balances, who among us is not diminished as a human being?”– textbook paraphrase
Pollution - U.N., 1982Pollution is the introduction by humans, directly or
indirectly, of substances or energy into the marine environment (including estuaries) resulting in deleterious effects such as harm to living resources, hazards to human health, hindrance of marine activities including fishing, impairing quality for use of sea water and reduction of amenities.
Pollution - Pinet , 1998Pollution is the introduction OR extraction by
humans, of material and energy from the environment, such that concentrations of these substances are raised or lowered below “natural” levels to such a degree that environmental conditions change. This contamination by direct or indirect human activity is pollution whether the impact happens to be the living or to the nonliving parts of ecosystems.
e.g., erosion of the coast or a barrier island...
Why Should We Care??? Over half our
population lives within 50 miles of the coast
We eat at least 15 lbs. of seafood per person each year
Just about everything bought & sold goes thru ports in cargo ships
15 million species in oceans & wetlands, each one vital to balance of nature
17% of our oil and 25% of our natural gas come from offshore
PB is spreadable because an ingredient found in the ocean
Why We Should Care (cont.)
Most of the world’s weather/climate patterns...
The oceans are fun to be near or in...
Pollution tends to be concentrated in three parts of the ocean
UCAR, www.windows.ucar.edu
Blowout of exploratory well Ixtox 1 in 1979 (Gulf of Mexico). When workers were able to stop this blowout in 1980 an estimated 140 million gallons of oil had spilled into the
ocean. This is the second largest spill ever, smaller only than the deliberate oil spills that ended the Kuwait-Iraq war of 1991
1000 miles of shoreline damaged
1989
“The Curse of the Carissa”Feb/Mar ‘99
“The Curse of the Carissa”
“The Curse of the Carissa”Navy torpedoes!
“The Battle for the Beach”70,000 gallons of oil
2400 seabirds killed
Human Foibles Relatively little pollution occurs due to tanker
accidents. Mostly “standard operational discharge”
related to pumping bilges on ships. Rivers…
More of the spectacular and sadly comic
“Quick and clean” environmental cleanup?
Our Trash Kills! 20 billion tons per year!!
Needles and syringes from NYC sewer$3 billion in lost tourism
N. Jersey sperm whaleparty balloon, ribbon still attached, blocking the animal's digestive tract.
Boston Harbor: one of the most polluted in the
countrySewage dumped
from 48 communities
Boston Harbor Outfall Tunnel
The Ocean’s Future A commonly held belief is that the ocean’s
capacity for accepting human refuse and for self-cleansing is limitless.
NOT TRUE!!!coastal ocean capacity already exceeded.
© Wolcott Henry 2001, Marine Photobank
The Ocean’s Future (Cont.)
most seriously polluted = coastal zones that border large urban centers.
open ocean showing signs of pollution.
major shipping
lanes
© Wolcott Henry 2001, Marine Photobank
The Ocean’s Future (Cont.)
Since the ocean is a dynamic system and water is exchanged regularly, no part of the ocean and for that matter the Earth is truly free of human influence.
© Wolcott Henry 2001, Marine Photobank
The Ocean’s Future (Cont.)
The human population of ~6 billion people is expanding at an exponential rate.
© Wolcott Henry 2001, Marine Photobank
Simple Living Collectiveof San Francisco, 1977
Does what I own or buy promote activity, self-reliance, and involvement, or does it induce passivity and dependence?
Are my consumptive patterns basically satisfying, or do I buy much that serves no real need?
Simple Living Collectiveof San Francisco, 1977 (cont.)
How tied is my present job and lifestyle to installment payments, maintenance & repair costs, and the expectation of others?
Do I consider the impact of my consumptive patterns on other people and on the Earth?
What will YOU do to help?
What will YOU do to help?
“…Things YOU Can Do to Save Our Ocean”
dusk.geo.orst.edu/oceans/yoto.html
www.saveourseas.org
www.seaweb.org
