Ocean Resources and Ocean Pollution

1. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHU8G6icwsY 19 minutes Ocean’s Hidden World Ocean Resources and Ocean Pollution Chapter 13 Sections 4 & 5 Video on Ocean Resources http://www.nrdc.org/water/oceans/policy.asp

2. Renewable vs. Nonrenewable Resources • Renewable: fish, seaweed, tidal and wave energy • Nonrenewable: oil, natural gas, minerals

3. Living Resources • There are three major types of living resources found in the oceans. • Fishing • Farming • Seaweed (kelp)

4. Fishing in the Ocean • 75 million tons of fish are taken from the ocean every year. • Now, people are concerned that we are taking too many fish out of the ocean. • This is also a danger to dolphins and turtles.

5. Farming the Ocean • Because the rules on fishing have been tightened, people have started to farm fish. • People raise the fish in a farm that has several ponds. • When the fish are old enough, they are harvested. • Other marine animals that are harvested are: shrimp, oysters, crabs, and mussels.

7. Savory Seaweed • Seaweed is a type of fast growing (33 cm/day) alga that is harvested from the ocean. • It is used to thicken jelly and ice cream.

8. Nonliving Resources • There are several types of nonliving resources. • Oil • Natural gas • Salt • Minerals • Tidal energy

9. Oil and Natural Gas • Oil and natural gas are nonrenewable resources (used before they can be replaced). • Engineers must drill through hard rocks to reach these resources. • In the water, ships send seismic waves to the bottom of the ocean. These waves help the workers to find spots where oil could be located.

10. Fresh Water and Desalination • In some areas, water is limited, so workers desalinate the ocean water. • Desalination— a process of removing salt from ocean water • After the salt is removed, the water is collected and cleaned for people to use. • The most common type of desalination is completed through cycles of evaporation and condensation.

11. Sea-Floor Minerals • Many companies are interested in the minerals that are found at the bottom of the ocean. • Manganese, iron, copper, nickel, cobalt • These pieces of metal can be used to create steel. • Some scientists think that 15% of the ocean floor is covered in these minerals. • Nonrenewable resource

12. Tidal Energy • Moving water creates energy. • Tidal energy is a renewable resource that is created from the movement of the tides. • Renewable resource— a resource that can be replaced after being used • For tidal energy to be used, the area must have a coastline with shallow, narrow channels.

13. Nonpoint-Source Pollution • Most of the pollution on Earth is non-point pollution. • Non-point source pollution— pollution that comes from many sources rather than from a single, specific site • Oil leaking from cars, jet skis and boats, pesticides, herbicides, and fertilizer

14. Point-Source Pollution • Point-source pollution— pollution that comes from a specific site • Types of point-source pollution • Trash dumping • Sludge dumping • Oil spills

15. Trash Dumping and its Effects • In the 1980s, the Environmental Protection Agency started to investigate where all of the trash in the oceans was coming from. • It was discovered that 3 million tons of medical waste was put into the ocean every year. (bandages, vials of blood, needles) • Because of the investigation, the medical waste is now buried in landfills. • Dumping trash can effect many different types of organisms that live in the ocean or depend on the ocean for food. • http://www.pbs.org/kqed/oceanadventures/video/gyre

17. Sludge (Sewage) Dumping • By 1990, over 38 trillion liters of sludge was found in the water near the coast of the United States. • After the raw sewage reaches a treatment plant, the sewage is cleaned and the solid waste is separated. This is sludge. • Even though people try to dump sludge several kilometers off the coast, the currents and waves bring it back towards the land.

19. Oil Spills and Their Effects • Billions of barrels of oil are transported on tankers across the ocean. • Prince William Sound (1989)—the Exxon Valdez struck a reef and spilled over 260,000 barrels of oil near the Alaskan shoreline. • The amount of oil spilled here equals 125 olympic-sized swimming pools. • Over $2 million was spent on the cleanup effort. • Some oil can still be found on the beaches today. • While the Exxon Valdez accident was horrible, it was less than 1/3 of the oil that was spilled after the Torrey Canyon spill in 1967. • While oil spills are horrible, they only cover 5% of the oil pollution in the oceans. Most of it is caused by non-point source pollution in the cities.

21. Deepwater Horizon 2010- Gulf of MexicoThe 2010 oil spill cost BP 40 billion dollars! They are still paying out money to people and businesses .

26. Preventing Oil Spills • Many companies are using new technology to help prevent oil spills. • Double-hulled tankers— the inner hull helps the oil from going into the ocean if the outer hull is damaged • Hair— The idea to use human hair to soak up oil was patented by Phil McCrory, a hairdresser from Huntsville, Alabama.

27. Saving Our Ocean Resources • Over time, people have realized that our oceans are important. • 1972— Congress passed the Clean Water Act that lets the Environmental Protection Agency charge a fine for the dumping of trash into the ocean. • 1973—U. S. Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act was passed that prohibits the dumping of materials that could affect human health. • Early 1980s—the U. S. citizens started the Adopt-a-Beach program that has regular beach cleanups • 1989— 64 countries passed a treaty to prohibit the dumping of certain metals, plastics, oil, and radioactive wastes into the ocean. • The U. S. spends over $130 million each year to protect our oceans.