ocean pollution, and how it is affecting marine life. It will also look at what is being done to control pollution in the United States and around the world.
OCEAN POLLUTION AND ITS EFFECTS

There are numerous pollutants contaminating the world's oceans - they have been building up for hundreds of years, and they are both man-made and natural, although man-made pollutants are much more common than natural pollutants. Over 900,000 gallons of oil spills into the oceans every year, either from leaking tankers, oil spills, or leaks from oil dredging machinery. "In 1997, the 22 oil spills reported worldwide involved a total of 15 million gallons (57 million liters) of oil" ("ater Pollution").

Marine pollution by oil is also extremely harmful to anything the oil touches. It contaminates beaches, rocks, and of course, all the animals it touches. Oil adheres to poisons that are fat-soluble, such as DDT. This means when….

A three: 63% of Americans in a recent study believe that "regulations and laws" that are intended to protect our oceans are not strict enough, while 16% say laws are ok;

c) the knowledge most people have about the science related to the ocean and coast is not high.

A one: citizens are unaware of threats to the oceans, though the threats are immediate two: 50% of people recognize that factories are a pollution source, but only 24% recognize that "runoff" is what causes the pollution from factories and oil refineries three: 75% of people in one survey believed trees and forests give off more oxygen than oceans; and 60% of respondents didn't know that there are more plant and animal species on oceans than on land.

A four: about 45% of those polled between that between 11 and 20% of U.S. coastal regions are now in federally protected zones; the truth is,….

9% of the turtles" -- and "plastics" dominated the debris found (Katsanevakis, p. 75). The list of plastic trash found in those turtles is too long to include in this research.
Seabirds (especially pelicans, gannets and gulls) often fall prey to "monofilament line"; albatrosses, petrels, penguins and grebes are not found entangled in plastic fishing line or other plastic debris as often as pelicans and gulls (Katsanevakis, 2008, p. 69). hat is particularly insidious about plastic is when it is ingested by marine animals is releases "toxic chemicals" due to the chemical additives that are added to the plastic during the manufacturing process. Once in the abdomen of the animal the toxic materials can block the digestive tract and block "gastric enzyme ingestion, diminished feeding stimulus, nutrient dilution, reduced growth rates, lowered steroid hormone levels, delayed ovulation and reproductive failure," Katsanevakis asserts (p. 71).

There is lethal danger for small marine organisms….

Systems Thinking Applied to Sustainability Challenges
"SYSTEMS THINKING IS CRITICAL IN DEVELOPING SOLUTIONS TO SUSTAINAILITY CHALLENGES"

POLLUTION IN THE OCEANS

"Systems Thinking is Critical in Developing Solutions to Sustainability Challenges"

Pollution in the Oceans

Ocean pollution is an issue for both society and individuals. Such complex issues exhibit some commonality, including being nonlinear, being heterogeneous, interdependent and self organized. It follows, therefore, that the issues require well thought-out and equally complex solutions. Venturing on pursuing causes without structured frameworks is a waste of time.

'Systems thinking' provide a new model for solving complex problems that afflict society; including pollution issues. In the system, biology interacts with social, cultural and manmade environmental elements in permutations and combinations that continue to evolve, discontinuously. The causes of pollution (Anon., n.d.) arise at various levels. They also interact at these varying levels. Organizations and individual entities are important at any given level. There is optimization of the system function when….

Conservation of ocean or marine life has attracted significant attention in recent years given the devastating impacts of human activities on these ecosystems. This paper examines a study conducted to promote conservation of marine or ocean life across the globe. The review demonstrates the significance of combining policy interventions and management interventions to achieve this.  Background
Ocean or marine areas cover approximately 71% of the Earth’s surface. Even though the depths of these areas are yet to be fully explored or exploited, they are habitats for a huge portion of the world’s biodiversity and essential in global climate change (Addis, p.5). Ocean or marine biodiversity is recognized across the globe as an essential component of life not only in the oceans, but also on Earth. The Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development states that ocean or marine areas are key components of the Earth’s ecosystem to an extent that without them….

Features of the Ocean Floor
Continental Margins

As one travels away from the continents, water depths increase in a systematic manner.

