Non Point Sources Of Ocean Pollution

All unnatural material that finds its way to the world’s seas is classified as ocean pollution, however these materials built up over time. This process is known as bioaccumulation. There are many contributing pollutants to bioaccumulation in oceans such as toxins, marine debris, oil, sewage, eroded soil, and heavy metals. In the past, dumping small amounts of pollutants into the oceans, known as dilution, was not thought of to be a threat to the environment because all of the oceans combined cover 75% of the earths surface. There used to be a saying which was common, “The solution to pollution is dilution.” Eventually it was found that dilution was really not the solution. Not only does bioaccumulation affect marine life, it also has a huge
Non-point sources are caused by agriculture, construction, and urbanization. When it rains the water runoff collects the pollutants from the surface and carries them into the streams. This, in turn, leads to the oceans making it hard to tell where the problem is. Point sources, however, are sewage over flows, out-pipes from factories and oil spills. We can determine where these pollutants come from. The major convenience of a point source is that it is easier to regulate since it is coming from one spot. It is also easier to determine an approximate an amount of how much of a pollutant is entering the ocean. However ocean pollution does not effect just the area where the source is, it effects much of the ocean due to the ocean conveyer belt, which is ocean circulation that involves wind and thermohaline currents. The ocean conveyor belt starts in Europe, settles to the bottom, circles around on the bottom making its way through the Indian ocean and comes out by Alaska after traveling through the Pacific ocean. After it comes out in Alaska it travels down the west coast of North and South America where it cycles