Desolate sea
Desolate sea
  • 한상민
  • 승인 2019.12.02 12:38
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Image by Somchai Sumnow from Pixabay
Image by Somchai Sumnow from Pixabay

 

 

Do you know how much of the surface of the Earth is covered with water? About 71 percent. Of those amount, oceans account for 97 percent. In other words, oceans are the largest areas of our planet. These vast oceans are also home to a variety of creatures. However, environmental problems in the seas have recently been exposed, raising concerns. Environmental issues are extensive and diverse, ranging from water pollution to waste damage to various aquatic life forms. Here, I will explain the various environmental problems faced by these oceans and how to solve them in different countries.

 

 

What do you think is the most serious environmental problem on Earth? Air pollution, fine dust, or global warming? In fact, these environmental problems are all serious. However, I think the environmental problem related to the sea is the most serious. Sea is home to a large variety of creatures and we humans eat many of them. It is also one of the potential development areas, with diverse resources buried in the sea. So, humans and the sea are in a complementary relationship that cannot be split. Environmental issues are becoming ever more prominent today as creatures living in the sea also begin to get mingled in environmental problems, and humans consuming such seafood start to experience various health issues.

 

Have you ever heard of the Pacific island of garbage? A trash island, just by its name, may sound like a very dirty place. The garbage island lies between Hawaii in the North Pacific and the Los Angeles area, and cover an area about 1.55 million km2. Its size is about 15 times the size of Korea. In the summer of 1997, an American by the name of Charles Moore took part in a yacht competition traveling to Hawaii from Los Angeles. While sailing, he found a garbage island spreading to the horizon. The official name of the garbage island is GPGP, which stands for the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. After the discovery of this island, many scientists and eco-environmental activists identified the source of the garbage. On March 23, 2018, they released the results of their research. There were 1.8 trillion pieces of trash, weighing 80,000 tons, which is the equivalent of 500 super-sized passenger jets.

 

Beside GPGP, other factors pollute the marine environment such as the rampant dumping of garbage. Do you know Boracay, a beautiful, surfer paradise island in the Philippines? What image comes to mind? Now Boracay has become victim of its own touristic success and on April 26 last year, the Philippine authorities decided to shut down Boracay to save nature. It was closed for six months until October 26 and since then the number of tourists has been limited. Why? Owing to unauthorized dumping, the amount of garbage became enormous on Boracay. The daily amount of trash was 115 tons, but only 30 tons were collected. The rest – 85 ton of waste – was left untreated, destroying the island’s nature.

 

 

Then, many countries began to take measures to cope with this situation by considering studying various methods. A Dutch man worked hard to clean up the Pacific island of garbage, and as a result, a nonprofit organization was established to invent and develop a marine plastic garbage collection system. The device is made up of U-shaped tubes and uses boats to navigate around them to collect garbage. The goal is to clean up about 50 percent of the garbage island within five years starting in 2020 when the collection devices should be deployed.

 

In addition, various environmental regulations have been enacted. Industrialization from the 1960s began to generate a variety of waste, which led to the frequent dumping of unauthorized material into the ocean. Recognizing the seriousness of the situation as the seas began to be polluted, leaders of 82 countries convened in London in December 1972 to draw regulations on waste and waste dumping. South Korea joined the group in 1992.

 

Do you know about marine plantation? Sea plantation or coral reef in the sea, like Arbor Day, are trying to save marine nature as sea algae and coral reefs are damaged due to environmental pollution. This is the first time in Korea that the Sea Arbor Day was designated as a national holiday on May 10, 2013. Since then, Korea has been steadily promoting sea plantation, and on May 10, seaweed and coral reefs were planted at a beach park in Wando-gun, Jeollanam-do. Currently, sea Arbor Day, first started in Korea, is being observed by the whole world and is being conducted on a trial basis.

 

It is said that the beginning of mankind was in the sea. Scientifically, various cell activities from single-cell animals have taken place in the ocean, leading to the emergence of modern humans and various creatures. The sea also gives us many resources. As such, the relationship between man and sea has been complementary since old times. Shouldn't we now step up to protect the environment of these seas? Shouldn't we recognize the sea, which used to be considered a mere tourist destination and a summer resort, as a heaven for our lives and treat it accordingly to continue giving us plenty?


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