The term pollution in the simplest and most basic meaning refers to the condition, situation and circumstance where harmful and toxic materials and substances find their way to the environment thereby making human life inhabitable and unhealthy. In the recent history and empirical evidence has confirmed that human activities have contributed to pollution to the environment and in effect exposing the human race to danger and threats. They hazardous human activities are evident in the most developed nation in the planet, whereby the industrial refuse are deposited to water bodies. With the above background in mind, marine or water pollution, therefore, is occasioned when harmful chemicals, industrial refuse, home waste or other invasive organisms are let in water bodies.
It is worth to mention that the harmful particles have dire consequences on the marine life; the animals such as fish that live in water are endangered. This happens in a scientific fashion where the toxic particles or the invasive organism chemically combine to deplete oxygen in the marine ecosystem. For the purposes of this essay, I will discuss in details the different endeavours and approaches that have been set and pursued to curb the effects of water pollution and the human activities which encourage water pollution. The measures that could be used to mitigate the effects of water pollution would also be highlighted in principle.
In retrospect, the varied means of pollution lead to different types of water pollution. The first instance is acidification: in principle refers to a change in the water pH, which is occasioned and exclusively caused by the introduction of acidic substances to the water body. The direct effect is the extinction and killing of marine organisms such as fish, reptiles and other sea creatures which cannot stand the high levels of acidity in the water as a habitat to them. Secondly, eutrophication is another mode of contemporary water pollution that ought to be mentioned and highlighted in principles. In brief, the term eutrophication refers to rise in the amount of nitrogen and phosphorous nutrients and compounds in the water body. The chemical compounds of nitrogen and phosphorous can find their way to the water body from the industries and farms of humans.
It is important to record that the nitrogen and phosphorous compounds are basic catalysts to the growth of algae in the water body. Needless to stress is the fact that algae consume and use oxygen for growth and survival thus, the oxygen content would reduce. The competition for oxygen between the algae and the marine/water animals could be fatal to the marine life within the same context of ecosystem. Another mode of water pollution is the accumulation of marine debris. This happens when there is continued depositing of human rubbish, waste and refuse such as the plastic bags and bottles to the water body. In the case of the plastics, since they are light in weight, they would float on the water body. In the long end, there is a possibility of the plastics suffocating or entangling the water creatures, which is by all means fatally risky. There is another likelihood that the water/marine creatures can ingest the plastics or debris thus dies.
Consequently, unchecked human activities in all respects comprise the phenols, furans, pesticides, dioxins and radioactive wastes all present adverse effects to the water ecosystem. These components, therefore, imply that human activities have affected the natural water environment through pollution.
It is in the light of all these issues that there were ethical concerns and actions which were instituted to help act as measures to mitigate and control the effects of water pollution. Principally, the term ethics in the most common sense refers to a set of acceptable, permissible and legal code of conduct, behaviour, practises and actions that are aimed at enhancing the welfare of the society. It is against this backdrop that the United Nations Conferences in the period of 1950s set to enact ethical principles and the irreducible standards and minimums which ought to be observed by countries and all the stakeholders (Daoji and Daler, 109). This came as a development from the misconception that was widely held in the public opinion court that the large water bodies such as the seas, lakes and oceans were too big and had the ability to dissolve all the substances dumped in them. Most specifically, in terms of chronology, were the successive oil spills and tanker leaks in the period during 1960s that changed the perception of the world about water pollution. Since that point, all the subsidiaries of the United Nations Environmental Programme undertook to observe water conservation and preservation as concerning the effects of pollution.
There are ethical theories and principles which have informed and motivated the surge and impetus to enact the laws and rules to the effect of preserving the water ecosystem. They include the ethics of rights and the ethics of virtue. The ethics of right underlie the logic that the marine life in general has the freedom to live. This is to say that the sea creatures, fish, reptiles and all the other livings have the right that cannot be alienated from them to live. Because the livings things in the water can exist and live well without the help or any form of interference from human beings then it is proper that whatever the human activities and actions are there do not hinder or prohibit their right to life (Edinger, Jompa, Limmon, Widjatmoko and Risk, 619). The sense in a thin line of ethical theory and approach is that the sea creatures have the right to life, and human activities ought not to cross and/or interfere with their right for the same.
