Ocean Pollution and Marine Debris

GHG waraiing can cause an increase in the temperature in the middle of the troposphere, about 5 km up. However, from 1999 to 2002, the temperature of the mid-troposphere has actually decreased slightly and surface temperatures have ceased warming, even as CO2 concentrations have continued to increase (Tropospheric 2012). 

FIGURE 2.7 Worldwide gyres. Artwork courtesy of Ms. Vanessa Vaquera of Chico, CA. 

In the Southern and Pacific Ocean off Japan, the amount of plastic debris has increased significantly in the last 20 years (Plastic Debris from Rivers to Sea 2009). The Southern California Coastal Water Research Project (SCCWRP) and the Algalita Marine Research Foundation (AMRF) in recent years have conducted studies to identify and 

Plastic debris can cause pollution for humans and injury to fish, seabirds, and marine mammals. Ocean litter is known to have affected at least 267 species worldwide, including 86% of all sea turtle species, 44% of all seabird species, and 43% of all marine mammal species (Plastic Debris from Rivers to Sea 2009). 

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Copello S, Quintana F. Marine debris ingestion by Southern Giant Petrels and its potential relationships with fisheries in the Southern Atlantic Ocean. Mar Pollut Bull 2003 46 1513-1515. 

Aquatic pollution occurs when harmful, or potentially harmful effects, can result from the entry into the ocean of chemicals, particles, industrial, agricultural, and residential waste, noise, or the spread of invasive organisms. Most sources of marine pollution are land based. The pollution often comes from nonpoint sources such as agricultural runoff and windblown debris and dust Many potentially toxic chemicals adhere to tiny particles which are then taken up by plankton and benthos animals, most of which are either deposit or filter feeders. In this way, the toxins are concentrated upward within ocean food chains. Many particles combine chemically in a manner highly depletive of oxygen, causing estuaries to become anoxic. 

Yamashita, R., Takada, H., Fukuwaka, M.A., and Watanuki, Y. 2011. Physical and chemical effects of ingested plastic debris on short-tailed shearwaters, Puffinus tenuirostris, in the North Pacific Ocean. Marine Pollution Bull. 62(12) 2845-2849. 

In 2009, research on POPs in the world oceans were studied at an international workshop on the occurrence, effects, and fate of nticroplas-tic debris (University of Washington 2009). The workshop focused on small plastic debris in the oceans, including the amount, location, and environmental impacts of small plastics. Participants presented current research of microplastic occurrence and movement in the oceans, direct effects of micro plastics on marine organisms, interactions of POPs with plastics and the potential for plastics to adsorb and desorb these pollutants in the marine environment and to organisms, and the effect plastics could have on the cycling of POPs. 

Hirai, H., Takada, H., Ogata, Y., Yamashita, R., Mizukawa, K. et al. (2011) Organic Micropollutants in Marine Plastics Debris from the Open Ocean and Remote and Urban Beaches , Marine Pollution Bulletin 62 1683-92. 

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