Environmental Issues Assignment | Custom Essay Services

Why we need strong environmental protection programs for the future sustainability of coasts, oceans and their sea life

Explain why strong environmental protection programs are needed for the future sustainability of coasts, oceans and their sea life. Report on what you believe are five of the major areas of concern. These could be global or focused regionally/locally. Conclude with a strong statement. Please include at least one or two environmental success stories. 7-9 concisely written pages – no title page or abstract – double spaced with one inch margins, using Times New Roman 12 pt. font (smaller font for images, chart, graph descriptions and references) – up to three 4 X 6 inch (or =) images, charts, graphs etc. with detailed descriptions may be included. – comprehensive references/citations on additional page – PLENTY OF IN-TEXT CITATIONS Citations and references in APA format -Don’t need a deep or convoluted breakdown of the science. -I am including the assignment document, a general outline of my own nots and important areas of focus, as well as the collated notes from the Marine Biology textbook. I have listed other potential source materials at the bottom of the outline.

• Pollution:

1. A) Problems:

-stormwater run-off                -wasterwater run-off              -agricultural run-off (pesticides use and over-use). ***Silent Spring (Carson)

-sewage           -plastics                       -coastal development (poor sewage treatment)

-tourism (litter)           -eutrophication

-heavy metals (PCB’s, DDT, ethyl mercury, lead, etc)

-Oil runoff (companies, factories, tankers, drilling)

-great pacific garbage patch

 

1. B) Solutions:

-Better, but more $$$, sewage treatment (utilize decay bacteria, ozone, and/or UV to break down)

-Marshland sewage treatment

-Stricter recycling and done in-house to reduce garbage making way into ocean

-stronger language in State constitutions and local community charters ensuring environmental protections). ***The Green Amendment. (success story blackfoot river MT)

-Greener transportation and shipping via railway

-Better urban infrastructure.  Plumbing, water management, street cleaning,

 

 

• Ocean, Coastal, Bays, Rivers, and Estuarine Habitat Protection

1. Problems:

-Inland habitat loss.  Much of the issues comes from bad land management leading to polluted water tables/rivers that flow into estuaries and oceans.  Save the green to protect the blue:

1. a) Better agriculture. Vertical farming. Local farms and supply chains.
2. b) stricter agriculture practices would lead to less pumping of aquifers, more responsible irrigation water usage, less run-off. All this equals less pollutants towards the oceans and less salt-water intrusion). “Worldwide 70% of all water use is for irrigation”. (world on edge). “soil and coastal erosion is “the silent global crisis”(journalist Stephen Leahy Earth Island Journal).
3. c) Stop deforestation and plant tree initiatives.

-Coastal erosion                -inland soil erosion & saltwater intrusion

-Habitat loss          -species decline          -nutrient runoff           -agricultural run-off

-As “transitional zone” between land and ocean how we treat rivers and lands

effects the oceans

-currently there’s an erosion rate increase due to xyz:  increased sediment in coastal areas means:

a). murkier waters unhealthy for marine life (photosynthetic organisms)

b). changes orientation of tidal and subtidal zones and associated species

 

 

1. Solutions:

-Carbon sequestration      -environmental law AND greater enforcement (50% decrease in effective enforcement. {webinar with Earthjustice})

-Balance between national park, protected area, fishing grounds, tourism, MPA’s.

-oyster/shellfish farms to filter water

(ex. Billion oyster Project, Blue Mussel Watch, Wellfleet Pond Cleanup)

-coral farms (Dr. David Vaughn)              -seaweed farms.

-coastal habitat rehabilitation (mangroves protections and planting, manmade coral, etc)

-remove unnecessary man-made barriers (culverts, sea walls, damns, dikes, tide gates, undersized pipes. (they lead to poor water quality=habitat and species destruction)

-ex.  Hudson River estuary pollution, protection, revitalization

-ex. Save the Sound (ngo)

 

• Over-fishing and destructive fishing practices

1. Problems:

-unsustainable fishing leads to species collapse felt down the food chain

-Fisheries subsidies promote unparalleled capacity of fleets to fish harder and longer at sea.

-such effects on the marine food chain has catastrophic implications for coastal species and health

-destructive fishing practices: bottom trawling, etc.

-economically disastrous for humans as x% of people liver within ymiles of a coast and population growth, strained supply chains.

***deep dive into Oceana.org

 

1. B) Solutions:

-Strong MPA’s:

1. a) PIPA (phoenix island protected area) as example of out of the box thinking
2. b) World On Edge: 2002 World Summit on Sustainable Development in Johannesburg:  pledge to create national networks of marine parks.  Some problems in enforcement.  Progress is slow.  1% of earth’s oceans are protected though evidence is clear that MPA’s are effective at restoring fisheries and habitats that eventually “seed” other areas when these increases in marine organism populations migrate to other areas.

-“Ensure the permanence and quality of existing protected areas” (Biodiversity and Climate Change ch.22)

-Perhaps a G-8 type coalition of the top 6 or 8 or 10 nations with the greatest areas of ocean coming into a mutual agreement.  These largest nations coming together could sustainably protect and enrich a huge part of the earth’s oceans and set an example for other nations.

-note in paper:  we can’t simply put up a fence around everything.  There are many issues beyond “protecting”.

-outlaw certain destructive fishing practices (shark finning, bottom trawling, explosives fishing, over-fishing, bycatch misuse or discarding

-re-think the global supply chain:  seafood “finfish” should be illegal to export if their stocks are not sustainably managed.  (Maximum Sustainable Yield)

-repurpose careers: fishermen to ocean protectors

-enforce          -surveillance   -old net/fishing line collection and recycling

-monetary incentives to fisherman for sustainable fishing (reversion to more sustainable technology)

-endangered species protection

-better tech (satellite surveillance. **Oceana success story)

-Sailors for the Sea     -Globalfishingwatch.org

 

• Ocean temp rise and acidification:

1. Problem:

-coral bleaching                -sea level rise              -habitat loss

-reference National Climate Assessment 3 (pg. 16-20) and NCA 4 (pg. 19-23)

-Acidification effects primary production

 

1. Solutions:

-better GHG emissions standards

-green tech utilization:

1. a) land, offshore, and deep wind energy. b) hydropower
2. c) wave power (yuzu 253/257) d) tide power (yuzu 60)
3. e) solar, geothermal

***Sustainable Energy without the Hot Air

 

• Lack of good Data/ Defense of Good science/ Awareness & Education:

1. A) Problem:

-Issue is a global one.  Difficulty with approaching developed undeveloped countries alike

-fisheries data is flawed         -ecological testing incomplete

-politics of climate change requires data that can convince both sides to an equitable agreement to act.

-Show how sustainability

 

-nutrient runoff and its effects from estuaries into oceans is little understood  (regional/seasonal differences haven’t been properly measured).   **Malcolm Sculley WHOI

-ex. Agricultural run-off into Chesapeake bay (how the introduction of nutrients effects the amount of o2 decrease and Co2 increase isn’t properly measured.

1. Solutions:

-More funding for scientific research (grants)

 

 

 

 

 

Books to source (some, not ALL required):

-World on the Edge (Lester Brown)    -Biodiversity and Climate Change (ch14)

-Silent Spring   (Rachel Carson)          -Plan B (Lester Brown)

-The Green Amendment (Maya K Rossum)

-Sustainable Energy without the Hot Air (David MacKay)

-Marine Biology 11^th ed. (Peter Castro)

-NRDC             -Oceana.org                -Union of Concerned Scientists           -WHOI.edu

 

 

-Perhaps list the issues and show how the solutions are all inter-connected.  How a number of solutions could help an even greater number of issues.