Sources of oil pollution of the oceans

Musazade Olga Vladimirovna

specialist

freelancer

environmental engineer

Annotation:

the article highlights the main sources of oil pollution of the oceans and the consequences for the environment with such pollution, touches upon the problem of oil production in the arctic zone. When considering the problem, methods of analysis, synthesis, comparison were used. As a result, the sources that create the greatest pollution of the World Ocean with oil were identified, and measures were proposed to reduce such pollution.

The article highlights the main sources of oil pollution of the world ocean and the consequences for the environment with such pollution, touches upon the problem of oil production in the Arctic zone. Methods of analysis, synthesis and comparison were used in considering the problem. As a result, sources creating the greatest pollution of the world ocean with oil were identified, as well as measures to reduce such pollution were proposed.

Keywords:

ecology; oil; world Ocean; pollution; environment

ecology; oil; world ocean; pollution; environment

UDC 504.054

Water is the source of life on earth. By polluting it, we endanger humanity, humanity and the entire global ecosystem. One of the most dangerous and widespread sources of pollution of the oceans is oil.

IN modern world oil is not only one of the most important minerals, the use of which largely determines the development of energy and, as a result, other sectors of the modern world economy. Access to oil fields is also of political importance - it is no coincidence that political and even military conflicts have become more frequent in recent decades, which are based on ensuring access to this valuable resource.

One of the major dangers to ocean health is oil. The greatest danger is posed by petrochemical developments on the continental shelf. Accidents at such facilities always pose a threat to water bodies, fauna, atmosphere and soil. A striking example here is the recent accident on an oil platform in Gulf of Mexico.

The topic of the study is very relevant, since the development of fields on the continental shelves is actively carried out in the world, including in Russian Federation. The Arctic continental shelf of the Russian Federation is also rich in oil deposits. But the development of this shelf is not immune from possible emergencies. Based on this, it is necessary to study in detail such large oil spills as in the Gulf of Mexico. This will allow in the future to take into account the possible consequences, calculate the risk, prevent the occurrence of emergencies and improve legislation in the field of environmental protection.

Purpose of the article- determination of the main sources of oil pollution in the oceans.

Article objectives: definition of oil and its significance for humanity; identification of sources of oil inflow into the World Ocean; identification of sources of the greatest pollution of the World Ocean; highlighting the main negative consequences of oil entering the World Ocean; determination of the main directions for solving the problems of oil pollution of the oceans.

The materials for the article were the works of scientists, reference Information Internet resources, cartographic material.

Article Methods: analysis of scientific articles, articles information resources, maps, synthesis of the obtained material, comparison.

Scientific novelty article lies in the fact that the sources of oil entering the World Ocean are identified in terms of the volume of pollution.

To begin with, let's figure out what oil is and why it is dangerous for the life of the ocean.

Oil includes many different substances. The main elements of oil are carbon and hydrogen, it also contains nitrogen, oxygen and sulfur. Crude oil is practically not used, it goes to processing. Most often, fuel is obtained from oil, various kinds: gasoline, kerosene, diesel, fuel oil and oils. Also, as a result of the processing of petroleum products, complex polymer compounds are obtained, which, for example, are used in the production of plastic. Aromatic hydrocarbons are also obtained from oil, which are used in the chemical industry in the production of cosmetics, medicines, and various additives.

Thus, oil is used in almost all spheres of human life. The importance of oil and oil products pushes mankind to search for and develop new deposits. And oil fields are rich both on land and in the ocean.

Oil and oil products are the most common pollutants in the oceans. There are several ways for oil and its products to enter the ocean:

1) discharges into the sea of ​​washing, ballast and bilge waters from ships;

2) discharges in ports and port water areas, including losses during loading of tankers' bunkers;

3) discharge of industrial waste and sewage;

4) storm drains;

5) accidents of ships and drilling rigs at sea;

6) offshore drilling;

7) atmospheric fallout;

8) removal by river runoff in all its variety of forms.

Surface runoff from various areas, primarily industrial, road, port, contains petroleum products such as gasoline, kerosene, fuel and lubricating oils, as well as various compounds: benzene, toluene, xylenes, fatty acids, phenols, glycerides, steroids, pesticides and organometallic compounds. The listed compounds make up about 90% and more of the total amount of all organic impurities.

The greatest danger of ocean pollution by oil is posed by spills during well drilling in the shelf zone. Currently, developments are underway for oil production in the Arctic.

