Todays Music:

The New Pollution -

Beck

Chapter 15

The Human Presence

in the Ocean
By acquiescing in an act that can
cause suffering to a living creature,
who among us is not diminished as a
human being?
-- Rachel Carson, The Silent Spring
By acquiescing in an act that can
disrupt and destroy delicate
ecological balances, who among
us is not diminished as a human
being?
textbook paraphrase
 Pollution - U.N., 1982
Pollution is the introduction by humans,
directly or indirectly, of substances or
energy into the marine environment
(including estuaries) resulting in
deleterious effects such as harm to living
resources, hazards to human health,
hindrance of marine activities including
fishing, impairing quality for use of sea
water and reduction of amenities.
 Pollution - Pinet , 1998
Pollution is the introduction OR extraction by
humans, of material and energy from the
environment, such that concentrations of
these substances are raised or lowered
below natural levels to such a degree that
environmental conditions change. This
contamination by direct or indirect human
activity is pollution whether the impact
happens to be the living or to the nonliving
parts of ecosystems.
e.g., erosion of the coast or a barrier island...
 Why Should We Care???
Over half our 15 million species in
population lives oceans & wetlands,
within 50 miles of the each one vital to
coast balance of nature
We eat at least 15 lbs. 17% of our oil and
of seafood per person
25% of our natural
each year
gas come from
Just about everything
offshore
bought & sold goes
thru ports in cargo PB is spreadable
ships because an
ingredient found in
the ocean
Why We Should Care (cont.)

Most of the worlds

weather/climate patterns...
The oceans are fun to be near or
in...
 Pollution tends to be
concentrated in three parts of the
ocean

UCAR, www.windows.ucar.edu
 Blowout of exploratory well Ixtox 1 in 1979 (Gulf of Mexico). When
workers were able to stop this blowout in 1980 an estimated 140 million
gallons of oil had spilled into the ocean. This is the second largest spill
ever, smaller only than the deliberate oil spills that ended the Kuwait-
Iraq war of 1991
 1000 miles of shoreline
198 damaged
9
The Curse of the
Carissa Feb/Mar 99
The Curse of the
Carissa
The Curse of the
Carissa Navy torpedoes!
The Battle for the
Beach
70,000 gallons of oil

2400 seabirds killed

 Human Foibles
Relatively little pollution occurs
due to tanker accidents.
Mostly standard operational
discharge related to pumping
bilges on ships.
Rivers
More of the spectacular and sadly
comic

Quick and clean environmental

cleanup?

Quic kTime and a GIF dec ompre s s or are needed to s ee this pic ture .
 Our Trash Kills!
20 billion tons per year!!

Needles and syringes

from NYC sewer
$3 billion in lost tourism

N. Jersey sperm whale

party balloon, ribbon still attached
blocking the animal's digestive tra
Boston Harbor:
one of the most
polluted in the
country
Sewage
dumped from 48
communities
Boston Harbor Outfall Tunnel
 The Oceans Future
A commonly held belief is that the
oceans capacity for accepting human
refuse and for self-cleansing is
limitless.
NOT TRUE!!!

coastal ocean
capacity
already
exceeded.

Wolcott Henry 2001, Marine Photobank

 The Oceans Future
(Cont.)

most seriously polluted = coastal

zones that border large urban
centers.
open ocean showing signs of
pollution.
major shipping
lanes

Wolcott Henry 2001, Marine Photobank

 The Oceans Future
(Cont.)

Since the ocean is a dynamic system

and water is exchanged regularly, no
part of the ocean and for that matter
the Earth is truly free of human
influence.

Wolcott Henry 2001, Marine Photobank

 The Oceans Future
(Cont.)

The human population of ~6

billion people is expanding at an
exponential rate.

Wolcott Henry 2001, Marine Photobank

Simple Living Collective
of San Francisco, 1977
Does what I own or buy promote
activity, self-reliance, and
involvement, or does it induce
passivity and dependence?
Are my consumptive patterns
basically satisfying, or do I buy
much that serves no real need?
 Simple Living Collective
of San Francisco, 1977 (cont.)
How tied is my present job and
lifestyle to installment payments,
maintenance & repair costs, and
the expectation of others?
Do I consider the impact of my
consumptive patterns on other
people and on the Earth?
What will YOU do to help?
What will YOU do to help?
Things YOU Can Do to Save Our
Ocean

dusk.geo.orst.edu/oceans/yoto.html
www.saveourseas.org
www.seaweb.org