The second ethical approach is the ethics of virtue; which holds the belief that all actions whether oriented or occasioned by human beings must be directed in goodwill, and good practise. This is to say that the activities of human beings as those mentioned above should be aimed at promoting the welfare and the general wellbeing of marine life. Before the polluters let the chemical refuse and toxic industrial waste to the water bodies, and then they ought to ask their consciences fundamental questions. These questions should probe and prick their minds as to whether their actions would or would not affect the living things and creatures that live in the water bodies where intoxicated waters would end. It is on the bases of these two ethical, theoretical principles that the United Nations Environmental Programme and all the other related subsidiary bodies are informed to act as to the respect and effect of water conservation and preservation from pollution.
It is the assumption of all the goodwill actors and stakeholders that the polluters in this case, human industrialists, domestic farmers, policy makers and all the other environmental stakeholders that they will consider the above ethical, theoretical principles. It is important to record that goodwill and conscience alone cannot protect water bodies, therefore, more stringent measures in terms of rules; sanctions and regulation are needed.
Subsequently, nations and countries all over the world have adopted an approach where their levy hefty fines to the people found culpable and guilty of engaging in pollution. One such group of people is the oil mine companies and industries which do not have proper refuse system in place to cover against water pollution. This fine is used to factor in the negative externality. Here the term negative externality implies the financial charge and compensation that is given to people who have been adversely affected by water pollution.
If, for instance, an oil mine company pollutes water in a given area, where the people of that area are predominant dependant on that water source, then the polluter would pay or compensate the affected people. This is based on the assumption that the people have been robbed off their source of livelihood; if it was fishing or clean source of drinking water. Therefore, the polluter would be compelled to compensate the affected people for these damages. The “pollution fee” is aimed at deterring and discouraging the polluters from engaging in reckless habits and behaviours which could affect the environment.
In retrospect, it would be counter-productive an unfruitful to rush to the sanctions and the punitive measures to the polluters without having a holistic synthesis and analysis of the problem at hand. Nations with primary water sources have thus developed and forged a common ground with combative mind and approach in the fight of environmental preservation. There are irreducible principles as far as water conservation and preservation against pollution is concerned. These measures involve raising awareness on the dangers of water pollution so that the whole society has its human capacity to tackle marine pollution increased (Meng, 109). Just as the adage goes “information is power” the whole society would then be advantaged in that respect. People will understand for themselves even without the involvement of sanctions and punitive measure, that the benefits of desisting from water pollution are by far too much beneficial than the cost of conserving and preserving the water bodies.
Subsequently, the whole society and all the concerned stakeholders in terms of host nations and countries have developed national contingency plans. The contingency approach includes the setting up of response centres, close to the water bodies which might suffer pollution, with the right people relevantly qualified. These people are then mandated and required to conduct routine checks on the water bodies so as to contain and gauge the pollution levels. It is worth to note that even with the best viable technology and best practises in terms of protection against water pollution, some spills and oil leakages are inevitable. For instance, if there is an accident in the high seas and a tanker spills oil in the water, then it would be prudent if the response unit and network is accelerated to help minimize the effects of the pollution.
The response time to curb the spread of the effects is key. However, this may not be viable if the nearest help is far in terms of geographical distance and location that is why the response unit is set as close to the water body as possible. In principle, the effects of the spill could be devastating if the spill goes unchecked for a long period. It would be economically cheaper to minimise the cost of treating the pollution and the time that it would take to cover the spread of the oil spill for instance. The contingency plan operates on the ethics of virtue, so as to strike the right balance between the human activities and the marine ecosystem, so that the actions of the human beings do not cross to hinder the welfare of the water environment.
Works Cited
Birnie, P. W. and Boyle, A. E. International law and the environment. (1994).
Daoji, L and Daler, D. Ocean pollution from land-based sources: East Chin (2004). A Sea, China. AMBIO: A Journal of the Human Environment, 33(1), 107-113.
Edinger, E. N., Jompa, J., Limmon, G. V., Widjatmoko, W and Risk, M. J.). Reef degradation and coral biodiversity in Indonesia: effects of land-based pollution, destructive fishing practices and changes over time. Marine Pollution Bulletin, 36(8), 617-630.(1998)
Meng, Q. N. Land-based marine pollution: international law development (pp. 163- 210). London: Graham & Trotman. (1987).