Drilling in the Arctic, especially offshore, is extremely dangerous: there are no successful practices in the world to clean up oil spills in ice conditions. Already with 10% ice coverage of the water area, mechanical means of collection become ineffective. Extreme cold temperatures cause oil to thicken, making it difficult for pumps and other mechanical equipment used to clean up spills. Also, in case of oil spills, the method of burning it is used. However, due to the remoteness of the platform, this method is difficult, since the necessary equipment must be delivered to the spill site within 50 hours, otherwise the spilled oil will be unsuitable for burning.

Thus, prior to the development of fields on the continental shelf in the Arctic, it is necessary to create a system for preventing possible accidents, as well as to develop mechanisms and technologies to eliminate possible leaks.

Most of the oil enters the ocean as a result of spills during its transportation from production areas to consumers. Leaks occur due to emergencies, flushing and ballast water discharge. Often in order to save money, more profit transport companies neglect safety rules, which leads to emergency situations.

Approximate volumes of annual oil pollution of the world's oceans:

0.1 mtoe - minor leaks;

2.0 million tons - with household and storm drains falling into rivers and further into the seas;

0.5 million tons - industrial effluents.

Getting into the ocean, oil spreads in the form of a film that changes its color depending on the thickness, the greater the thickness of the film, the darker its color and the more noticeable iridescent stains.

The degree of pollution of the World Ocean can be concluded by analyzing the map of the distribution of oil slicks.

Rice. 1. Distribution of oil pollution in the World Ocean.

The most polluted area is the Atlantic Ocean. This is due to the fact that the main oil supplies are carried out from the continents of North and South America to Europe. As the map analysis (Fig. 1) shows, the oil slick covers a significant part of the Atlantic Ocean, mainly the central part, between Central America, Europe and Africa.

The greatest pollution of the ocean with oil occurs due to accidents on drilling platforms and accidents of oil tankers. An example is the accident on the drilling platform "Bravo" in 1977, which occurred in the central part of the North Sea. Then 13 thousand tons of oil fell into the sea, of which only 750 tons were collected.

In 1978, the Liberian supertanker Amoco Cadis crashed off the coast of Brittany, spilling more than 200 tons of crude oil and fuel oil into the sea. The damage was done not only to the flora and fauna of the sea, but also to fish and oyster fisheries.

biggest accident was an explosion on an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010, when about 5 million barrels of oil fell into the ocean.

It should also be noted that apart from emergencies a large number of oil enters the ocean when carried by rivers. For the most part, the mouths of rivers are polluted, in particular in the area of ​​ports, as well as in places where rivers flow through oil fields.

Another source of pollution of the World Ocean is the transfer of microscopic drops of gasoline, kerosene and other light fractions of oil by air currents. Even if the ships do not carry oil, the water is still polluted with fuel oil and diesel fuel.

However, more oil enters through air currents as a result of burning oil and oil products. Two options are possible here: burning oil and oil products in furnaces and ignition as a result of an accident. During the combustion of oil and its products, such harmful substances as nitrogen dioxide, sulfurous anhydrite, benzo / a / pyrene, soot, hydrogen sulfide and carbon oxide enter the atmosphere. In the atmosphere, such substances mix with moisture microparticles and fall to the ground in the form of precipitation, including getting into water bodies.

As a result of a fire during an accident and, first of all, during an explosion at facilities associated with oil products, in addition to these pollutants, particles of the oil products themselves (gasoline, diesel, fuel oil) can also enter the atmosphere. In particular, during the operation of oil and gas-oil wells, pressure jets in the form of fountains can break out on the surface of the earth, which often become fires. Conventionally, fountains are divided into gas fountains (containing 95-100% gas), oil fountains (containing more than 50% oil and less than 50% gas), gas-oil fountains (containing more than 50% gas, less than 50% oil).

In the event of explosions of oil-containing containers, particles of oil and its products can be ejected to a considerable distance from the accident site. So, for example, in accordance with the Methodology for calculating emissions of harmful substances into the atmosphere during the free combustion of oil and oil products, as well as the Interim Methodological Guidelines for assessing the environmental risk of oil depots and gas stations, the particle emission radius is up to eight container diameters in all directions. Thus, during the explosion of a container with a diameter of 30 m:

R \u003d 16 * 30 * √ 0.08 * 1800 / 41 \u003d 899.2, m - the heat affected zone in case of a fire with the release of burning liquid.

It follows that in case of fires and explosions at oil-containing objects, there is a risk that particles of oil and its products will enter the nearest water body, including the sea.

