Causes and Effects of Aquatic Pollution
Aquatic pollution is a worldwide problem that occurs every day in all bodies of water. Adedeji and Adetunji (2011) refer to aquatic pollution as an addition of hazardous substances, called pollutants, to these bodies of water. These pollutants are harmful to humans, but more importantly, they are extremely harmful to marine life due to the contamination of their habitats. Unfortunately, this occurrence is not uncommon, and it is mainly the result of human activities. Most pollution is derived from industrial waste, which is eventually integrated into the ocean in the form of various pollutants. Aside from industrial waste, many other human activities also contribute to aquatic pollution, including littering at beaches and coastal areas where harmful or contaminant chemicals and particles are deposited into the ocean. These are only several of the countless ways in which the marine ecosystem can be disturbed, but the effects that aquatic pollution has are overwhelmingly harmful and should be taken into consideration. All aquatic pollution contributes to the downfall of marine life, either directly or indirectly. For example, plastic that has been littered can entangle and strangle various marine animals, and when swallowed, it can be extremely harmful to their internal body systems. Plastic, along with other pollutants, such as sewage and wastewater, can destroy marine life. In addition, aquatic pollution not only diminishes the population of the organisms that consume the pollutants or are directly affected by them, but also the ones that consume those animals, harming the food chain as a whole (Shakoori and Yousafzai, 2011). Furthermore, once these pollutants have been deposited into a body of water, the pollutants are diffused and distributed throughout the ocean and pollutes it altogether. Thus, aquatic pollution has an immensely damaging impact on marine life. Aquatic pollution can occur naturally, but there are various factors from human activities that
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