The Caribbean Sea: Pollution From Industrialization, Globalization, & Urbanization - Essay Sample

Introduction

Industrialization, globalization, and urbanization that happened in about two centuries ago have brought unprecedented pollution that threatens every region in the world. In the Caribbean, sea pollution has prevailed mainly due to cruise ship tourism, deforestation, contaminated water from rivers and runoffs that empty into the sea, the lack of adequate and effective waste management systems, and oil mining and transportation activities. Even though some of these root causes have substantial benefits, governments should fix issues to mitigate adverse consequences resulting from sea pollution (Metcalfe, Beddows, Bouchot, Metcalfe, Li & Lavieren 991). Some specific mechanisms of sea pollution result in the deaths of various types of marine organisms. Plastic debris, for example, threatens marine life through suffocation and starvation. Oil spills interfere with the growth and reproduction of aquatic life. Hence, this research paper analyzes sea pollution in the Caribbean, its consequences and offers possible mitigation mechanisms.

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Causes of Sea Pollution in the Caribbean

Sea pollution in the Caribbean occurs primarily due to human activities. Firstly, studies have identified sewage as among the significant causes of marine pollution (DeGeorges, Goreau & Reilly 2920). Countries in the region manage to treat less than 25% of all the sewage generated. Likewise, the Caribbean population served by waste management systems is too small to facilitate the prevention of marine degradation. Even worse is that the available treatment plants operate inefficiently. The inadequacy of sewage treatment systems coupled with poor conditions of the existing plants exacerbates the probability of discharging untreated wastes into the seawater. Such is a problem given that the population of people living in coastal areas of the Caribbean has increased drastically in the last few decades.

Tourism has also contributed to sea pollution (DeGeorges, Goreau & Reilly 2919). The rise of globalization has led to increased international traveling and the influx of tourists in almost every region of the world. Caribbean countries have been hit severely by the impact of tourists. Tourists cause pollution in some ways. In particular, tourists increase the population in the region, implying that the trend causes an increment in human wastes. Given the poor conditions of waste management systems in the Caribbean, most of those wastes find their way into the seawater. In essence, tourists are likely to concentrate on settling in a small area, which increases pressure on local habitats, in which case, it escalates the probability of sea environment degradation.

Of particular interest, however, is the impact that cruise ship tourism has on the sea environment (Duval 163). Cruise ship business continued to have rapid growth across coastal areas, including those of the Caribbean. Across the Caribbean Islands, cruise tourism has been a significant economic activity for governments and the local people. In the period between 1990 and 2019, the total international arrivals to the Caribbean islands increased from 13.71 million to 20.32 million. Out of that, cruise passengers were 12.14 million. As of 1999, therefore, cruise passengers made two-thirds of all international arrivals. Unfortunately, cruise ship tourism has been linked to severe environmental problems across the islands (Duval 163). Ideally, small islands in the region do not have enough developed port facilities that can receive solid wastes. In addition to this, most facilities, including some cruise ships, do not have garbage storage facilities, and therefore, passengers dispose of solid wastes into the sea. After disposition, winds spread wastes in areas far from the original disposition point. Ships also leak oil into the seawater leading to traces of tar balls in coastal water of the Caribbean islands. Besides, cruise ship tourism triggers certain development activities that are potentially harmful to the coastal environment. In particular, the overreliance on cruise transportation creates the need for port development. Dredging also exists in port development activities and affects the coastal environment intensely.

Further, oil mining activities and transportation that prevail in the Caribbean release oil hydrocarbons into seawater (Duval 163). Oil companies ship oil within markets located in the region, and thus, develop intricate distribution routes. Despite the rise of global regulation, most tanker operators do not fulfill requirements, but instead, deposit solid waste and oil deposits in the water.

Additionally, rivers and runoffs deposit sentiments into the sea (Metcalfe, Beddows, Bouchot, Metcalfe, Li &Lavieren 991). Natural geochemical mechanisms control much of the materials dissolved from runoff waters. Nonetheless, human activities increase the number of materials deposited into rivers. For instance, there are deforestation cases around most areas in the Caribbean, which increases runoffs and the transportation of wastes into rivers (Aronson 270). Agricultural activities have also increased the number of pollutants transported into the sea. For instance, dissolved pesticides enter the sea via runoffs or streams. However, these deposits mostly increase the amount of phosphorous and nitrogenous compounds in the sea, especially in areas with limited air circulation.

One of the greatest negative impacts of pollution in the Caribbean sea is the dumping of plastic waste at sea. Evidently, in a normal day to day life of a human, plastic waste cause usual impacts including choking the waterways thus leading to flooding of the waterways, the sewage systems become clogged, due to this clogging mosquitoes acquire a breeding space and people are prone to waterborne diseases. All these directly affect a human being in the day to day life. However, no attention is given to the risk that marine life faces if plastic waste is dumped into the sea. The effects are detrimental!

