How Did It Started

The issue of ocean pollution has persisted for decades. Throughout history, sewage, industrial and chemical waste, and plastic have all been dumped into our lovely ocean. Sadly, for a long time, our ocean was not seen as the wonderful resource that it is, but rather more like the largest trash disposal site in the world. It was formerly believed that the ocean could hold an infinite quantity of trash, but today we know that this was a complete mistake. Trash would end up in the atmosphere or our ocean. With a tiny population and before the invention of plastics, ocean garbage was not a big problem. However, in the 1860s when plastic was first developed by Alexander Parkes, although rubbish disposal was becoming more common-place, households began to generate more waste. 

Alexander Parkes developed the first polymer, or plastic, in 1862. His creation was given the name Parkesine. It was made of cellulose, which could be heated and shaped into many shapes. Parkes and his friends created the material because they wanted a cheap and effective alternative to various natural resources. Polyethylene plastic effectively insulated the wires, and it became a necessary component in the creation of electrical gadgets. From there, the material saw a steady ascent in the industrial world. And sadly, ocean pollution started in the late 1960s. In the 1960s, scientists from the National Academy of Sciences discovered some alarming news - more than 100 million tonnes of waste had been dumped in our ocean. This report discounted plastic pollution because it has just lately become a common substance, despite the fact that we now know it to be one of the biggest pollutants in our ocean. By the end of the 20th century, plastics had been found to be persistent polluters of many environmental niches, from Mount Everest to the bottom of the sea. Whether being mistaken for food by animals, flooding low-lying areas by clogging drainage systems, or simply causing significant aesthetic blight, plastics have attracted increasing attention as a large-scale pollutant.

Since the ocean is downstream from nearly every terrestrial location, it is the receiving body for much of the plastic waste generated on land. Every year, several million tons of garbage, including a large amount of carelessly disposed plastic waste, enter the world's oceans. In 2014, the first oceanographic investigation into the quantity of near-surface plastic trash in the world's oceans was released. It calculated that there were at least 5.25 trillion individual plastic particles floating on or near the surface, each weighing about 244,000 metric tons (269,000 short tons). Bags, bottles, and objects associated to takeout meals made up 44% of the plastic garbage found in rivers, oceans, and along shorelines in a 2021 research. Since then, an estimated 8 million tonnes of plastic waste end up in the world’s oceans. Ocean pollution also happens because coral reefs and other important ecosystems are being harmed by climate change, overfishing that endangers fish stocks, nutrient pollution is causing dead zones to form, and about 80% of the world's wastewater is discharged untreated.

References:

4ocean Team. (2020, April 1). A Brief History of the Plastic Crisis. 4ocean. https://www.4ocean.com/blogs/blog/a-brief-history-of-the-plastic-crisis

Moore, C. (2022, August 26). plastic pollution - Plastic pollution in oceans and on land. Encyclopedia Britannica. https://www.britannica.com/science/plastic-pollution/Plastic-pollution-in-oceans-and-on-land

White, E. (2022, June 22). The History of Ocean Pollution. Ocean Generation. https://www.oceangeneration.org/blog/the-history-of-ocean-pollution