Our ocean is being flooded by chemicals and debris. The majority of these toxic substances originate on land (by being dumped, washed down, or blown into the water), causing marine pollution that harms the health of all living things and global economic structures. This is a growing problem in today’s world. Marine pollution causes harm to our local fishing and tourism industries.
Jamaica is highly dependent on tourism, which adds value to the country’s GDP as we strives to achieve sustainable development. Marine pollution has a negative impact on this industry as it causes our companies’ profits to shrink as destinations become more polluted and unattractive to tourists. Jamaica is especially known for its beautiful beaches. Marine pollution sends the opposite message.
Marine pollution contributes to the degradation of coral reefs. When sediment and other pollutants enter our water, they smother coral reefs, speed the growth of damaging algae, and lower the water quality. Additionally, it can hinder coral growth and reproduction, making the corals more vulnerable to diseases, and cause changes in the reef’s food structure.
The Paris Agreement is a global framework to avoid dangerous climate change by limiting global warming to well below 2°C and pursuing efforts to limit it to 1.5°C. It aims to strengthen countries' ability to deal with the impacts of climate change. Jamaica has committed itself to this cause. The health of our oceans is strongly linked to the health of our world. Addressing marine pollution is a crucial component of this problem. To combat the problem of marine pollution, the government can put stricter measures in place for proper disposal of garbage, with serious consequences for not abiding by these laws. This can lead to a more promising marine ecosystem.
Using the Systems Thinking Approach to tackle marine pollution, the government can ensure that the general population is educated on the impacts that it has on our life on Earth. Creating more programs to help with the clean-up process can go a long way. They can also implement rewards for proper disposal of our garbage, as encouragement sweetens labor.
This article is so informative, it’s about time someone cared about the earth especially marine life, great job.
Love the article. So informative 👏🏾👏🏾
Would really love if we had a proper recycling agenda. Our plastics are not being disposed of enough. Recycling is not made to be a priority and it should be. So many issues concerning the care of our planet. Our future generations of humans and animals are in serious trouble.
Very informative I loved this educational article 👌🙌
This has me thinking about the condition of our beaches and if persons really understood what it means they would do more to take care of them.