Ocean sewage
Oil pollution
Are cars polluting our oceans?
Coastal waters receive a variety of land-based water
pollutions, ranging from petroleum wastes to pesticides to
excess sediments. Marine water also receives wastes
directly from offshore activities, such as ocean-based
dumping. (e.g., from ships and offshore oil and gas
operations.)
CLICK ON THE HYPERLINKS TO SEE THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF
POLLUTIONS
Bibliography
The Exxon Valdez oil spill
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Human sewage largely consists of excrement from toiletflushing; wastewater from bathing, laundry and
dishwashing; and animal and vegetable matter from food.
Garbage dumping is the dumping of harmful materials into
the ocean like human waste, ground-up garbage, water from
bathing, and plastics. Most of the waste that has been
dumped into the ocean in the early 1990’s is still there
today. One main cause of garbage dumping occurs when
sewage pipes share their space with storm water drains.
Rainfall causes the sewage pipes to overflow and the
sewage waste mixes with the storm water drain, which flows
into another water source such as a lake or river. After that,
the garbage pollutes the ocean, kills plants and animals in
the water (for example, the plastic rings that are around pop
cans can get around an animal’s neck, causing it to
suffocate), and makes the water dirty.
Cause by human sewage
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Oil pollution is extremely bad for the ocean and
environment. Thirty seven million gallons of oil are
accidently spilt into the ocean. Even more oil gets poured
deliberately into the ocean. The oil “glues” bird‘s feathers
together, clogs fishes gills and blocks out sunlight, making it
harder for underwater plants to go through photosynthesis.
Oil pollution also slows down coral reefs growing and their
reproduction. Coral reefs are also very sensitive to oil,
especially crude oil.
OIL SPILLS
Oil spills happen when people make mistakes or are careless
and make an oil tanker leak into the ocean. There are a few
other ways to create an oil spill. Equipment breaking down
may cause oil to spill. If the equipment breaks down, the
tanker may get stuck on shallow land and when they start to
drive the tanker again, they can put a hole in the tanker
causing it to leak oil. When countries at war sometimes one
country decides to dump oil into the others ocean. Terrorists
may cause an oil spill because they will dump oil into a
country’s ocean. Many terrorists will do this because they
are trying to get the country’s attention, or they are trying
to make a point to a country.
The Exxon Valdez incident was a major spill. This oil spill
took place on March 23, 1989 at Prince William Sound in
Alaska.
The drivers of the Exxon Valdez noticed icebergs on their
planned route. So instead of trying to weave through the
icebergs, they decided to go another route. On the new
route, the oil tanker hit shallow land. The shallow land was
not a beach, it was called Bligh reef. So imagine the size of
one school gym. The oil that was spilt would feel up 9 of
them.
The Exxon Valdez affected many animals at the Prince
William Sound in Alaska. The spill greatly affected sea otters
and sea birds. There were about 2,800 sea otters and
250,000 sea birds killed in the spill. Harbor seals, bald
eagles, killer whales and salmon were also greatly affected
by the spill.
Because the spill impacted 1,300 miles, it took the Exxon
Valdez Company four summers to clean up the spill. Some
oil may still remain on the beaches. It took 10,000 workers,
1,000 boats, 100 aeroplanes and the Navy, Army and Air
force to clean up the spill. Exxon spent about $2.1 billion for
the cleanup.
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http://library.thinkquest.org/CR0215471/oil_spills.htm
http://www.waterencyclopedia.com/Po-Re/Pollution-of-theOcean-by-Sewage-Nutrients-and-Chemicals.html