The Oceans of the world are essential to the earth and to all human life who inhabit it. Oceans cover about 75% of the earth's surface and provide food, natural resources, and recreation for many people. Care of the oceans is very important to the survival of not only the ocean's inhabitants, but to earth's land inhabitants as well. Sustaining and preserving the ocean's unique habitats will improve the well being of all the earth's occupants. The pollution of water has a serious impact on all living animals, and can harmfully affect the use of water for drinking, household needs, recreation, fishing, transportation and commerce.

The increased population has opened the door to germs and different diseases. At the time of the Middle ages cholera, “Black Death” and typhoid for example, were caused by human unsanitary conditions such as garbage and animal wastes. The “Black Death” was an outbreak of bubonic plague carried by the rats fleas. These unsanitary conditions were the ideal conditions for this bacteria to spread.

By the start of the 1800s, many people started to understand that unsanitary conditions along with water pollution were the cause of many of these diseases. Some cities began to take action to try and control there garbage wastes. Cities built sewage systems which helped improve the sanitary conditions but as the population grew so did the factories. This created a new type of pollution from waste from these factories and industries. In 1897, a report to the Royal Commission on River Pollution detailed the gross industrial contamination of the Tawe River in Wales, noting that it was polluted by "alkali works, copper works, sulfuric acid liquid, sulfate of iron from tin-plate works, and by slag, cinders and small coal" (Markham, 1994).

In the 20th century water pollution continued to increase. The Cuyahoga River in Cleveland, Ohio, which flows into Lake Erie, became so polluted that the water erupted into flames! The first fire occurred in 1936,...