Closest to the continents are continental shelves with water depth typically less than 1000 m. Continental shelves were formed as rivers carried tons of particles of sand and soil from the land out to sea. This sand and soil then settled as layers of sediments, or layers of particles of rock and animal remains.

Commonly at the distal edge of the continental shelves, there is a marked continental slope where water depths increase quickly. The continental slope separates the continental shelf from the ocean floor.

The continental rises, located at the base of the continental slopes, mark the beginning of the deep ocean basins.

Submarine canyons commonly occur along continental margins and transport sediment from the margins down into the deep ocean basins.

B. Mid Ocean idges

Long mountain chains found in the deep ocean basins….

The NATUNA SEA sinking incident occurred on October 3, 2000 on the rock-strewn outcrop of Batu Berhanti in Indonesia when it was headed to Jinzhou, China.  The grounding of the NATUNA SEA took place approximately 6NM from the tanker’s manager’s office (Ferguson, 2002).  This incident had devastating effects because of the oil spill into the sea, which was nearly 3 years after the EVOIKOS oil spill.  Since the occurrence of this incident, the shipping industries in Singapore and Indonesia have embarked on several initiatives to prevent future accidents and their subsequent oil spills.  These industries have also been keen in ensuring oil pollution from such incidents are avoided or mitigated.  However, there is need for more initiatives to be undertaken by the shipping industry in order to prevent and deal with such incidents in an effective manner.
Brief Description of the Ship

NATUNA SEA was a Panamanian tanker that was carrying approximately….

.." For example, during the Vietnam War the United States "sprayed 3640 km2 of South Vietnam's cropland with herbicides, using a total estimated amount of 55 million kg. The stated rationale was to deny the enemy sources of food and means of cover. This widespread use of chemicals to destroy farmland, forest and water sources is unprecedented, and the environmental consequences are still relatively unexplored. International teams have been granted access for field assessments only in the last few years." (Learning, 2000)
The work of Lindon, Jernelov, and Egerup (2004) entitled: "The Environmental Impacts of the Gulf War 1991" relates that the oil fires in Kuwait" emitted pollutants that potentially could affect the health and well-being of the people in the region. Most of the substances emitted from the burning wells can potentially cause adverse effects, which vary according to concentration and duration of exposure." In fact the concentrations of sulfur….

sciencedaily.com/Releases/2012/04/120417102506.htm
In the article titled: "Plastic garbage in oceans: Understanding marine pollution from microplastic particles," discussion starts with the danger posed by microplastic particles to numerous marine life that inhabit the oceans and seas. These "large quantities of globally produced plastics end up in the oceans where they represent a growing risk." The smallest objects within the range of particles that make up the pollution are microplastic particles which not only pose the greatest risk in harming marine wildlife, but also remain the least investigated pollutant. The article wishes to show how efforts are being undertaken to establish standardized guidelines to help record and characterize microplastic particles in the sea for analysis and measurement of its impact on marine wildlife.

When observing the source of these microplastic particles, the investigators note the water bottles in and around the shorelines and the pieces of plastic floating in the water creating the microplastic….

While global warming is still hotly debated global pollution is already a fact. An environmentally sustainable development plan is the need of the hour.
ibliography

1) University of East Anglia (2009, November 17). 'Fossil fuel carbon dioxide emissions up by 29% since 2000.' ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 9, 2009, from http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091117133504.htm

2) NGC, 'Acid Rain', retrieved Dec 9th 2009, from,, http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/acid-rain-overview.html

3) WHO, (2006), 'Indoor air pollution. 4000 deaths a day must no longer be ignored', retrieved Dec 9th 2009, from, http://www.who.int/bulletin/volumes/84/7/editorial30706html/en/index.html

4) lacksmith Institute, (2009) 'Pollution Facts, Retrieved December 9, 2009, from, 'http://www.worstpolluted.org/pollution-facts-2009.html

5) U.S. PIRG Education Fund, (Jan 2005), 'Pollution on the Rise: Local Trends in Power Plant Pollution', retrieved Dec 9th 2009, from http://cdn.publicinterestnetwork.org/assets/0kExFsxeEE6g_YLDhOxTAA/Pollution_On_The_Rise.pdf

