Transcript What is pollution?

www.wcc.hawaii.edu
What is pollution?
• Pollution is harmful material not native
to the environment that is present in
large quantity
• Pollutants cause damage to
organisms
• Reach oceans by:
• Dumping
• Loss from ships
• From air via rain
• From rivers
Marine Pollutants
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Petroleum hydrocarbons
Plastics
Pesticides
Heavy metals
Sewage
Radioactive waste
Thermal effluents
Petroleum Hydrocarbons
Oil drums on a beach in Pulau Redang, Malaysia.
Petroleum Hydrocarbons
Midway Atoll National Wildlife Refuge
100,000 gallons jet fuel spilled 2003.
Exxon Valdez (1989)- Prince William Sound, Alaska
• 10 million gallons of oil spilled
• 400 miles of shore line affected
• $3 billion and 2 summers cleaning
Persian Gulf War (1991)
• 240 million gallons of oil spilled
BP offshore drilling rig (Deepwater Horizon)
April 20, 2010; 50 miles off Louisiana
Spilling 5,000 barrels/day = 200,000 gal/day
Containing oil spills:
• Floating booms- contain oil and then pump into
other ship
• Burning oil off
• Chemical dispersants
• Bioremediation- bacteria
Relative amounts of petroleum in the ocean:
River runoff
Tanker operations
Coastal facilities
Atmospheric fallout
Natural seepage
Other transportation activities
Tanker accidents
Offshore petroleum production
31.1%
21.8%
13.1%
9.8%
9.8%
9.8%
3.3%
1.3%
Plastics
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100,000 marine mammals & 2 million sea birds die each
year after ingesting or being trapped in plastic debris
WHOI 1987 survey off N.E. coast of U.S.: found 46,000
pieces of plastic floating on surface
North Pacific Subtropical Gyre
• “Great Pacific Garbage Patch”
• Estimate: 46,000 pieces of floating garbage/mi2.
North Pacific Subtropical Gyre
http://www.marineinsight.com/marine/environment/what-is-the-pacific-ocean-garbage-patch/
Laysan Island
A dead Laysan Albatross chick with seven bottle tops in its
gullet. Adult Albatross feed on flying fish eggs that the adult fish
attach to floating debris.
Japan Tsunami 2011
Prediction of Marine Debris Drifting Trajectories
Hawaii
http://www.hawaii247.com/2011/04/07/tsunami-2011-japan-debris-likely-to-hit-hawaii-twice/
Pesticides & Herbicides
• Designed to kill a variety of pests, such
as mosquitoes, agricultural pests and
weeds.
• Toxin enters food chain and effects non
targeted species
• Pesticide toxicity often affects human
health
Bioaccumulation  biomagnification
Biomagnification
Toxic Metals
Hg, Pb, Cd, Cu
Heavy metals resist biodegradation
Natural occurrence- volcanoes
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Mercury (Hg)- toxic when attached to short carbonchain alkyl group, strongly neurotoxic, birthdefects
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Lead (Pb)- from batteries, sewage, fuel additives,
neurotoxic effects, mental development in children
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Cadmium (Cd)- from batteries, sewage,
electroplating factories, effects on human kidney
function, bone deformities
Point Source Pollution
Sewage
• Causes disease outbreaks
• Contributes to eutrophication
Sewage Discharge and
Agricultural Runoff
• nutrient enrichment of coastal waters
• physiological consequences on corals
• ecological consequences
– phytoplankton bloom reduces light
penetration
– benthic seaweeds overgrow and smother
corals
Atomic Testing
Ocean Dumping
total > 10 million Curies
Three Mile Island (‘79) = 17 Curies
Chernobyl (‘86) = 100 million Curies
US
Other
Switzerland
Great
Britain
USSR
Thermal Effluents
Power plants
Sediment
Runoff
Sediment Plume Entering the Ocean
(Maui)
Corals Smothered in Sediment
Types of Non-Point
Source Pollution
• sediments from coastal urban and
agricultural development
• nutrients from detergents, fertilizers, leaky
septic tanks, and domesticated animals
• pesticides (home use, agricultural, & golf
courses)
Types of Non-Point
Source Pollution
• automobile wastes such as
combusted motor oil, tire rubber,
brake pad dust, coolant, etc.
• waste water from swimming pools
and aquaculture ponds
Sept. 28, 2007
Kamilo Beach
Big Island