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Impact of Human Pollution

On The Ocean and Its Inhabitants

Scott Casturo

Western Governors University

Impact of Human Pollution

On The Ocean and Its Inhabitants

Once thought to be unchangeable, the ocean is showing the results of years of abuse from mankind. Many studies have been conducted over the past few decades and one thing is certain; human activity has impacted the oceans with devastating and far-reaching effects. Human contamination of sea water has been a result of many different practices; and this onslaught of pollution from so many different angles has wreaked havoc on the ocean and its inhabitants. Ocean dumping of wastes, to include everything from chemical weapons to human sewage, and other not-so-obvious sources of ocean pollution, such as nutrient run-off, all contribute to this enormous problem being forced upon the ocean. This rapidly evolving situation has become the focus of domestic and international organizations alike; however the sources of the pollution have made eradicating the problem quite difficult and largely unsuccessful thus far. Nonetheless, the ocean and the many living things that call it home, continue to suffer as a result of human pollution. The ocean is home to many living creatures and pollution has a very severe impact on all forms of marine life. Ocean-based plants and animals alike suffer extreme loss of life as a result of being poisoned by human pollution. Furthermore, ocean-based habitats are destroyed and degraded by pollution and ocean dumping. Once these habitats are gone, so are the plants and animals that once called them home. More visibly noticeable to the naked eye are the physical dangers faced by marine life as a result of human pollution and ocean dumping. Trash, in the form of discarded fishing nets, plastics, and other waste products have been seen by many people across the world, ensnaring, entrapping, and killing vast numbers of marine animals. Research suggests direct waste...