Oil pollutes not only the surface of the water, but also penetrates to the depths. Oil is distributed in the water column depending on its density, paraffin and asphaltene content. So Arabian Super Light (Saudi Arabia) and Merey (Venezuela) oil brands will be heavier, and Brent oil (Russia) will be lighter. In addition, the composition of water (both sea and river) includes suspended solids that can combine with oil particles, which will lead to sedimentation of such particles to the bottom. The presence of suspended particles, primarily sand, increases with the approach of the coastal zone, so more oil particles settle near the coast. And in the case of an oil spill fire, combustion particles are formed, and some of them have a large settling coefficient, such as soot. Given this factor, it is not recommended to use sand to collect spilled oil in the water area. This method of collecting oil is applicable only on land.

Oil pollutes not only the surface of the water, but also penetrates to the depths. Thus, organisms living from the surface to the bottom of the water body are exposed to harmful effects.

Mollusks and zooplankton contribute to the purification of water from oil. However, since they do not digest oil, but only carry it, this does not bring a big plus. Other animals feed on molluscs and zooplankton. They also poison their bodies. And in this way, oil passes along the trophic chain to other animal species, even if they were not near the spill site.

For aquatic organisms, oil is deadly even in minimum quantities. Heavy fractions that have settled to the bottom (like fuel oil, bitumen) destroy benthic communities, and in some places, for example, in the water areas of large ports, they form a continuous crust resembling asphalt on the bottom. Life in such conditions is impossible.

Even with a small oil leak, a thin oil film forms on the surface of the water. It prevents the penetration of sunlight and air into the water column, thereby making it difficult for oxygen to enter the water, causing the death of plankton and other organisms. The death of adult fish as a result of poisoning with dissolved oil, or their forced migration from the disaster area, is not ruled out.

Crude oil and oil products are characterized by a variety of toxic effects on different types of fish. A concentration of 0.5 ppm or less of oil in water can kill trout. Oil has an almost lethal effect on the heart, changes breathing, enlarges the liver, slows down growth, destroys fins, leads to various biological and cellular changes, and affects the behavior of a living organism.

conclusions. Oil is a dangerous pollutant of the oceans. There are many sources of its entry into the ocean. The greatest pollution of oil occurs due to accidents during its production and transportation, the removal of oil products by rivers, and the surface runoff of industrial areas. This creates a global environmental problem. Dozens of states are involved here. Since oil is a necessary element in the development of engineering and technology, it is used in almost all spheres of human life, it is impossible to refuse its production. However, since oil is detrimental to animals and plants, and water polluted by it is dangerous to humans, it is necessary to reduce its content in the World Ocean, develop new safe technologies for its extraction and elimination of straits, and also strictly monitor the fulfillment of the requirements for extraction and transportation.

Bibliographic list:

1. Kuznetsov A.N., Fedorov Yu.A. Oil pollution in aquatic ecosystems. Saarbruecken: Lambert academic publishing, 2011 2.Mikhail Glazov. Ocean health. –M.; Norma, 2005. P. 156 3. Romanov V. Applied aspects of emergency emissions into the atmosphere. –M.; Fizmatkniga, 2006. P.176 4. Sudo M.M. Sudo R.M. Oil and hydrocarbon gases in the modern world. Moscow: Publishing house LKI, 2008. 256 p. 5. Geographic and ethnographic reference book – URL: http://geography.su/atlas/item/f00/s00/z0000000/map010.shtml (date of access: 20.02.2018) 6. Information agency ITAR-TASS. Accident on the oil platform "Deepwater horizon" in the Gulf of Mexico - URL: http://www.itar-tass.com/c81/123259.html (date of access: 20.02.2018) 7. Information agency Ria Novosti. Environmental consequences of an oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico - URL: http://eco.ria.ru/documents/20090605/173349317.html (date of access: 20.02.2018) 8. Public environmental organization Greenpeace - URL: http://www. greenpeace.org/russia/ru/campaigns/protect-the-arctic/threattothe Arctic/ (accessed 20.02.2018) 9. Behavior of offshore oil spills. Technical white paper. - URL: http:// http://www.itopf.com/uploads/translated/TIP_2_2011_EN_Fate_of_marine_oil_spills.pdf (Accessed 02/27/2018). 10. Ecological center "Ecosystem". Section: Chemical pollution of the environment by industry - URL: http://www.ecosystema.ru/07referats/him_sreda.htm (date of access: 20.02.2018)

Reviews:

26.02.2018, 20:28 Sobolev Nikolai Andreevich
Review: The article is an overview that may be of interest to those who are interested in the problems of oil pollution in the oceans. As a non-specialist in this field, it was interesting to me. It is desirable to add links to sources of information on the air transport of oil pollution and on the penetration of oil into the water column and to the bottom. Perhaps it should be published as a popular science article.

