We are Destroying our Jamaican waters. How can we stop this?

By 20191183

LSCM YR 4 GROUP B

Sustainable Development

Marine Pollution is the continuous input of waste such as chemicals and trash into the ocean. In Jamaica we are having a huge problem when it comes to properly disposing of our garbage’s whether it is household items, plastic containers or even garbage from ships and ports such as dunnage. According to (Laleta Mattis) each Jamaican wills general at least 1Kg of waste per day and only 70% is collected by the National Solid Waste Management Authority (NSWMA)

Impact on Fishing Industry in Jamaica

Marine pollution destroys habitats due to less oxygen in the water and more chemicals and waste products causing sea creatures to get sick, die or migrate unwillingly. Which in the future causes our country’s fishing industry to crash leaving less food and harder income.

Impact on Coral Reef Degradation

According to world economic forum 85% of Jamaica’s coral reefs are destroyed. Polluting our waters with harmful chemicals covers the reef and allows damaging algae to grow faster. This causes the coral reef to gain diseases which kill all living organism and fishes which help the coral reef to strive.

The Paris Agreement aims to limit global warming to prevent dangerous climate change. Jamaica NDC aims to reduce the greenhouse gas emissions which they have targeted from 7.8% to 25.4%. This will lessen the global warming effects and reduce severe climate change.

Using the System thinking technique to lower Jamaica’s marine pollution significantly the Government of Jamaica and all stakeholders (communities, fishers, and business owners) must get involved in ensuring that they secure how they dispose of waste materials and preventing it from entering the ocean. Their main focus should be properly educating person to dispose of waste in the correct way. In doing this to the stakeholders it will allow them to properly understand how it will affect not only them over time but also their love ones, open if not all but most of their eyes when taught properly. Lastly after this is achieved giving them easy access in disposing of the waste.

REFERENCE

Caribbean youth to tackle ocean health issues. (2020, November 19). News | Jamaica Gleaner. https://jamaica-gleaner.com/article/news/20201119/caribbean-youth-tackle-ocean-health-issues

How Ocean Plastic Pollution Impacts Our Fishing Heritage. (n.d.). AFTCO. https://www.aftco.com/blogs/conservation/how-ocean-plastics-impact-fishing-and-fisheries

Jamaica. (n.d.). UNDP Climate Promise. https://climatepromise.undp.org/what-we-do/where-we-work/jamaica#:~:text=Key%20highlights%20from%20the%20NDC,business%20as%20usual%20by%202030.

Marine Pollution. (n.d.). https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/marine-pollution/

Ocean pollution and marine debris. (n.d.). National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/ocean-coasts/ocean-pollution#:~:text=Worldwide%2C%20hundreds%20of%20marine%20species,a%20threat%20to%20human%20health.