The major effect that pollution has on the aquatic ecosystems, is the harming of the organisms that live within the waters, as well as the animals that gather their food from the water such as ducks and albatross. In the Bay of Bengal, for instance, the fin-fish and shell-fish are on the verge of extinction due to pollution (Xinhua News Agency). In Boukhari�s article, some places around the world have become so polluted that they are considered to be �biologically dead.� (Boukhari. Par. 8). Similarly, Carrasco goes on to claim that not only is this disruption of the marine environment jeopardizing the entire ecological food chain, but also that some of the pollutants are and can cause people to get sick if their water is not treated properly.
Take all the pieces of the puzzle that have been presented so far. All the causes, such as oil spills and toxic dumping, along with all the effects that are produced from these things. What do you see when you look at all of those together? One big problem, a problem that is called marine pollution and that if left to continue at its current rate, will harm the paradise we call Earth, and cause us to change many of the things we do, things we have, as well as how we live.
You might be asking yourself now, what can I do to help? There are plenty of things that you can do. You could write a letter to your congress person(s) and tell them how you feel about the problem and what you think should be done. You could take a certain amount of time every month to do something that would help decrease the pollution, such as picking up trash from a river bank or something of the sort. However, this problem is one of that is on one heck of a large scale. Being so big, one person can�t make that big of effect. It does help though. What must be done, is that governments of countries around the world need to make and pass laws that help to safeguard our oceans and the organisms that live within them. Treatment plants and better shipping practices when transporting oil and toxic waste can be implemented to help out. One proposal is to build a deep-well aerobic treatment plant that would treat the waste water using bacteria, before releasing it back to the ocean (Carrasco. Para.3). Some even say that the laws that already exist should be enforced more efficiently as well as punishing those who break the laws regarding the aquatic environment, more harshly (Africa News Service).
Our problem is a long ways away from being completely solved. The efforts that have been and will be made take time, effort, and a great deal of money to carry out. We must all do our part though, no matter how small it is. Every little bit that someone can do to help bring the marine ecosystems back to their natural splendor, counts and will most certainly be worth the effort. I urge each and every one of you that read this essay to find someway, no matter how small, to help save our marine resources and keep this paradise of ours in good health so that we might have it more millions of generations to come. |
