The marine environment entails a complex mixture of all living and non-living organisms in large water bodies such as seas and oceans. Two-thirds of the earth is covered by water. Oceans occupy about 70% of the earth's surface. In achieving a healthy globe, we require healthy oceans. However, they are in constant danger, which affects an individual's way of life. Most marine environments have been most disturbed by human actions than natural calamities (Varjani & Upasani, 2017). Marine life comprises a wide range of animals and plants existing in diverse ocean ecological systems worldwide. Various aspects affect marine life, climatic changes, increased pollution, ocean currents, and the marine ecosystem's chemical equilibrium. Changes in climatic conditions are arguably the greatest danger to marine life. Oceans are becoming hotter due to global warming caused by an increase in temperatures. According to Sampaio et al. (2021), hot seas promote acidification and make it difficult for marine life to breathe by reducing dissolved oxygen. Governments worldwide are working towards reducing carbon emissions that are a significant cause of depleting the ozone layer, resulting in acidic rains. By making intelligent and informed choices, individuals are supposed to watch what is consumed, and means of transportation as some emit excess carbon emissions such as steam engines and un-roadworthy vehicles. Businesses should also join hands to combat the menace of climate change. Companies such as Google, Salesforce, and Lyft have worked towards going neutral in carbon emissions. However, natural causes of climatic changes are the shift in tectonic plates in the ocean floor that cause changes in temperatures. The rise in temperatures causes the bleaching of corals. This effect of bleaching of corals forces marine life to migrate in search of new coral fields. Increased temperature also elevates the number of zooplankton in the marine system, which adversely affects food chains within the ecosystem. Water pollution or contamination is another aspect affecting marine life's survival and is mainly caused by plastics. The contamination originates from diverse sources entailing oil, radioactive matter, and excess sediments and nutrients. However, increased pollution has resulted from human activities that develop from discharging waste materials into the marine environment. These discharges result in the emergence of diseases directly to the natural marine life or indirectly by penetrating a food chain that unpleasantly upsets organisms across the chain. Land resources such as vehicles and train emissions pollute the oceans, but most of the seas and oceans originate from oil tankers and shipping activities. Oil pollution is believed to kill marine life reaching from big animals to larvae. Additionally, toxins such as nitrogen oxides emanate from sewage and remnants from power plants and land utilization (Ding et al., 2021). These aerial or land-based pollutants feed algal blooms releasing toxins and depleting oxygen from the water. This, in turn, kills various forms of marine life, such as fish and plants. Corrosion from mining, marine dredging, and land exploitation results in sediments that hinder photosynthesis in aquatic plants, clogging in fish gills, and rigorously destroy ecosystems. The residue is also a hauler of extra toxins and nutrients. In the manner of tides, waves, and currents, water movement contributes an essential role in our oceans and influences every marine organism's life. However, some oceanic currents have a massive impact on marine life by conveying large and microscopic harmful microorganisms. This affects the Eco life by circulating the surface heat and distributing nutrients and oxygen across the ocean. The oceanic currents might disrupt marine life by carrying away their eggs and young ones to unknown locations. High winds end up sweeping away plants and fish, resulting in reduced living organisms in the oceans. The growth, survival, and productivity of marine life depend on the chemical equilibrium of the ecosystem. For instance, marine life organisms are modified to maintain their body salts at an equilibrium level. They do not affect their cells' metabolism, but substantial variations in salinity cause problems. Subsequently, oxygen is an essential gas element in the ocean due to its role in marine organisms' life progressions. However, the quantity of dissolved oxygen in aquatic environments varies substantially with salinity and temperatures (Onabule et al., 2020). A pH value is considered the range of the alkalinity or acidity in a given solution. Pure water is usually neutral. The pH of marine life is above 8, although this differs slightly across the globe. The pH in the marine ecosystems is decreasing and therefore becoming more acidic. It is hard to forecast marine life's general effects, but various scientists fear that ocean acidification can lessen marine biodiversity.
Conclusion
Marine life is affected by various factors that cause much harm to the ecosystem. For Instance, Toxins enter the marine ecosystem from industrial dumping, maritime accidents, sewage, and runoff poison destroy marine environments and withhold their food supply. Every nation should work towards protecting and conserving marine environments. International summits and conferences on climatic changes assist in creating awareness of the essence of protecting marine biodiversity.
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References
Ding, A., Zhang, R., Ngo, H. H., He, X., Ma, J., Nan, J., & Li, G. (2021). Life cycle assessment of sewage sludge treatment and disposal based on nutrient and energy recovery: A review. Science of The Total Environment , 144451. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0048969720379821
Onabule, O. A., Mitchell, S. B., & Couceiro, F. (2020). The effects of freshwater flow and salinity on turbidity and dissolved oxygen in a shallow Macrotidal estuary: A case study of Portsmouth Harbour. Ocean & Coastal Management , 191 , 105179.
Sampaio, E., Santos, C., Rosa, I. C., Ferreira, V., Pörtner, H. O., Duarte, C. M., ... & Rosa, R. (2021). Impacts of hypoxic events surpass those of future ocean warming and acidification. Nature Ecology & Evolution , 1-11. https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-020-01370 3
Varjani, S. J., & Upasani, V. N. (2017). A new look on factors affecting microbial degradation of petroleum hydrocarbon pollutants. International Biodeterioration & Biodegradation , 120 , 71-83. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0964830516308113?casa_token=82ipaXrRcE0AAAAA:PCJF7ZAQxW8KbcpaFR7lbePL8Y9uBg3tPJXlBhPRf9y_l0UOLjK2Tp2gwL14rIuiPQDWxlbrFw
