Ocean Pollution Affects You
By Kwaku, Science and Environment Staff Writer
Every year, between 4-8 million metric tons of rubbish enters the sea every year. This rubbish is dangerous as it can be ingested by marine life who mistake it for food. Now you may be thinking, “Well, why should you bother me?”, but it should and here is why.
When plastic is disposed into the sea, it gets broken down by heat and erosion. Once these plastics have eroded, it can be easy for them to absorb toxins from agricultural and industrial waste. These animals can die a slow painful death due to the ingested plastics, in fact every year over 100,000 marine lives are lost due to ingesting plastics. If the animal doesn’t get killed by the plastic it could end up on your plate, still containing the harmful substances that have killed so many animals. Some of these substances have been proven to be carcinogens, or things that can cause birth defects or mental illness.
So this issue does affect you, and everyone else, so we should all try to do what we can to help, ways we can do this are by; disposing items into the recycling bins, limiting our use of plastics and by paying attention to the packaging of products. By doing these things you can help make this world a better place for us yourself, those around you and for future generations.