Ocean disposal ranges from dumping toxic chemicals, sewage, dredge spoils (material removed during dredging), and bilge water to accidental spills from oil tankers. Dumping of waste and dredge spoils has long been a part of the United States' waste process, as it provides an economically viable option for disposing millions of metric tons of waste.

Dumping waste into the oceans has increasingly been shown to adversely affect aquatic ecosystems and contribute to global warming. There are strict ocean disposal regulations in the United States, including the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act (MPRSA) of 1972 and the Clean Water Act (CWA) of 1972; nevertheless, illegal ocean disposal still occurs frequently.

Toxins from pesticides, as well as heavy metals, phosphorus, and nitrogen from dredge spoils, are a few of the harmful wastes dumped into the ocean. The effects of ocean disposal are not fully understood, but ocean disposal has been shown to cause substantial loss of marine life and indirectly enhance global warming. When plants and animals die, the dead organisms decay and release carbon dioxide (CO2). CO2 collects in the atmosphere and traps the Sun's heat, increasing the Earth's temperature. Recent consequences attributed to this climate change include the melting of glaciers, rising sea levels, disruption of coral reef habitats, and more extreme hurricanes.

In addition to the evidence of climate change caused by ocean disposal, hazardous waste disposal, such as nuclear refuse, can cause genetic defects, leading to cancer or death in both humans and marine life (Axelrod, 2004). Because of this danger, long-term burial of hazardous waste at sea is controversial. From the 1940's through the 1960's, the United States discarded barrels of radioactive waste in the ocean. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) then prohibited all dumping as a result of many of the barrels leaking.

Most of the material being dumped into the ocean is dredged waste. One approach to long-term storage of dredge spoils entails drilling holes into the ocean's floor and saturating the holes with the dredged waste. San Francisco, California, houses one such site approximately 91 kilometers offshore. This site is the deepest ocean disposal site in the United States, covering 22 square kilometers at a depth of 2,500-3,000 meters (Botterill, 2003). The consequences of drilling deep into the ocean floor are not well known, raising questions of the short- and long-term effects of dredge spoils deposited in deepwater sediment on deep-sea biodiversity.

References

1. Axelrod, Regina S., David Leonard Downie, and Norman J. Vig, eds. The Global Environment: Institutions, Law, and Policy. 2d ed. Washington, D.C.: CQ Press, 2004.

2. Botterill, Linda C., and Melanie Fisher, eds. Beyond Drought: People, Policy, and Perspectives. Collingwood, Vic.: CSIRO, 2003.

Free term papers are not written to satisfy your specific instructions. You can use our professional writing services to buy a custom written research paper, term paper, or essay on Global Warming at affordable price. CustomTermPapers is the best solution for those who seek help in writing term papers, essays, and research papers related to Global Warming and other relevant topics.