Pollution

Question 1

Human population growth and economic activity

Answer 1

Human pop has tripled since 1950 and 44% live within 150 km of ocean
econ activity has increased tenfold
Earth overshoot day
- need 1.7 earths

Question 2

Ocean services

Answer 2

heat and carbon uptake
provides:
50% of atm O2
rain
15% of food
minerals and energy
reusable energy
cultural services like tourism

Question 3

marine pollution

Answer 3

introduction by man, directly or indirectly, of substances or energy that results in deleterious effects

Question 4

climate change

Answer 4

A change of climate that is attributed directly or indirectly to human activity,
altering the composition of the global atmosphere

Question 5

physical resources

Answer 5

result from deposition, precipitation or accumulation of useful substances in the
ocean or seabed
→ Hydrocarbon deposits: petroleum, natural gas, methane hydrate
→ Mineral deposits: sand and gravel, magnesium and its compounds, manganese nodules, salt, etc
→ Freshwater

Question 6

oil

Answer 6

a complex chemical soup of thousands of compounds, most of which are hydrocarbons
- petroleum products are are produced from processing crude oil

Question 7

natural gas

Answer 7

naturally occurring hydrocarbon gas mixture consisting primarily of methane

Question 8

oil and natural gas

Answer 8

occur in marine sediments 1/3 of reserves are at cont. margins
originate from sinking organic matter
dead orgs accumulate
temp and pressure transform them into hydrocarbons
3 million years to make a years worth of oil

Question 9

salts

Answer 9

residue from evap of seawater

Question 10

freshwater

Answer 10

important marine resource

extracted from seawater through desalination

Question 11

biological resources

Answer 11

Living animals and plants collected for human use and animal feed
10 species make up ~95% of fish caught each year
Fishing employs more than 15 million people worldwide
65% of fish stocks are suffering from overfishing

Question 12

bycatch

Answer 12

Animals unintentionally killed while collecting desirable organisms
→ 4 pounds of bycatch is discarded for every pound of shrimp caught in Gulf coast

Question 13

maximum sustainable yield

Answer 13

The maximum amount of fish that can be caught without impairing future populations

Question 14

whaling

Answer 14

8 of 11 whale species once hunted now commercially extinct

provide many resources

Question 15

non-extractive resources

Answer 15

Uses of the ocean in place

e.g. transportation of people and commodities by sea, recreation, and waste disposal

Question 16

Marine energy resources

Answer 16

From the extraction of energy directly from the heat or motion of ocean water

Wind power is the fastest growing energy source as an alternative to oil

• Extraction of wind power over or near the ocean is effective (steady and strong winds)
• At present rate of development, wind energy could provide ~12% of electricity demand by 2025

Waves, currents and tides can be used to produce electricity

• Successful tidal plants (see lecture on tides)
• Extraction of energy can be difficult though, infrastructure expensive

Question 17

pollutant

Answer 17

A substance that causes damage by interfering directly or indirectly with an organism’s
biochemical processes

Question 18

marine pollutant

Answer 18

Impact of a pollutant also depends on its persistence

Many pollutants are biodegradable (i.e. able to be broken down by natural processes into simpler
compounds)

Ocean’s great volume and relentless motion dissipate and distribute natural and synthetic substances - dumping ground

Question 19

oil entering ocean

Answer 19

marine trans. of petrol, offshore drilling, nearshore , street runoff
runoff id main input of oil to ocean
refined more harmful than crude

Question 20

oil spills

Answer 20

cleaning spills is also damaging

detergents are harmful to living things

Question 21

toxic synthetic organic chemical

Answer 21

Some synthetic hydrocarbon compounds contain chlorine, bromine, or iodine

Used in pesticides, flame retardants, industrial solvents, and cleaning fluids

Enter the ocean through runoff and become incorporated into its organisms

Question 22

heavy metals

Answer 22

Among the dangerous heavy metals being introduced into the ocean are mercury, lead, copper, and tin

Enter the ocean from mining operations, coal smoke, byproduct of industrial production

Even in small quantity, these metals can interfere with normal cell metabolism

Question 23

bioaccumulation

Answer 23

Process by which certain marine organisms concentrate within their tissues many substances found in minute concentrations in seawater

Question 24

biomagnification

Answer 24

Process by which when animals eat other animals, some of these substances move up food chains and become concentrated in the tissues of larger animals

Question 25

plastic

Answer 25

majority of marine debris
entanglement and ingestion, adsorb toxic compounds, photo-degradation facilitates ingestion, microplastics

increased tenfold every 10 years in the 1970s and 1980s, then tenfold again in just 3 years in the 1990

Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch
- convergence of currents
in subtropical gyres

plastics far outnumber marine organisms

Question 26

effects of pollution on estuaries

Answer 26

zones are densely populated and active and are also influenced by inland activities
oil spills, sewage, viruses, pollutants
urban dev
high bio diversity
severe impacts on plants and animals

Question 27

introduced species

Answer 27

Foreign organisms introduced to a new environment through ships travelling across the ocean

• outcompete native species
• new marine diseases

Question 28

coastal erosion

Answer 28

divert and dams rivers
build harbors
develop property
adverse effects to coastal erosion management