Embedded Files
By Jazmine H
It's no secret that water pollution is a big problem and only getting worse. It easily affects things like our water and food sources. Another big effect of water pollution is many living organisms such as fish, turtles, sea birds, are dying because of it. Water pollution is also affecting some of nature's tourist attractions such as coral reefs, and beaches.
One person that has made an effort to stop or at least minimise water pollution is president Joe Biden. According to a news article published by The New York Times, one of the many things president Biden is doing is retracting a law former president Donald J Trump had. That law allowed fertilizers, pesticides and industrial chemicals to flow into small streams. With this law now being retracted that would mean there would be a lot less pollution in small streams. With less pollution going into small streams there is less pollution that can end up in oceans.
“One of the main causes of water pollution has to be humans. All the things humans have made and are still making,” stated Mr.Khong, a teacher at Yerba Buena high school. Khong also stated his feelings on ocean pollution and what started it. “Ocean pollution is entirely created by humans. We contribute to ocean pollution through our actions such as dumping directly into the ocean and also from runoff from land (pesticide, fertilizer, etc.).”
There are many things humans use that contribute to water pollution. Specifically single use items like straws, plastic cups, take out containers, water bottles, plastic cutlery, masks, gloves and many others. According to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) single use plastics make up 89% of percent of plastic pollution in oceans. Some groups who have tried to do something about ocean pollution by either monitoring beaches, hosting public beach and shoreline cleanups are BayFront Cleanup, Heal The Bay, SaveTheBay and many more.
The pandemic also contributed to the water pollution situation. One of the things the pandemic brought was single use masks and gloves. Many people are leaving them on the floor and letting the wind “take care of it” many of those masks end up in oceans and the bay. As stated in an article “A pandemic side effect.used masks pollution California's coastal waters.” written by Scott Wilson, “129 billion masks and 65 billion plastic containing gloves are used globally each month with a significant portion ending up in oceans.”
“The pandemic has also helped the water pollution situation in a way. One way the pandemic has helped is since many people are no longer going to work many factories are not running as much therefore less pollutants are being dumped into waterways.”-Mr.Khong
Sources:Marine plastics (IUCN.org)
One of the many things water pollution affects is the water humans use and drink. Water that gets polluted is eventually gonna end up somewhere. Whether that be someone's sink or shower. Thankfully California has a rule called the Clean Water Act. The Clean Water Act is a U.S. federal law that regulates the discharge of pollutants into the nation's surface waters, including lakes, rivers, streams, wetlands, and coastal areas. With this law water pollution gets reduced and stays somewhat controlled.
Another thing water pollution affects is actually a lot of the sea food that gets eaten. Some of the smaller fish will see small plastic particles and eat them thinking it's food. Consuming that much plastic dramatically shortens their lifespan. Plastic pollution has also affected turtles. According to an article by the Sea Turtle Conservatory called “Information About Sea Turtles: Threats from Marine Pollution”, “new research suggests that a disease now killing many sea turtles (fibropapillomas) may be linked to pollution in the oceans and in nearshore waters”. When these fish get killed for food, that plastic does not always get cleaned out. So when humans eat sea food there is a huge possibility that they will also be eating a small portion of micro plastics. This can negatively affect humans because the toxins found in microplastics can lead to health complications if ingested.
One thing humans can do to help at least reduce the water pollution is educate themselves on this situation. Telling people what could happen if they dump things into waterways. Just have them know that whatever they dump in the ocean or any water way is going to eventually end up somewhere whether it ends up in a creek or in the ocean or even in their homes. According to an article written by Clean Beach initiative, the most polluted ocean today is the pacific ocean. “The most polluted ocean is the Pacific with 2 trillion plastic pieces and one third of the plastic found in this ocean circulates in the North Pacific Gyre.”
Google Sites
Report abuse