02/27/2018 9:09 AM Reply to the author's review Musazade Olga Vladimirovna:
Good afternoon Thank you very much for the good feedback. I will try to find information about the air transport of oil and penetration into the thickness and to the bottom.

27.02.2018, 11:59 Yashchenko Irina Germanovna
Review: The work is a collected and retold material from published works, it may appeal to schoolchildren in the form of a lecture on general problems, but not to specialists. The article does not contain material on independent research, because oil is such a complex natural system, it is so unique and diverse, it chemical composition is different and can affect the ecology of the World Ocean to varying degrees, this is absolutely not reflected in the article. Yes, an interesting map is shown, but where is the reflection of pollution in our Arctic zone, this is stated in the article. I cannot recommend this work to publish, it requires a lot of changes.

02/27/2018 13:13 Response to the author's review Musazade Olga Vladimirovna:
Good afternoon The purpose of the article was to highlight the main sources of oil in the World Ocean, and not about the effect of various compositions on organisms. This is a topic for another work. When such changes are made, the article will not correspond to the stated topic, purpose and objectives. As for lectures for schoolchildren. In a previous review, it was indicated that the article would be of interest to non-specialists in the industry.

More than 10 million tons of oil enter the World Ocean every year, and up to 20% of its area is already covered with an oil film. First of all, this is due to the fact that oil and gas production in the oceans has become an important component of the oil and gas complex. In 1993, 850 million tons of oil were produced in the ocean (almost 30% of world production). About 2,500 wells have been drilled in the world, of which 800 are in the USA, 540 in Southeast Asia, 400 in the North Sea, and 150 in the Persian Gulf. These wells were drilled at depths up to 900 m.

Pollution of the hydrosphere by water transport occurs through two channels. Firstly, sea and river vessels pollute it with wastes resulting from operational activities, and, secondly, emissions in case of accidents of toxic cargoes, mostly oil and oil products. The power plants of ships (mainly diesel engines) constantly pollute the atmosphere, from where toxic substances partially or almost completely enter the waters of rivers, seas and oceans.

Oil and oil products are the main pollutants of the water basin. On tankers carrying oil and its derivatives, before each next loading, as a rule, containers (tanks) are washed to remove the remnants of the previously transported cargo. Wash water, and with it the rest of the cargo, is usually dumped overboard. In addition, after the delivery of oil cargoes to the ports of destination, tankers are most often sent to the point of new loading empty. In this case, to ensure proper draft and navigation safety, the ship's tanks are filled with ballast water. This water is polluted with oil residues, and before loading oil and oil products, it is poured into the sea. Of the total cargo turnover of the world's maritime fleet, 49% currently falls on oil and its derivatives. Every year, about 6,000 tankers of international fleets transport 3 billion tons of oil. As the transportation of oil cargo increased, more and more oil began to fall into the ocean during accidents.

Huge damage to the ocean was caused by the crash of the American supertanker Torrey Canyon off the southwestern coast of England in March 1967: 120 thousand tons of oil spilled into the water and was set on fire by incendiary bombs from aircraft. The oil burned for several days. The beaches and coasts of England and France were polluted.

More than 750 large tankers perished in the seas and oceans in the decade following the Torri Canon disaster. Most of these crashes were accompanied by massive releases of oil and oil products into the sea. In 1978, another catastrophe occurred off the French coast, even more significant in consequences than in 1967. Here, the American supertanker Amono Codis crashed in a storm. More than 220 thousand tons of oil spilled from the vessel, covering an area of ​​3.5 thousand square meters. km. Huge damage was done to fishing, fish farming, oyster "plantations", all marine life in the area. For 180 km, the coast was covered with black mourning "crepe".

In 1989, the accident of the tanker "Valdez" off the coast of Alaska was the largest environmental disaster of its kind in US history. Huge, half a kilometer long, the tanker ran aground about 25 miles from the coast. Then about 40 thousand tons of oil spilled into the sea. A huge oil slick spread within a radius of 50 miles from the accident site, covering an area of ​​80 square meters with a dense film. km. The cleanest and richest coastal regions of North America were poisoned.

To prevent such disasters, double-hulled tankers are being developed. In case of an accident, if one hull is damaged, the second one will prevent oil from entering the sea.

There is pollution of the ocean and other types of industrial waste. Approximately 20 billion tons of garbage have been dumped into all seas of the world (1988). It is estimated that for 1 sq. km of the ocean accounts for an average of 17 tons of garbage. It was recorded that 98 thousand tons of garbage were dumped into the North Sea in one day (1987).

