Ocean Pollution
8 million metric tons of plastic waste goes into the ocean.
The ocean is one of if not the most diverse and mysterious places on Earth. It is estimated that over one million different species of plants and animals live in the ocean and that nearly nine million are still yet to be discovered. Nearly 44% of the worlds population lives within 93 miles (150 kilometers) of the ocean and for every seven people in the world three of them depend on seafood as their main source of protein. 2.5 trillion U.S. dollars are produced each year by the ocean from business such as fishing, shipping, transportation, and Hydroelectric energy.
The ocean is obviously an important part of human life, so then why are we killing it?
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Over one million seabirds die yearly because of reasons related to ocean pollution. Three hundred thousand dolphins and porpoises die from being entangled and caught in fishing nets, one hundred thousand sea mammals are killed yearly, and the numbers just keep going on and on and up and up from here.
"The ocean is regarded as a sort of bargain basement... People don't realize that water in the liquid state is very rare in the universe. Away from Earth it is usually a gas. This moisture is a blessed treasure, and it is our basic duty, if we don't want to commit suicide, to preserve it."
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-Jacques Cousteau
