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Human activities affect marine life and marine habitats through overfishing, habitat loss, the introduction of invasive species, ocean pollution, ocean acidification and ocean warming. These impact marine ecosystems and food webs and may result in consequences as yet unrecognised for the biodiversity and continuation of marine life forms. [3]
While marine pollution can be obvious, as with the marine debris shown above, it is often the pollutants that cannot be seen that cause most harm.. Marine pollution occurs when substances used or spread by humans, such as industrial, agricultural and residential waste, particles, noise, excess carbon dioxide or invasive organisms enter the ocean and cause harmful effects there.
Plastic debris can absorb toxic chemicals from ocean pollution, potentially poisoning any creature that eats it. [118] Aside from toxic effects [119] when ingested some of these affect animal brain cells similarly to estradiol, causing hormone disruption in the affected wildlife. [120]
Plastic pollution has also greatly negatively affected our environment. "The pollution is significant and widespread, with plastic debris found on even the most remote coastal areas and in every marine habitat". [77] This information tells us about how much of a consequential change plastic pollution has made on the ocean and even the coasts.
Ocean acidification may also have an effect of 'gender discrimination' as spawning female corals are significantly more susceptible to the negative effects of ocean acidification than spawning male coral [73] Bamboo coral is a deep water coral which produces growth rings similar to trees. The growth rings illustrate growth rate changes as deep ...
In addition to human health, animal health is also seriously threatened by mercury pollution in the ocean. The effects of high mercury levels on animal health were revealed by the severe mercury poisoning in Minamata Bay in which many animals exhibited extremely strange behaviors and high mortality rates after consuming contaminated seafood or ...
Plastics accounts for 80% of waste dispersed in the marine and coastal environment of the Mediterranean Sea. [24] Recent studies focus on the types of plastics found and primarily on the issue of microplastics, both at a global but also at a regional level, as in the case of the Mediterranean Sea, which was identified as a "target hotspot of the world" due to its amounts of microplastics ...
A garbage patch is a gyre of marine debris particles caused by the effects of ocean currents and increasing plastic pollution by human populations. These human-caused collections of plastic and other debris are responsible for ecosystem and environmental problems that affect marine life, contaminate oceans with toxic chemicals, and contribute ...