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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.
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]
[8]: 33 [9] Even regular ship traffic, such as the cargo vessels passing to and from the Caribbean Sea through the Panama Canal or cruise ships plying routes to islands, can contribute to oil pollution through collisions and discharge of contaminated bilge water that has not been properly separated. [10]
In the waters of the United Kingdom, climate and ocean changes can affect and threatened species by influencing the efficacy of measures designed to protect them. [3] Waterfront cities, which make up the majority of the United Kingdom, are reported to have a great challenge ahead of them in terms of resilience to climate change .
A practical definition of water pollution is: "Water pollution is the addition of substances or energy forms that directly or indirectly alter the nature of the water body in such a manner that negatively affects its legitimate uses." [1]: 6 Water is typically referred to as polluted when it is impaired by anthropogenic contaminants.
After the Mediterranean Sea, the Caribbean Sea is the second-most-polluted sea. Pollution in the form of up to 300,000 tonnes of solid garbage dumped into the Caribbean Sea each year is progressively endangering marine ecosystems, wiping out species, and harming the livelihoods of local people, who rely primarily on tourism and fishing.
Researchers found an increase in common dolphin sightings in the English Channel and Hebrides, and a decline in white-beaked dolphins in the Hebrides.
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 ...