Collin Rohr
Professor Waggoner
English 1201 Section 503
2 August 2020
Literature Review
The environment is constantly under threat due to human practices such as
transportation, farming, packaging, and careless and accidental littering. Many studies
have been done to show the effect of such practices on the ecosystems and animals
that inhabit the earth today. Private studies, as well as government programs all aid in
gathering information on the problementaic consequences that have stressed the
environment and polluted the natural systems that humans rely on to survive such as
food, water, and oxygen. These necessities are at risk based because of practices that
if unchanged could be devastating to all life on earth.
The effects of pollution can be seen in all parts of the world. A newspaper article
about radioactive fish off the coast of Britain explains how nuclear waste if not properly
treated can make its way into the oceans. Fish in the ocean are vitol for a large
percentage of the world's food supply- a shortage in fish would be devastating to the
world. Nuclear radiation can be transferred from the fish to other animals including
humans, which has been known to cause serious problems such as cancer and birth
defects. Nuclear waste in the oceans could end up being much more dangerous than
scientists initially imagine, and the effect of this will take time to fully understand
(Carrell). Other forms of pollution have also affected wildlife in ways that will only get
worse if precautions are not taken.
Sea turtles off the coast of Brazil have been plagued by the amount of plastic
littering the waters throughout the Atlantic. The ingestion of plastic in sea turtles has
been significant since 1997 and is still rising (Rizzi). The effect of this is a negative
correlation with body size and overall turtle health with omnivorous sea turtles such as
the loggerhead being the most affected. If the plastic consumption of sea turtles
continues to rise, extinction of the already threatened populations of sea turtles could
occur in near future with their role in the environment possibly affecting other species. In
a sample study 49 of 86 Green sea turtles tested high in many different types of
ingested plastics (Razzi). If this problem is not addressed the ocean and its inhabitants
could see a drastic loss of species which could affect reefs, beaches, and food supply
which feed the world and help boost many economies.
“Plastics have transformed every aspect of our lives. Yet the very properties that
make them attractive—they are cheap to make, light, and durable—spell disaster when
trash makes its way into the environment (Roscam.)” Although plastics are practical in
everyday life, the major drawback is that they are extremely hard to get rid of. This adds
up when billions of people throw away plastic everyday. To help this, using reusable or
biodegradable packaging and containers can make a huge difference. If the plastic
usage stays consistent with how it is today, by 2050 there will be more plastic in the
ocean than fish. Although this problem is massive, with the dedication of scientists and
earth preserving activists, it is possible to come back from this and save our oceans and
wildlife (Roscam).
One way to help stop plastic from getting into the ocean is to be a responsible
recycler. To do this it is important to know how it is possible to support responsible
recycling. Many companies don't use recycled plastics, but because of supply and
demand, choosing products made of recycled materials will make a push for companies
to use recycled materials (Kids). One of the most common recycled materials are plastic
bottles. Different recycling agencies want bottles recycled with the cap on, cap off but
separate, or thrown away, so it is important to check to make sure that the bottles are
recycled properly so that it isn’t thrown away (Kids). Plastic bags are one of the worst
when it comes to plastic waste. The best way to make a difference is to avoid using
them, or making sure to take them back to grocery stores participating in plastic bag
recycling (Kids). Although plastic is a large problem facing the environment human
commercial development has also led to problems facing wildlife that aren't always very
apparent.
As the human population grows, large forests are cut down, wetlands are
drained, and meadows are replaced with farm fields. Oftentimes only small pockets of
the untouched land remains. This has made it hard for salamanders to survive.
Salamanders are slow creatures that need their skiing to be moist at all times. Roads,
corn fields, and parking lots are not an easy obstacle to a salamander. When their
habitat is fragmented up into sections it makes it extremely hard for different populations
to mate, therefore much of the time inbreeding occurs. Over time the inbreeding leads
to a loss of alleles which means the genetics weaker than when more habitat was
accessible to them (Price). This could be detrimental to salamander populations
globally. This is just one of many species that have suffered from commercial
development, but there are many that have gone extinct or are no longer able to live in
many ranges that were once natural habitat (Price).
Work Cited
Carrell, Severin. “NUCLEAR POWER FLOUNDERS; The Discovery of
Radioactive Fish in the Severn Estuary Might yet Break Britain’s Nuclear
Industry, Writes Severin Carrell.” The Independent on Sunday (London,
England), 2002. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=edsgin&AN=edsgcl.87371614&site=eds-live.
Rizzi, Milena, et al. “Ingestion of Plastic Marine Litter by Sea Turtles in Southern
Brazil: Abundance, Characteristics and Potential Selectivity.” Marine Pollution
Bulletin, vol. 140, Mar. 2019, pp. 536–548. EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=edo&AN=134864266&site=eds-live.
Michiel Roscam Abbing. Plastic Soup : An Atlas of Ocean Pollution. Island Press,
2019. EBSCOhost, search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=nlebk&AN=2383279&site=eds-live.
Kids Recycling. Green Planet Films, 2014. EBSCOhost,
search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?
direct=true&db=cat01128a&AN=scc.b1766778&site=eds-live.
Price, Steven J., et al. “Mountaintop Removal Mining Alters Stream Salamander
Population Dynamics.” Diversity & Distributions, vol. 24, no. 9, Sept. 2018, pp.
1242–1251. EBSCOhost, doi:10.1111/ddi.12760.
