Anthropogenic pollution of aquatic ecosystems

DONAT P. HADER; HELBLING, E. WALTER; VILLAFAÑE, VIRGINIA E.

Springer

Año: 2021 p. 426

978-3-030-75601-7

Aquatic ecosystems exceed terrestrial ones in size and rival them in productivity. Inaddition to offering food to a rapidly growing human population, they render a widearray of services. The oceans take up most of the anthropogenically produced heatand a large share of the emitted trace gases such as CO2 from human activities. Theproductivity of the oceans is affected by a plethora of environmental stress factorssuch as rising temperatures, ocean acidification and deoxygenation. Of growingimportance is the increasing pollution of aquatic habitats. Because of the enormoussize of the oceans, humans have always used them to get rid of their wastes. Withthe explosion of the human race, this behavior is becoming a burning problembecause in addition to biodegradable material, toxic and long-lived wastes are beingdumped into aquatic ecosystems. Terrestrial runoff transports fertilizers into coastalecosystems which increase eutrophication. In addition, pesticides, drugs andpharmaceuticals accumulate in the water. The growing industry and lacking orinadequate cleaning strategies result in heavy metals concentrating in the riverswhich transport these toxic materials into the oceans. Accidental and deliberate oilspills are found both in coastal areas and in open ocean waters affecting the biotafrom microorganisms to vertebrates. After their invention, plastic materials werecelebrated as cheap, non-toxic and versatile blessings for human life. But, theaccidental or deliberate disposal in the landscape, coastal zones and the oceans hasaccumulated the debris to enormous waste piles. Solar UV radiation and mechanicalforces of wind and waves result in the fragmentation of larger wastes into mico- andnanoplastics which are a threat for most marine organisms which ingest the particleswhich subsequently bioconcentrate in the food web. All these growing pollutingmaterials threaten our race, and fast and efficient solutions have to be developed tostop the attacks on human health.