Plastics are posing a serious threat to Marine Biodiversity. What are the impacts of dumping plastics into the ocean? Discuss their consequences and suggest remedial measures to sustain marine biodiversity. (200 Words)
Refer-The Hindu
Enrich the answer from other sources, if the question demands.
Madhan Chakravarthi 5 years
Its my 1st mains question written practice. Evaluate it & guide me sir
IAS Parliament 5 years
Address
the question in parts. Mention about effects of Biomagnification, diseases
caused, Reduce, Recycle & Reuse principle. Keep Writing
IAS Parliament 5 years
KEY POINTS
In a 2015 Science study, the researchers estimated that India had dumped 0.6 million tonnes of plastic into the ocean in 2010. China was the top dumper, while India ranked 12th.
Impacts of dumping plastics
· Entanglement of marine organisms obstructs their locomotion.
· Fishing nets(Ghost nets) lost at sea, and plastic bags can trap fish and mammals, preventing them from swimming, foraging for food and mating.
· Plastics can block the digestive tract of marine organisms. Laysan Albatrosses(North Pacific Ocean) stomach is found to be filled with plastics because of Pacific Garbage Patch.
· Microplastics settle in phytoplankton, at the base of the marine food chain. So phytoplankton-eating fish are at risk.
· Algae which are at the base of the food chain were not able to photosynthesise efficiently when exposed to 20-nanometre polystyrene beads.
Consequences of dumping plastics
· Plastics are non-biodegradable and reaches the top positions of Trophic levels, humans due to biomagnification, causing a lot of diseases in humans. Eg: Liver damage
· Shortening of food webs, thereby causing a decrease in complexity of marine biodiversity; less ecological stability.
· Disruptions of ecological niche affects the stability of the marine ecosystem and thereby risking the lives of human beings who depend upon it.
Illustrations
· CMFRI’s scientists have recovered plastic from the gut of dozens of species: mackerel near Mangalore, yellowfish tuna near Kochi and anchovies off the coast of Alappuzha.
· Gujarat’s Sasan Gir Forest Department did a post-mortem on the 1-ton carcass of a Longman’s Beaked Whale on a beach in the Sutrapada municipality. They found four large plastic bags in the whale’s stomach. The plastic had blocked the whale’s digestive system.
· Japanese Medaka, a fish species, has been shown to suffer from liver stress when it ingests marine microplastics.
Remedial Measures for sustaining marine biodiversity
· In 2017, the Kerala government began a program called Suchitwa Sagaram to prevent dumping of nets and to bring back plastic litter as well. Fishermen can now sell their damaged nets in a buyback programme. Also, when fishing nets trap litter, the fishermen bring it back to the shore. This type of programme needs to be implemented all coastal states uniformly.
· Phasing out of microbeads in cosmetics.
· Proper Management of Plastic waste through effective coordination at all levels of government; and implementing the principle of Reduce, Recycle, Reuse of plastics.
· Holidays for tourist places to clean up the litters.Eg: Thailand’s Maya Bay, Phi Phi Leh island to be closed to tourists indefinitely.
Ananya Murthy 5 years
kindly review!
IAS Parliament 5 years
Nandadeep 5 years
Please review.thanks
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Manav 5 years
IAS Parliament 5 years
