Shocking Pacific giant garbage dump American media recently released a group of photos of the Pacific Garbage dump. This garbage dump is located between California and Hawaii, with an area equivalent to two Texas in the United States. It is estimated that its area will roughly double every ten years.
There are huge garbage belts hundreds of kilometers away from the coastlines of various countries.
In a certain area in the center of the Pacific Ocean, human garbage and construction garbage are constantly gathering here, and with the movement of the ocean current, the garbage belt has become larger and larger, so that it is impossible to accurately measure its area now.
Charles? Moore is a sailor. Twelve years ago, he completed a sailing race in Hawaii. On the way back, he accidentally found this garbage belt while driving the research ship “alguette”. In the summer of 2009, Charles passed through this garbage belt for the 10th time This time, Charles and his colleagues picked up a piece of polystyrene fragment nearly 2 meters long with bamboo poles on the ship. Such a large fragment is just a tiny dot in the endless garbage bag
Charles also found a bucket of debris in the water, which is now full of various organisms. Sometimes it sinks and sometimes it floats. It is difficult to accurately measure the number of such debris In this garbage belt, all kinds of domestic garbage such as light bulbs, bottle caps, old toothbrushes, popsicle sticks and plastic fragments are everywhere
In a flattened pipe, a trigger fish covered with spots is swimming around leisurely This section of waste pipe has become the ideal habitat for trigger fish, which can provide good protection for it, and it can also hide in it to catch prey Scientists believe that this garbage belt is only one of many garbage belts in the world’s oceans. According to oceanographers, there are at least four such huge garbage bags in the world
Some abandoned fishing gear is also an important part of marine garbage, such as buoys, fishing lines and fishing nets. Many domestic garbage on land may eventually flow into the sea along with the sewer
Us draws global pollution map US researchers have drawn a map of the marine environment, reflecting the impact of human activities on the marine environment. The map shows that almost every ocean is affected by human activities to a certain extent
The research results carried out by the national ecological analysis and synthesis center of the United States show that 41% of the world’s sea areas are strongly affected by 17 different human activities, including offshore oil extraction, commercial shipping, species invasion caused by human activities, fishing, various kinds of man-made pollution, acidification, ultraviolet radiation, water temperature rise and other problems caused by climate change
Halpen, one of the cartographers of the map, said: “our results show that with the continuous accumulation of human impacts, the current situation of the marine environment is worse than most people think.”
The study shows that the sea areas most affected by human activities include the North Sea, the East China Sea and the South China Sea, the Caribbean Sea, the east coast of North America, the Mediterranean Sea, the Red Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Bering Sea and parts of the Western Pacific Ocean
Researchers have classified human impacts on the marine environment into four categories: climate change, pollution, fishing and shipping Climate change has become the most important factor, mainly manifested in the rise of sea water temperature and the acidification of sea water caused by climate change. Fishing follows closely, and overfishing has caused the destruction of marine coral reefs In an exclusive interview with the media, Ben harpon, a marine ecology expert who participated in the drawing of the map, said:
Human beings obtain necessary food and other means of life from the ocean, but human use of the ocean has also caused many direct and indirect impacts on it Human activities such as fishing, chemical waste dumping, pollution and shipping have seriously affected one third of the oceans, and less than 4% of the oceans have been spared from human activities. “
Harpon is an expert in marine ecology at the University of California in the United States. Harpon said that he always felt that the ocean was very broad. Like most people, he once thought that there were many oceans on the earth that human beings had never or rarely visited “When you look at this map, you will find that large areas of the ocean are affected by all kinds of human activities, and you will feel very shocked,” said harpon
This “ocean map” shows that the oceans most seriously affected by human activities are located in the most densely populated areas, such as the East and South China seas, the Mediterranean Sea, the Persian Gulf, the Caribbean Sea and the eastern waters of North America In the whole marine ecosystem, coral reefs and continental shelves are the most seriously affected, and the deep-sea impact is still unknown
This “global ocean map” is dominated by yellow, supplemented by green, and mixed with orange and red. The map clearly marks the depth of human activities’ impact on the ocean To make the survey more accurate, researchers cut the earth’s oceans into countless 1 square kilometer pieces
Then, they calculated the comprehensive impact of each small area, and finally got the “human comprehensive impact score” of each square kilometer of the ocean. Through this map, the pollution level of the ocean is clear at a glance
Harpon said: drawing this “ocean map” is an arduous process, and 19 scientists from 16 research institutions spent nearly four years on it They refer to data from various sources: fishery data comes from the food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, submarine construction data comes from the geographic data center of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States, and in addition, there are survey data of scientists and researchers in various periods
This is also the first time that scientists have tried to assess the comprehensive impact of all human activities on the global oceans In the past, scientists often only studied one aspect of human activities or the impact of human activities on a marine ecosystem Some scientists say that after reading this map, people will change their view of the ocean. The ocean is not infinite. People take a lot of resources from its arms and throw a lot of waste to it. This is destroying the system on which human beings rely for their survival
According to the survey of algalita marine research foundation, a non-profit environmental protection organization located in Long Island, California, about 100 million tons of garbage have been dumped into the thousands of kilometers of sea in the central North Pacific from northern Hawaii to Japan
