Human Presence in the Oceans Flashcards

Flashcards about Human Presence in the Oceans lecture notes.

Pollution

The introduction of substances/energy into the environment by humans (directly or indirectly), resulting in deleterious effects on living organisms, ecosystems, human health, and marine activities.

Pollution Concentration Zones

Areas where pollutants tend to concentrate in the water column: on the sea floor (Benthic habitats), in the pycnocline (Density driven in estuaries), and in the neuston layer (Air/Sea interface).

Petroleum

Crude oil as it comes from the ground.

Weathering of Oil

Process by which oil is altered in the environment including evaporation, dissolution, emulsification, sedimentation, and microbial degradation.

Oil Spill Clean-up Methods

Methods used to clean up oil spills including floating booms, chemical dispersants, burning, skimming, and bioremediation.

Torrey Canyon

An event that occured in Cornwall in 1967, where chemical dispersants and bombing were used.

Exxon Valdez

An oil spill in Alaska that released more than 37,000 tonnes of crude oil.

Exceeding Self-Cleaning Capacity

When dense human populations produce so much pollution that the self-cleaning capacity of the marine habitat is exceeded.

Sources and Concentration of Wastes

Waste that comes from farmland, cities, and industrial areas and tends to be concentrated in harbors, bays, and estuaries.

Categories of Municipal and Industrial Effluent

Sewage, metals, and artificial biocides

Sewage

Mostly human waste sludge or organic and inorganic chemicals which can cause eutrophication.

Heavy Metals

Elements such as lead, mercury, cadmium, arsenic, copper, and nickel, which are toxic in larger dosages.

Bioaccumulation

Organisms retain and concentrate a toxic material within their body.

Biomagnification

Toxic material increases in concentration at each trophic level of a food chain, resulting from bioaccumulation at each trophic level.

Artificial Biocides

Chemically-manufactured toxic compounds that do not occur naturally, such as DDT and PCBs.

Pesticide

DDT (dichloro-diphenyl-trichloro-ethane)

Variety of Products

PCB (polychlorinated biphenyls)

Emerging Contaminants Organic micropollutants

Surfactants, flame retardants, pharmaceuticals and personal care products, gasoline additives and their degradation products, biocides, polar pesticides and their degradation products and various proven or suspected endocrine disrupting compounds (EDCs)

Ocean Dredging

Accounts for 80-90% of the material dumped at sea each year, and can cause pollution if contaminated.

Overfishing

Removing fish from the population faster than they can be replaced, potentially leading to population collapse.

Maximum Sustainable Yield

The theoretical maximum amount of fish that can be removed from a population without significantly interfering with the population’s ability to renew itself.

Precautionary Principle

To avoid doing anything that may damage or negatively impact a fishery.

MCS

Marine Conservation Society

Most contaminated waters

Coastal waters and shelf waters.

Cleanest waters

Open Ocean.