“Pollution of the air or of the land all ultimately ends up in the sea” -Jacques Cousteau

At the time of writing this article scientists speculate that there is an estimated 150 million metric tons of plastic polluting our marine bodies. And we are not even close to bringing that number down. In fact 8 million metric tons of plastic are being introduced to the oceans every year. Most people fail to realise that the majority of litter and other types of pollution (fertilizer runoff etc.) all end up in our oceans and lower the quality of life for all animals that live under the sea. 

What area has the most amount of plastic?

The North Pacific ocean the most polluted of the world’s oceans. It contains ⅓ of all plastic in the ocean (over two trillion pieces). It is known as the Great Pacific Garbage patch. It is essentially and island of trash that spans 600,000 square miles, twice the size of Texas. 

What are the biggest causes of ocean pollution?
Nonpoint source pollution is the biggest cause of pollution in our oceans. Nonpoint source pollution includes a variety of sources of pollution (such as boats, cars, sewers, and livestock ranches) that are caused by runoff. In a nutshell it is the culmination of many small sources that come together to make a very big problem. Another cause for the filth in our aquatic landscape is point source pollution. Point Source pollution is pollution with a definite source. This includes disasters such as oil and chemical spills.

What can we do?
There are things that we can do to help the cause of cleaning our oceans. Below is a list of ways that you can help the world and the animals living in it.

• Reduce the number of single use plastics you use
• Recycle
• Participate in beach clean ups
• Avoid plastics that contain “Microbeads”

Pollution/waste caused by humans is inevitable and it is a futile effort to completely eradicate waste going into our oceans, however,  there are things that we can do to limit how much plastic floods our oceans. -Post written by Yash Banga

Sources:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/tech/science/2018/03/22/great-pacific-garbage-patch-grows/446405002/

https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/ocean-coasts-education-resources/ocean-pollution

https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/which-ocean-is-the-most-polluted.html

https://www.oceanicsociety.org/blog/1720/7-ways-to-reduce-ocean-plastic-pollution-today