The famous traveler Thor Heyerdahl said that when he and his friends sailed on the Kon-Tiki raft in 1954, they did not get tired of admiring the purity of the ocean, and while sailing on the papyrus vessel Ra-2 in 1969, he and his companions , “woke up in the morning to find the ocean so polluted that there was nowhere to dip your toothbrush. From blue, the Atlantic Ocean turned grey-green and cloudy, and lumps of fuel oil the size of a pinhead to a slice of bread floated everywhere. Plastic bottles dangled in this porridge, as if we were in a dirty harbor. I did not see anything like this when I sat in the ocean for a hundred and one days on the logs of the Kon-Tiki. We have seen with our own eyes that people are poisoning the most important source of life, the mighty filter of the globe - the oceans.

Up to 2 million seabirds and 100,000 marine animals, including up to 30,000 seals, die every year by swallowing any plastic products or getting entangled in snatches of nets and cables.

Germany, Belgium, Holland, England dumped poisonous acids into the North Sea, mainly 18-20% sulfuric acid, heavy metals with soil and sewage sludge containing arsenic and mercury, as well as hydrocarbons, including toxic dioxin (1987 year). Heavy metals include a number of elements widely used in industry: zinc, lead, chromium, copper, nickel, cobalt, molybdenum, etc. When ingested, most metals are very difficult to excrete, tend to constantly accumulate in the tissues of various organs, and when a certain threshold concentration, a sharp poisoning of the body occurs.

Three rivers flowing into the North Sea, the Rhine, Meuse and Elbe, annually brought 28 million tons of zinc, almost 11000 tons of lead, 5600 tons of copper, as well as 950 tons of arsenic, cadmium, mercury and 150 thousand tons of oil, 100 thousand tons of phosphates and even radioactive waste in different quantities (data for 1996). Ships dumped 145 million tons of ordinary garbage annually. England dumped 5 million tons of sewage per year.

As a result of oil production from pipelines connecting oil platforms with the mainland, about 30,000 tons of oil products flowed into the sea every year. The effects of this pollution are not hard to see. A number of species that once lived in the North Sea, including salmon, sturgeon, oysters, rays and haddock, have simply disappeared. Seals are dying, other inhabitants of this sea often suffer from infectious skin diseases, have a deformed skeleton and malignant tumors. A bird that feeds on fish or poisoned by sea water dies. Poisonous algae blooms have been observed leading to a decrease in fish stocks (1988).

During 1989, 17,000 seals perished in the Baltic Sea. Studies have shown that the tissues of dead animals are literally saturated with mercury, which entered their body from the water. Biologists believe that water pollution has led to a sharp weakening immune system inhabitants of the sea and their death from viral diseases.

Large spills of oil products (thousand tons) occur in the Eastern Baltic once every 3-5 years, small spills (tens of tons) occur monthly. A large spill affects ecosystems in a water area of ​​​​several thousand hectares, a small one - several tens of hectares. The Baltic Sea, the Skagerrak Strait, the Irish Sea are threatened by mustard gas emissions, a chemical poison created by Germany during the Second World War and flooded by Germany, Great Britain and the USSR in the 40s. The USSR sank its chemical munitions in the northern seas and the Far East, Great Britain - in the Irish Sea.

In 1983, the International Convention for the Prevention of Pollution of the Marine Environment entered into force. In 1984, the states of the Baltic basin signed in Helsinki the Convention for the Protection of the Marine Environment of the Baltic Sea. It was the first international agreement at the regional level. As a result of the work carried out, the content of oil products in the open waters of the Baltic Sea has decreased by 20 times compared to 1975.

In 1992, the ministers of 12 states and the representative of the European Community signed a new Convention on the Protection of the Environment of the Baltic Sea Basin.

There is pollution of the Adriatic and Mediterranean seas. Through the Po River alone, 30 thousand tons of phosphorus, 80 thousand tons of nitrogen, 60 thousand tons of hydrocarbons, thousands of tons of lead and chromium, 3 thousand tons of zinc, 250 tons of arsenic annually enter the Adriatic Sea from industrial enterprises and agricultural farms (1988 year).

The Mediterranean Sea is in danger of becoming a garbage dump, a sewage pit of three continents. Every year, 60 thousand tons of detergents, 24 thousand tons of chromium, thousands of tons of nitrates used in agriculture enter the sea. In addition, 85% of the waters discharged from 120 large coastal cities are not purified (1989), and self-purification (complete renewal of the waters) of the Mediterranean Sea is carried out through the Strait of Gibraltar in 80 years.

