Keeping an eye on advancement and development ends over the critical impacts on the environment. However, pollution is one of the significant and alarming subjects that need proper management strategy. The overuse of plastic materials in everyday life is adversely affecting the surroundings and making the natural habitat polluted.
Furthermore, the use of plastic from food packing to other utility items had made life prone and intoxicated. The adoption of plastic with different recycling grades and biodegradable quality has somewhat lowered the risk of plastic pollution.
Generally, plastic dumping on landfills and burning affects the entire ecosystem, with a negative impact on flora and fauna. The toxic substances and gases generated due to plastic waste lead to many health hazards for humans as well. Moreover, the water contamination with plastics pollutants crucially leads to immeasurable pollutions.
In the array of questions about pollution and endless debates on plastic, the preventive suggestions still fail. Plastic is harmful to our entire ecosystem, from land to air, even affecting the quality of water. Thus, major is to discuss why is plastic bad for the ocean, and how adversely it affects marine life.
The Rough Yet Significant Count On Plastic Waste
Over a rough estimate, 12-13 percentile of plastic trash dumps every day by people worldwide. This all thrown plastic waste pollutes the planet with harmful contaminants and toxic substances in landfills, air, and water. Apart from surface water pollution in rivers, bays, oceans, underground water table also get influenced by it.
In fact, a survey reveals that approximately 12.7 million tonnes of used plastic are washed into ocean water annually. Oven an estimate, 51 trillion microplastic particles are already the part of sea and oceans, as claimed by United Nations Environment Programme.
Usually, the plastic waste generated on lands yet disposes of in water, too, that predominantly affects the aquatic ecosystem. The rapid increase in water pollution, especially due to plastic wastes, had lead to giant oceanic plastic islands. The offshore plastic, oil, and chemicals ensure deadly consequences in the ocean, which affects the life of aquatic habitats.
Moreover, 80% of plastic garbage comes from land sources, like homes, industries, constructional sites, educational institutions, supermarkets, hospitals, etc. And 20% of marine plastic pollution exists due to debris and discarding of trash in oceans by ships, containers, cruises, and more. The commercial leakage of chemicals and industrials waste also cause marine pollution.
Considerable Reasons Why Is Plastic Bad For The Ocean
Marine habitat and species crucially influenced by the plastic, let’s check as follows.
Marine Killing
Apart from chemicals, oil, and gas leakage in ocean water, plastic waste disturbs the life of marine life. It adversely affects the natural life-cycle of water species, such as fishes, amphibians, and even the flora habitats. A study also claimed that every year around 100,000 marine animals, including sea birds, die due to the ingestion of plastic. However, many other water species are even listed under the verge of getting extinct.
Many Health Hazards To Water Species
Consumption of small plastic particles also creates digestive issues in marine animals. In fact, the plastic debris in the ocean disturbs the life-cycle of fishes and other water mammals. If not leading to death, still intestinal injuries occur, which is also damaging the food-chain of the entire ecosystem.
Devasting Effects On Sea Turtles
The water animals are delicate and innocent, yet any accidental plastic consumption can block the gut of the species. Moreover, the chances of ulcers, intestinal bleeding, and injuries damages and increase the rate of death. In the past many years, many sea turtles are affected and killed because of ingested plastic debris, which is quite worst and disturbing.
However, giant fishing nets, plastic bags, and other junks floating on the surface of water cause marine life more threatening. Waterbirds, sea turtles, even fishes get tangled into such plastic waste and lead to choking death issues. This is, in general, known as Ghost Nets.
Dangerous For Birds
Plastic dumping into the ocean is harmful to the life of birds as well. As birds are also dependent on fishes, and marine habitats for food, generally, consumption of plastic by fish, then fish by bird indirectly affects the birds. But on direct, birds do suffer from floating junks on the water surface as get tangled into it. The issues of suffocation and choking in birds is quite common due to plastic waste in the oceans.
Humans Are Also Affected By Plastic In Oceans
Usually, humans love to eat fishes and other seafood in delicacies worldwide. However, the ingestive issues of plastic by marine species when consumed by humans also promote health hazards. Seafood choked and died due to plastic debris, even intoxicated the entire body. Thus, infected fish, when eaten, causes health problems. The increase of certain cancers, ulcers, in-birth defects, weak immune are somewhat found more in people now. New types of micro-organisms, viruses are also germinated, promoting to deadly and un-treated health issues.
Plastic Garbage In Sea, Adversely Affecting The Floral Life
The marine world also exists with aquatic plants and corals, and floating plastic junks blocks their growth as well. A layer of toxic substances, chemicals, released by plastic materials, do not penetrate the sunlight underwater, which crucially affects the floral world of oceans. Thus, it also lowers the level of oxygen, which creates issues for both flora and fauna and disturbs the water life.
Other Significant Yet Damaging Effects Of Plastic Waste
1. Floating of plastic waste off-shore, over the miles due to water waves, and wind promote spreading and affecting the ecosystem.
2. The increase in the life cycle of non-indigenous invasive carriers is also found in the past many years, rapidly changing the marine water, by making it more threatening and poisonous.
3. Giant ocean garbage islands are also formed on the surface of the water and increasing rapidly, which is quite alarming and needs a sustainable cleanup strategy.
Reliable Measures To Avoid Plastic Waste As Maximum As We Can
- Use plastic as a minimum you can go with. Buy reusable shopping bags, eco-friendly substitutes instead of plastic materials.
- Go for proper plastic dumping and management to make it recyclable and reusable.
- Do not use non-degradable plastic or low-quality plastic items.
- If using plastics packings in food, beverages, packing, never throw them on roadsides, beaches, etc.
- Adopt more eco-friendly and conservative measures to make the world a more healthy and happy planet.
- Do not dump used plastic in landfills, else do not burn as can lead to toxic gases and chemicals.
- Be the part of more sustainable and awareness programs to help people with the adverse effects of plastic.
- Teach children to grow more plants, and do not bin plastic.
- Do no trash vegetables peel and edibles in plastic bags, as it can kill animals and birds.
Bottom Line
On the global count, making world plastic-free is not a cup of tea, and this human callousness is still increasing every day. Leaving the planet with toxic materials and substances will automatically affect humans as well within the entire environment. The re-use and proper plastic management system will somehow reduce pollution.
Making the world more clean and healthy is just not possible with one person, so join this crucial initiative as early as possible to make the earth a better place to live. Stop using the plastic that takes millions of years to get degrade and making the ecosystem intoxicated for other species.
Read more https://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/health/case_studies/plastics.html
