Land and Water Challenge
Out of sight, out of mind. Most people don’t realize how a little bit of litter can cause pain, suffering and ultimately death for marine life. This proposal addresses the problem of debris generated on land that can be blown, swept, or washed out to sea. The definition of marine debris is any man-made object discarded, disposed of, or abandoned that enters the coastal or marine environment. It may enter directly from a ship, or indirectly when washed out to sea via rivers, streams and storm drains (NOAA 2007). Faris and Hart summed up the problem in their 1994 paper, Seas of Debris: A Summary of the Third International Conference on Marine Debris; "Marine debris pollutes all of the world's oceans, but the problem hardly starts there. Close to 80 percent is washed, blown or dumped from shore. In the entire marine debris debate, no other point is so straightforward." Plastics do not ever degrade in the ocean, they only break into smaller and smaller pieces until they can no longer be seen. Fish and birds eat the plastic pieces and experience irritation and damage to their digestive systems. They can also suffer from malnutrition and starvation if they fill up on plastics instead of food (NOAA 2011). Larger animals such as turtles and whales mistake plastic bags for sea jellies, their natural food source. The ingested bags can create internal blockages in their digestive systems, killing the animal (Algalita Marine Research Institute, 2008). A 22-year study of Atlantic waters from the Sea Education Association found 64,000 plastic particles in surface waters from October 1986 to December 2008 (Law et al., 2010). Gyres concentrating plastic debris occurs in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans.
The environmental issue we address in this project is the threats to the world’s waterways and oceans that are caused by pollution and marine debris. Our team chose this topic because marine debris is a major threat to our oceans and the problem is only growing worse.
The environmental issue we address in this project is the threats to the world’s waterways and oceans that are caused by pollution and marine debris. Our team chose this topic because marine debris is a major threat to our oceans and the problem is only growing worse.