Marine Pollution – Some Chemical Sources & Impacts
Oceans cover over 70% of the surface of our planet and the oceanwater comprises over 95% of Earth’s water. This makes oceans the biggest natural resource on Earth. They are vast and deep, hence until recently, dumping and leakage of debris into marine water was never a public health concern. It was generally assumed that the large amount of water of oceans dilutes the trash, chemicals, and other foreign materials that enter the marine environment and therefore no harm is caused due to them. Marine pollution in general occurs when chemicals, trash, or other human-created substances enter our planet’s oceans causing disturbance to marine life and habitats and thus harmfully effecting the marine ecosystems. There are many types of marine pollution such as chemical, physical (trash), light, and noise pollution. Chemical pollution refers to harmful chemicals entering the marine waters resulting from human activities such as use of plastics, fertilizers, insecticides, herbicides, o