Marine pollution
Oceans represent approximately 71 percent of the Earth’s surface, 90 percent of the Earth’s biosphere, and 97 percent of Earth’s water.
Water Pollution - National Geographic
In such an interconnected world as the one we live in today, one of the biggest struggles to deal with when talking about marine pollution is oil, the biggest source of energy for existent means of transport globally.
What A Wonderful World? - ESA
Oceans are polluted by oil on a daily basis from oil spills, routine shipping, run-offs, and dumping.
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Oil spills make up about 12% of the oil that enters the ocean. The rest comes from shipping travel, drains, and dumping.
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An oil spill from a tanker is a severe problem because there is such a huge quantity of oil being spilled into one place.
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Oil spills cause a very localized problem but can be catastrophic to local marine wildlife such as fish, birds, and sea otters.
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Oil cannot dissolve in water and forms a thick sludge in the water. This suffocates fish, gets caught in the feathers of marine birds stopping them from flying, and blocks light from photosynthetic aquatic plants.
Earth Day 2019: Posters and Wallpaper by Jenny Mottar - NASA
