By Charlie
Did you know that ocean pollution is not only affecting animals but is also affecting us? Since the ocean covers 70% of the earth’s surface, it is a major part of life on this planet. Unfortunately there is a lot of plastic in the ocean, but there are ways to fix this. The ocean is a great place but with so much plastic in it, it is getting polluted, and it needs our help.
Recently factories have been releasing pollution into the ocean, and some of this is iron particles. Some experts have concerns that iron particles could have consequences on marine life. This shows that iron could have an effect on the food chain which could impact us. Over the years humans have been releasing more and more iron into the water, and the iron is dissolving a lot faster than scientists predicted. This means that iron might be a good thing. Phytoplankton naturally suck up carbon dioxide. With an extra boost from the iron particles, they could suck up more of it. This could be a good thing because it gets rid of the carbon dioxide problem. Even though this could help the world there is a lot more plastic that enters the ocean.
There are 9 million tons of plastic added to the ocean each year, and some of the plastic is cigarette butts. Meredith Evans Seeley, a doctoral student studying plastic, suggests that, “many people are working under the assumption that cigarette butts are biodegradable.” This shows that cigarettes are not biodegradable and they are really harmful to the environment. Other things that are harmful to the environment are plastic bags, balloons and water bottles. Other than being non-biodegradable items a lot of birds mistake these for food because it is on the top of the oceans. Even if your trash doesn’t make its way to the ocean it will go to a landfill which are really bad for the environment. Landfills are bad for the environment because they produce methane which makes more carbon dioxide. Overall plastic is bad but there might be some cures to this problem.
At the annual Google science fair Fionn Ferreira made a microplastic extraction from water. When Fionn took a walk on the beach he saw a lot of plastic and oil. According to Fionn, “[He] was alarmed to find out how many microplastics enter our wastewater system and consequently the oceans." There are more than 5 trillion pieces of plastic in the ocean. Fionn’s project could help with a cleanup of some of the plastic in the ocean. There is a lot of plastic, and you could help this problem by recycling.
Due to these high levels of pollution, the ocean is getting filled with plastic, and soon it won’t be as beautiful as it is now. Even though there is pollution from plastic, there are also ways to fix it, including Fionn’s new method. The ocean is dying, and you could save it by not using so much plastic!