6) NASA, 'NASA Satellite Measure Pollution from East Asia to North America', retrieved Dec 9th 2009, from, http://www.nasa.gov/topics/earth/features/pollution_measure.html

7) EEA Report, (2008) 'Greenhouse Gas Emission Trends and Production in Europe 2008', retrieved Dec 9th 2009, from, http://www.eea.europa.eu/publications/eea_report_2008_5/Trends_and_projections_2008_executive_summary.pdf

8) Worldwatch Institute, (Dec 2005),….

Multiple forms of pollution are quickly becoming a focal point of concern for many societies concerned with both human and natural environments. One of the primary difficulties with controlling pollution is that it frequently comes from many sources and possesses the power to contaminate numerous aspects of life. Additionally, companies and corporations are often very resistive to implementing pollution controls, as they can have substantial costs associated with them. Ordinary citizens, as well, tend to resist actions that potentially could help the environment simply because they are time consuming or conflict with other aims. Nevertheless, as the population of the earth grows and Americans continue to utilize an ever increasing amount of the world's resources and energy, pollution is reaching levels that threaten lives and the traditional functioning of society.
One form of pollution that has received increased attention in recent years has been noise pollution. Usually, the problem is associated….

Yellow River Pollution
A report published by Terra Daily (2006) reports that the famous Yellow River of China "is becoming more polluted, with water flow dropping despite billions of tons of waste being pumped into it…" The largest part of the discharge is reported to be coming from factories in China and the discharge increased "by 88 million tons from 2004, and more than 66% of the water in the river was unfit for drinking." (Terra Daily, 2006) According to officials, "excessive exploitation of the river's water resources had resulted in lower sections totally drying up on more than 1,000 days between 1972 and 1999." (Terra Daily, 2006)

Another source reports that in 1972 that the Yellow River, for the first time in the recorded history of China had "dried up in patches and failed to reach the sea." (Time World, 2006) It is reported that while the central government in China….

Riding a bike to work or school immediately reduces the carbon footprint that otherwise would be left from the exhaust of your car. Taking a bus, a trolley, carpooling or walking -- any of these modes of transportation is being "green" instead of contributing to pollution and to global climate change. it's true that every mile you drive your car, you produce exhaust waste, and so over a year's time of driving your car to work or school, you are adding thousands of pounds of pollutants to the air that every one breathes.

When shopping for groceries, use a cotton bag or other reusable shopping bag rather than letting the checker fill plastic bags with your purchases. Plastic bags (it is well-known) find their way onto the sidewalks, roadways, in fields and in waterways, and they cause injuries and death to wildlife, and so it is always a good way to….

Wilson also believes that the key solution to the problem of plastic in the oceans is to stop producing plastic products in such massive quantities and for consumers to stop using plastic products. The next step according to Wilson is to get involved in cleanups such as beach cleanups and so forth, get involved in campaigns to eliminate products that produce the problem, and demand that companies take responsibility for the issue.
While the notion of actually going out and cleaning up the plastic out of the ocean may be a lot more complicated than the Ocean Cleanup Array proposal suggests, Wilson's solution to the issue is rather simplistic as well. For years environmentalists have been trying to get companies to be responsible for their actions and to get consumers to use biodegradable containers and yet there does not seem to be any end to the increasing number of plastic….

Sea Shipping Services in Europe
The study aims to identify the impact, benefits, and drawback of implementing a short sea shipping policy within Greece. Within the paper, arguments have been made for supporting the adoption of the policy, and there have been clear facts presented. The paper also attempts to make comparisons between the different modes of transport available with an aim to show how cost effective and environmentally friendly short sea shipping is to a country. The results presented are backed by previous research that has shown the impact of marine transportation and made comparisons with road or rail transportation.

Short Sea Shipping is defined as the movement of passengers and cargo by sea, between ports that have a shared coastline without crossing an ocean. Short seas shipping has been at the forefront of the European Union's transport policy mainly because it offers the potential to reduce road congestion and reduce….