Due to pollution, the Aral Sea has completely lost its fishery significance since 1984. Its unique ecosystem has perished.

The owners of the Tisso chemical plant in the town of Minamata on the island of Kyushu (Japan) have been dumping wastewater saturated with mercury into the ocean for many years. Coastal waters and fish were poisoned, and since the 1950s, 1,200 people have died, and 100,000 have received poisoning of varying severity, including psychoparalytic diseases.

A serious environmental threat to life in the oceans and, consequently, to humans is the disposal of radioactive waste (RW) on the seabed and the discharge of liquid radioactive waste (LRW) into the sea. Western countries (USA, Great Britain, France, Germany, Italy, etc.) of the USSR since 1946 began to actively use the ocean depths in order to get rid of radioactive waste.

In 1959, the US Navy sank a failed nuclear reactor from a nuclear submarine 120 miles off the Atlantic coast of the United States. According to Greenpeace, our country dumped about 17 thousand concrete containers with radioactive waste into the sea, as well as more than 30 shipboard nuclear reactors.

The most difficult situation has developed in the Barents and Kara Seas around the nuclear test site at Novaya Zemlya. There, in addition to countless containers, 17 reactors were flooded, including those with nuclear fuel, several emergency nuclear submarines, as well as the central compartment of the Lenin nuclear-powered ship with three emergency reactors. The Pacific Fleet of the USSR buried nuclear waste (including 18 reactors) in the Sea of ​​Japan and the Sea of ​​Okhotsk, in 10 places off the coast of Sakhalin and Vladivostok.

The United States and Japan dumped waste from nuclear power plants into the Sea of ​​Japan, the Sea of ​​Okhotsk and the Arctic Ocean.

The USSR dumped liquid radioactive waste into the Far Eastern seas from 1966 to 1991 (mainly near the southeastern part of Kamchatka and in the Sea of ​​Japan). Northern Fleet annually dumped 10 thousand cubic meters into the water. m LRW.

In 1972, the London Convention was signed, prohibiting the dumping of radioactive and toxic chemical waste on the bottom of the seas and oceans. Our country also joined that convention. Warships, in accordance with international law, do not need permission to dump. In 1993, the dumping of LRW into the sea was prohibited.

In 1982, the 3rd UN Conference on the Law of the Sea adopted the Convention on the Peaceful Use of the World Ocean in the Interests of All Countries and Peoples, which contains about a thousand international legal norms governing all major issues of the use of ocean resources.

There is a huge amount of water on Earth, pictures from space prove given fact. And now there are concerns about the fleeting pollution of these waters. Sources of pollution are emissions into the oceans of domestic and industrial wastewater,.

Causes of pollution of the waters of the oceans

People have always strived for water, it was these territories that people tried to master in the first place. About sixty percent of all big cities are located in the coastal zone. So on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea there are states whose population is numerically equal to two hundred and fifty million people. And at the same time, large industrial complexes throw into the sea about several thousand tons of all kinds of waste, including big cities sewerage is also drained there. Therefore, one should not be surprised that when water is sampled, a huge number of various harmful microorganisms are found there.

With the growth in the number of cities, the amount of waste poured into the oceans is growing. Even this big natural resource can't handle that much waste. There is poisoning and both coastal and marine, the decline of fisheries.

They fight pollution of the city in the following way - waste is dumped away from the coast and to great depths with the help of many kilometers of pipes. But this does not solve anything at all, but only delays the time of the complete destruction of the flora and fauna of the sea.

Types of pollution of the oceans

Oil is one of the most important pollutants of the ocean waters. It gets there in every possible way: during the collapse of oil ore carriers; accidents in offshore oil fields, in the extraction of oil from the seabed. Because of the oil, the fish die, and the one that survives has an unpleasant taste and smell. Seabirds are dying out, just last year thirty thousand ducks died near Sweden because of oil films on the surface of the water. Oil, floating along the sea currents, and, sailing to the shore, made many resort areas unsuitable for recreation and swimming.

So the Intergovernmental Maritime Society created an agreement according to which oil cannot be poured into the water fifty kilometers from the coast, most of the maritime powers signed it.

In addition, radioactive contamination of the ocean is constantly occurring. This happens through leaks in nuclear reactors or from sunken nuclear submarines, which leads to a radiation change in flora and fauna, it was helped in this by the current and with the help of food chains from plankton to big fish. At the moment, many nuclear powers are using the World Ocean to place nuclear missile warheads of submarines and to bury spent nuclear waste.