To engage the Governments and all stakeholders against marine plastic litter, The United Nations Environment launched the Clean seas campaign. This campaign addresses the major causes of marine litter by targeting the production and consumption of non-recoverable and single-use plastic.

Primary and Secondary microplastics are the two types of microplastics that are contaminating the world ocean. Primary microplastics are plastics directly released into the environment in the Form of small particles. For example, such plastics may have their origins from the abrasion of large plastic objects during manufacturing or synthetic textiles during washing. On the other hand, secondary microplastics are plastics originating from the degradation of larger plastic, for example, loss of fishing nets.

A research was carried out with conclusions that marine debris may cause entanglement of aquatic organisms and may be ingested by marine organisms that mistake debris for natural prey. A major source of entanglement was found to be fishing nets.

Effects of the Caribbean Sea Pollution

Extinction of some sea species such as neomonachus tropicalis and sea mink is a possible consequence of sea pollution. The phenomenon destroys habitats, thereby increasing the vulnerability of some creatures. Reports from the United Nations indicate that coral reefs of the Caribbean will extinct by 2050 if the current rate of sea pollution persists. Coral reefs provide habitat and food to several sea creatures, implying that their disappearance would interfere with the healthy way of life for these creatures. Also, oil spills threaten aquatic life. Oil impairs the insulating ability of animals, which depend on fur and, thereby, exposes them to harsh conditions. For instance, affected birds fail to insulate against the cold water and mostly succumb to hypothermia. Birds and sea animals may ingest oil and end up consuming poison (Mearns, Irish, Oshida, Ginn, Rempel-Hester, Arthur, Rutherford & Pryor 1829). Fish and shellfish do not get exposed immediately, but they come into contact with oil-contaminated water. Exposed fish depicts slow growth, liver deformation, and the alteration of respiration rate, reproduction impairment, and fin erosion.

Sea pollution in the Caribbean has also led to the death of some aquatic life (Sharma 194). Notably, fish, marine mammals, sea turtles, and seabirds ingest plastics and die of suffocation or starvation (Sharma 194). Regarding starvation, once sea turtles or other sea organisms ingest plastics, they can fail to eat since the debris makes their stomach to remain full. Additionally, plastics increase temperatures of the sea, which become unfavorable to the reproduction of turtles and other organisms in the sea. Also, plastic debris entangles sea creatures, and thus, leaves them to starve to death. In essence, debris entanglement has been responsible for such aquatic creatures as turtles, fish, and birds (Sharma 194). Entangled animals are also at the increased risk of suffocation since they cannot swim to safe places. Besides, young turtles may not survive under higher temperatures.

Moreover, plastic waste develops favorable conditions for the breeding of pathogens that kill sea creatures indiscriminately. Also, global warming has resulted in the emergence and spread of marine diseases. The phenomenon warms waters and, in so doing, introduces temperature ranges that favor new disease agents in addition to increasing diseases in areas they never existed (The Conversation 1). Ideally, the majority of marine diseases are opportunist infections that capitalize on organisms' unfavorable conditions like salinity and temperature. Notably, a bacterium that is inactive at a certain temperature level may thrive if new temperatures arise (The Conversation 1). Estimates indicate that corals contaminated with plastic waste have 89% chances of contracting diseases compared to the 4% likelihood for plastic-free corals.

Moreover, sea vessels disrupt the average life of aquatic animals through excessive noise, particularly those using echolocation (Peng, Zhao & Liu 12304). Even though this problem is less significant, it can escalate if coupled with other consequences of sea pollution. Also, pollutants increase quantities of nitrogen and phosphorous, as highlighted earlier. Under average amounts, nitrogen and phosphorous compounds are essential nutrients as they support the growth of plants. However, higher concentrations of these compounds result in algal blooms and enable algae to overrun the coastal ecosystem. As algae begin decomposing, they necessitate higher amounts of oxygen and may deplete it in the worst cases (Hirsch 60). Such increases the number of dead zones in which creatures cannot survive. Those that can swim quickly like fish may escape, but others like whales often die.

Sea pollution may discourage tourism and compromise the economies of the Caribbean region. Ideally, many tourists visit the area to observe sea creatures like turtles. A decline in the number of turtles, therefore, will discourage tourists from choosing this region. Besides, an increase in waterborne diseases due to sea pollution will deter tourists since most of those diseases are communicable.

Humans depend on marine life for some of their food. Marine life has created a source of income to very many fishermen, as fishermen daily explore the seas to catch fish. However, the constant pollution of the seas may eventually affect human health when people eat marine life products. Contaminated marine life products contain a lot of impurities, including but not limited to, heavy metals, harmful chemicals, toxic substances, and organic pollutants. If these harmful materials are not suitable for marine life, then they cannot be suitable for humans. Ultimately, the marine products consumed by humans bec...