This organization is using a solar research ship to collect plastic bags in this sea area, but according to the calculation of this organization, it has lost the possibility to clean them completely, not only because there are too many of them, but also because many marine organisms (such as shellfish and seaweed) stick to them
According to reports, plastic bags thrown into the sea will not only entangle marine organisms, kill those who eat them, but even destroy their habitats Most plastic bags are non degradable. They will exist in the sea for hundreds of years and decompose into smaller plastics
Haben gave an answer to the situation of the sea area near China – from the data, it is almost affected by all 17 kinds of human activities, which can be called the “perfect storm” of human influence
About 78% of China’s coastal ecosystems are in a “sub-health” state. According to the 2007 national sea level bulletin issued by the State Oceanic Administration, among the 18 ecological monitoring areas tested, about 78% of the ecosystems are in a sub-health or unhealthy state
According to the 2007 China marine environment quality bulletin, the degree of pollution outside the Yellow River in China’s four major sea areas continues to increase. The area of the whole sea that does not meet the water quality standard of clean sea areas is about 145000 square kilometers, which is about 4000 square kilometers less than that in 2006 Most of the coastal waters are clean, and the water quality in the offshore waters remains in good condition. The main pollutants in the seawater are still inorganic substances, active phosphates and petroleum
In the inspection of land-based sewage outlets into the sea, of the 573 sewage outlets that were inspected last year, about 87.6% discharged pollutants beyond the standard. The total amount of sewage discharged into the sea (including some sewage runoff into the sea) was about 35.9 billion tons, and the total amount of main pollutants contained was about 12.19 million tons
Among the four sea areas, the proportion of sewage outlets along the Bohai Sea that exceed the standard is still the highest, reaching 91% Scientists have found that since entering the artificial society, about half of the polluting gases generated by human activities, mainly carbon dioxide, have been absorbed by the ocean The researchers warned that these gases entering the ocean will greatly enhance the acidity of the sea water and will greatly harm marine life, with unimaginable consequences in the long run
“It can be said that over the years, it is the ocean that has helped mankind. Most of the polluting gases we produce are absorbed by seawater instead of directly flowing into the atmosphere, which has slowed down the trend of global warming to a great extent,” said Chris Saibin of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration of the United States
However, after these gases enter the ocean, they have largely destroyed the original ecological structure and chemical composition of the marine ecosystem. In the long run, this is even more fatal. “
Researchers have found that about 48% of the polluting gases generated by human activities, such as carbon dioxide generated by thermal power generation, industrial production and automobile exhaust, are absorbed by seawater, and these gases also mainly flow into 10% of the world’s major oceans. Researchers have also further studied the impact of carbon dioxide on marine organisms. When carbon dioxide dissolves into water, it forms carbonic acid, And carbonic acid will corrode and damage the shells and bones of marine organisms
“Although most marine organisms can swim and move, large-scale acid pollution makes it difficult for them to escape from danger,” said Sean, a marine biologist at the University of California Marcos said, “acidic seawater may also affect the reproduction of marine organisms, and some organisms (mainly large animals) may migrate to waters with low carbon dioxide content, which will cause chaos in the marine ecosystem.”
The ocean can’t bear the pain of pollution because of the particularity of the ocean, marine pollution is different from atmospheric and land pollution in many ways. Its prominent characteristics are: first, the pollution sources are wide. Not only can human activities in the ocean pollute the ocean, but also the pollution generated by human activities on land and other activities will eventually flow into the ocean through river runoff, atmospheric diffusion, rain and snow and other river forms;
Second, it is highly sustainable. The ocean is the lowest lying area on the earth. It is impossible for pollutants to be transferred or eliminated through a rainstorm or a flood season, as in the atmosphere and rivers. Once pollutants enter the ocean, they are difficult to be transferred out. Insoluble and non degradable substances accumulate in the ocean and are often transmitted through biological concentration and food chain, posing a potential threat to mankind;
Third, there is a wide range of diffusion. Global marine pollution is an interconnected whole. Once a sea area is polluted, it will often spread to the surrounding areas, and even have a later effect, which will affect global prevention and control. It is difficult and harmful. Marine pollution has a long accumulation process, and it is difficult to find out in time. Once pollution is formed, it needs long-term treatment to eliminate the impact, and the treatment cost is large. The harm caused will affect all aspects, especially the toxicity to human beings, It is even more difficult to clean up completely
There are many substances that pollute the sea. According to the nature and toxicity of the pollutants and the harm to the marine environment, the pollutants can be generally divided into the following categories: first, nutrients and organic substances, such as cellulose, sugar aldehyde, oil and grease discharged from industry, detergents and food residues in domestic sewage;
Second, pathogens such as bacterial merger and reading are mostly carried into the sea by land wastes; Third, Wu Zhi of heavy metals and acids and bases, mainly including mercury, copper, zinc, cadmium, chromium and other heavy metals, as well as arsenic, sulfur, phosphorus and other nonmetals and various acids and bases; Fourth, toxic chemicals, mainly residues of Hefei and pesticides The harm of pollution to the ocean will cause serious consequences in many aspects, affecting human health, marine ecology and even the maintenance of the earth’s climate
Examples are as follows: pollution will accumulate toxins in marine videos, and people will get sick after using them; Pollution will greatly reduce seafood and endanger human food sources; Pollution will poison a large number of plankton in the ocean, cause them to die, and weaken the important function of absorbing carbon dioxide in the ocean, which will accelerate the development of the greenhouse effect on the earth;
Pollution will also greatly harm the health of marine organisms, even make them distorted and sterile, resulting in the extinction of the population, and once destroying the entire marine ecology
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