Another of the catastrophes of the ocean is the bloom of water, associated with the growth of algae. And this leads to a reduction in the salmon catch. The rapid proliferation of algae is due to the large number of microorganisms that appear as a result of industrial waste disposal. And finally, we will analyze the mechanisms of self-purification of water. They are divided into three types.

• Chemical - salt water is rich in various chemical compounds, in which, when oxygen enters, oxidative processes occur, plus light irradiation, and as a result, effective processing of anthropogenic toxins occurs. The salts resulting from the reaction simply settle to the bottom.
• Biological - the whole mass of marine animals living at the bottom, pass all the water of the coastal zone through their gills and thereby work as filters, although they die by the thousands.
• Mechanical - when the flow slows down, suspensions precipitate. As a result, the final disposal of anthropogenic substances occurs.

ocean chemical pollution

Every year, the waters of the oceans are increasingly polluted by waste from the chemical industry. Thus, a trend towards an increase in the amount of arsenic in ocean waters was noticed. Heavy metals lead and zinc, nickel and cadmium, chromium and copper significantly undermine the ecological balance. All kinds of pesticides, such as endrin, aldrin, dieldrin, also cause damage. In addition, the substance tributyltin chloride, which is used to paint ships, has a detrimental effect on marine life. It protects the surface from overgrowing with algae and shells. Therefore, all these substances should be replaced with less toxic ones so as not to harm marine flora and fauna.

Pollution of the waters of the World Ocean is associated not only with chemical industry, but also with other areas of human activity, in particular, energy, automotive, metallurgy and food, light industry. Utilities, agriculture and transport have no less detrimental influence. The most common sources of water pollution are industrial and sewage effluents, as well as fertilizers and herbicides.

Water pollution is facilitated by waste generated by merchant and fishing fleets, as well as oil tankers. As a result of human activity, elements such as mercury, dioxins and PCBs enter the water. Accumulating in the body, harmful compounds provoke the appearance of serious diseases: metabolism is disturbed, immunity is reduced, the reproductive system does not work properly, and serious problems with the liver appear. Moreover, chemical elements able to influence genetics and change it.

Pollution of the oceans with plastics

Plastic waste makes up whole clusters and spots in the waters of the Pacific, Atlantic and Indian oceans. Most of the garbage is generated due to the dumping of waste from densely populated areas of the coast. Often, marine animals swallow bags and small particles of plastic, confusing them with food, which leads to their death.

Plastic has spread so much that it can already be found in subpolar waters. It has been found that only in the waters Pacific Ocean the amount of plastic has increased 100 times (research has been carried out over the past forty years). Even small particles can change the natural ocean environment. It is estimated that about 90% of the animals that die on the shore are plastic waste, which is mistaken for food.

In addition, the danger is the suspension, which is formed as a result of the decomposition of plastic materials. Swallowing chemical elements, marine inhabitants doom themselves to severe torment and even death. Do not forget that people can also eat fish that is contaminated with waste. Its meat contains a large amount of lead and mercury.

Consequences of pollution of the oceans

Polluted water causes many diseases in humans and animals. As a result, populations of flora and fauna are declining, and some are even dying out. All this leads to global changes in the ecosystems of all water areas. All oceans are sufficiently polluted. One of the most polluted seas is the Mediterranean. Wastewater from 20 cities flows into it. In addition, tourists from popular Mediterranean resorts make a negative contribution. The dirtiest rivers in the world are the Citarum in Indonesia, the Ganges in India, the Yangtze in China and the King River in Tasmania. Among the polluted lakes experts name the Great North American Lakes, Onondaga in the USA and Tai in China.

As a result, there are significant changes in the waters of the World Ocean, as a result of which global climatic phenomena disappear, garbage islands are formed, water blooms due to the reproduction of algae, the temperature rises, provoking global warming. The consequences of these processes are too serious and the main threat is a gradual reduction in oxygen production, as well as a decrease in the resource of the ocean. In addition, adverse developments can be observed in different regions: the development of droughts in certain areas, floods, tsunamis. The protection of the World Ocean should be the priority goal of all mankind.

An interesting video about the pollution of the oceans

In childhood ocean I associate with something mighty and great. Three years ago I visited the island and saw the ocean with my own eyes. He attracted my gaze with his strength and immense beauty, which cannot be measured by the human eye. But not everything is as beautiful as it seems at first glance. There are enough in the world global problems, one of which ecological problem, more precisely, ocean pollution.

