Plastic wastes in the ocean

In Maggie Ayre's article entitled "Plastic poisoning world's seas," she states that the plastic wastes could be poisoning the ocean, along with small pieces of plastic called "mermaid's tears"; she gave some results from the scientists who do the research in this area. First of all the author states that what industry and domestic waste have spread is a big problem that causes the sea pollution. Next, she claims that the scientists have find out how small these particles can get and it is very dangerous in the food chain. It is possible for them to be transferred from plastics to the organisms from the sea by chemicals. Third, she points out that the concentration of the chemical has become magnified; perhaps those chemicals might be released in the guts of organisms. In conclusion the author states that we should protect our environment and do anything that we can do because our life is related to the environment.

It is clear that the author's points are correct. Today, using the carrier bags is becoming a part of our daily lives. However most of these carrier bags are made of plastic. Plastic waste in the ocean has become serious. There was a huge quantity of plastic rubbish that we dumped into the ocean every year, such as soda bottles, plastic tubes, plastic bags, etc. Much of the plastic waste material has ended up in the ocean, out of sight, out of mind, but never gone.

First, with our society becoming industrial, the quantities of the factories have increased rapidly. We use the plastic material every day. Some modern plastic products look shiny and colorful. It is dangerous to sea life. A plastic bag looks like jellyfish; and small pieces resemble plankton; and pellets appear to be different types of food to fish and birds. Then the fish and animals that live in the ocean eat the plastic material, the chemical material persist in their bodies, and this is a reason causes a lot of fish to die. We should address this problem.

Second, the plastic materials stay in the ocean forever; they can't be broken down. The author says, "Sturdy and durable plastic does not bio-degrade, it only breaks down physically, and so persists in the environment for possibly hundreds of years." It seems that the chemical material is dissolved in the water, and it will make many kinds of animals perish. This is a serious problem. However, it took a long time to catch the public's attention.

Finally, our domestic waste also includes plastic materials, and some people dump the plastic waste anywhere. We found the drinks bottles on the beaches. This behavior is really bad. We live and die by the oceans; if you do that, it equals you’re killing yourselves. Many people probably view this problem as so vast and they want do something that contributes to protecting our environment, even though it is pretty little things. However, the basic things always have important functions. We should not throw the bottles on the beaches or dump something overboard.

In conclusion, with plastic waste poisoning the ocean, we should reduce the quantity of the plastic materials we use. And we should handle these materials carefully even though it is a hard problem that we faced. If we don’t use some policies to control the plastic waste in the ocean, it will threaten our lives. We should pay more attention to this pollution.

Reference:

Ayre, M. (2006, December 7). Plastics 'poisoning world's seas'. BBC
News. Retrieved June 4, 2007 from
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6218698.stm