Marine Pollution

What is Marine Pollution?

Marine pollution is a combination of chemicals and trash, most of which comes from land sources and is washed or blown into the ocean. This pollution results in damage to the environment, the health of all organisms, and to economic structures worldwide. Marine pollution is a part of Water pollution. Click here to read the Water pollution topic.

Sources of Marine Pollution:

• Land-Based Activities: Dumping of hazardous waste, heavy discharges from industry, the inflow of fertilizers and pesticides from Agri fields.
• Pollution from Open exploration: Offshore drilling.
• Marine debris: Sunken ships (w their cargo of hazardous material).
• Shipbreaking: Alang in Gujarat leaves toxic material removed from dismantled old ships.
• Pollution from ships: Accidental oil spills, cleaning process, emissions from engines.
• The inflow of chemicals, solid waste, discharge of radioactive elements, industrial and agricultural effluents, man-made sedimentation, and oil spills.
• The majority portion comes from the land which contributes to 80% of the marine pollution, air pollution also carries pesticides from farms and dust into the marine waters.

Types of marine pollution:

1) Eutrophication.

• The addition of Nutrients (Nitrates, Phosphates) through fertilizer, sewage, etc. into lakes is known as Eutrophication.
• This leads to algal bloom. It reduces the BOD of the lakes.
• The reduced oxygen level leads to new anaerobic conditions which promote the growth of Clostridium Botulinum bacteria.
• It is now also in the Coastal waters and not just Lakes.

2) Oceanic Acidification.

3) Plastics and Microplastics.

1. Plastic includes = Diethylhexyl Phthalate, Cadmium, Lead, and Mercury.
2. Burning of Plastic leads to PCBs (Polychlorinated Biphenyl), Pathogens, Heavy metals in water bodies, Phosgene (COCl2) and Methyl Isocyanate, Dioxins, and Furans.
3. Microbeads = < 1mm. Mainly made of polyethene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyethene terephthalate (PET), Polymethyl Methacrylate (PMMA) and Nylon. Used in cosmetics (exfoliation), toothpaste, and biomedical.

4) Other reasons

Efforts to combat Marine Pollution

• Automated Moorings to reduce Ocean pollution.

  1. Earlier we had to collect water samples from Ocean and then check marine pollution.
  2. Now coz of this new ocean data acquisition system we can obs marine pollution and help understand how the marine system is changing.

• Global Efforts: Marpol, 1973

  3. International Convention for Prevention of Pollution from Ships = Protocol (legally binding) in 1978.
  4. India is a member. It is a treaty on a complete ban on & at sea disposal of plastic.
  5. It has 6 annexures: Oil & Oily Water; Noxious liquid substances; Packaged substances; Sewage from ship; Garbage from ship and Air Pollution from ship.

• BOBLME project

  1. (Bay of Bengal Large Marine Ecosystem) started by FAO in 2009. It gets funding from Global Environment Facility.
  2. It involves all 8 Indian Ocean countries.
  3. Aim is to promote sustainable fishing, reduce marine Pollution and improve coastal livelihood.
• India - Norway Pollution Initiative to combat Marine Pollution, sustainable use of ocean resources and growth in the Blue Economy, beach clean-up efforts, increase awareness and collecting information about Marine pollution.

• UN-led Clean Seas Campaign, 2017

  1. Fight against marine plastic litter. For SDG 12 (sustainable consumption and production); SDG 13 (Climate Change), SDG 14 (Life below water).
  2. It contributed to UNEP Global Programme of Action (GPA).
     • Created through the Washington declaration.
     • To prevent degradation of marine Environment from land-based activities.
     • It is the only global initiative directly addressing the connectivity between the Terrestrial, Freshwater, Coastal and Marine ecosystem.
     • Global Partnership on Marine Litter (GPML) launched in 2012 at Rio +20 in Brazil.
  3. Honolulu's Strategy is related to marine debris.
  4. Nairobi Convention = For West Indian Ocean Region with healthy rivers, coasts & oceans. It is a partnership between Govt, Civil Society Organizations, Private & part of UNEP.

• Ocean Cleanup Project

  1. Ocean currents concentrate plastic in five areas in the world: the subtropical gyres, also known as the world’s “ocean garbage patches”.
  2. The Ocean Cleanup is a non-profit organization, developing advanced technologies to rid the world’s oceans of plastic.
  3. A floating device designed to catch Ocean plastic waste has been redeployed to clean up an island of trash swirling in the Pacific Ocean between California and Hawaii. It is part of the Ocean Cleanup Project.