Major ocean pollutants in the world

The main problem is the chemicals that are thrown away by various enterprises. The main contaminants are:

1. Oil.
2. Petrol.
3. Pesticides, fertilizers and nitrates.
4. Mercury and other harmful chemicals .

Oil is the biggest scourge for the ocean.

As we saw, the first on the list is oil, and this is no coincidence. Oil and petroleum products are the most common pollutants in the oceans. Already at the start 80syears thrown into the ocean every year 15.5 million tons of oil, and this 0.22% of global production. Oil and oil products, gasoline as well as pesticides, fertilizers and nitrates, even mercury and other harmful chemical compounds - all of them during emissions from enterprises enter the oceans. All of the above leads the ocean to the fact that pollution forms its fields to the maximum intensively, and especially in areas of oil production.

Pollution of the World Ocean - what it can lead to

The most important thing to understand is that hocean pollution is an action that is directly related to a person. Accumulated perennial chemicals and toxins are already affecting the development of pollutants in the ocean, and these in turn have a negative impact on marine organisms and the human body. The consequences to which the actions and inaction of people lead are horrendous. Destruction of many species of fish as well as other inhabitants of the ocean waters- this is not all that we get because of the indifferent attitude of man to the Ocean. We should think that the loss can be much, much more than we might think. Do not forget that the oceans have a very important role, he has planetary functions, the ocean is powerful thermal regulator And moisture circulation Earth and the circulation of its atmosphere. Pollution can lead to an irreparable change in all these characteristics. The worst thing that such changes are already observed today. A person can do a lot, he can both save nature and destroy it. We should think about how humanity has already harmed nature, we must understand that much is already irreparable. Every day we become colder and more callous to our home, to our Earth. But we and our descendants still live on it. Therefore we must cherish World Ocean!

If you look at a photograph of our planet taken from space, it becomes incomprehensible why it was called "Earth". More than 70% of its entire surface is covered with water, which is 2.5 times the total land area. At first glance, it seems incredible that the pollution of the world's oceans could be so significant that this problem would require the attention of all mankind. However, the figures and facts make us think seriously and start taking measures not only to save and support the Earth's ecology, but also to ensure the survival of mankind.

Main sources and factors

The problem of pollution of the world's oceans is becoming more and more alarming every year. Harmful substances enter it mainly from rivers, the waters of which each year bring to the cradle of mankind more than 320 million tons of various iron salts, more than 6 million tons of phosphorus, not to mention thousands of other chemical compounds. In addition, it also comes from the atmosphere: 5 thousand tons of mercury, 1 million tons of hydrocarbons, 200 thousand tons of lead. Approximately one third of all mineral fertilizers used in agriculture, only phosphorus and nitrogen annually enters approximately 62 million tons. As a result, some huge "blankets" forming in some places on the surface of the ocean, with an area of ​​whole square kilometers and more than 1.5 meters thick.

Acting like a press, they slowly stifle all living things in the seas. Their decay absorbs oxygen from the water, which contributes to the death of bottom organisms. And of course, the oceans are directly related to the use of oil and petroleum products by mankind. When they are extracted from offshore fields, as well as as a result of coastal runoff and tanker accidents, from 5 to 10 million tons are poured annually. The oil film that forms on the surface of the water blocks the vital activity of phytoplankton, which is one of the main producers of atmospheric oxygen, disrupts moisture and heat exchange between the atmosphere and the ocean, and kills fish fry and other marine organisms. More than 20 million tons of solid domestic and industrial waste and a huge amount of radioactive substances (1.5-109 Ci) fell into the bottomless depths of the cradle of mankind. The greatest pollution of the world's oceans occurs in the coastal shallow zone, i.e. in the shelf. It is here that the vital activity of most marine organisms takes place.

Ways to overcome

At present, the problem of protecting the world's oceans has become so urgent that it concerns even those states that do not have direct access to its border. Thanks to the UN, a number of important agreements are now in force related to the regulation of fishing, shipping, from the depths of the sea, etc. The most famous among them is the "Charter of the Seas", signed in 1982 by most countries around the world. In developed countries, a system of prohibitive and permissive economic measures is in place to help prevent pollution. Behind the state earth's atmosphere followed by numerous "green" societies. Enlightenment is of great importance and the result of which is perfectly visible on the example of Switzerland, where children perceive their country with mother's milk! It is not surprising that after they grow up, the very idea of ​​encroaching on the purity and beauty of this beautiful country looks like blasphemy. There are other technological and organizational means of control aimed at preventing further pollution of the world's oceans. The main task for each of us is not to be indifferent and to strive in every possible way to make our planet look like a real paradise, which it originally was.