Evolution of Marine and Terrestrial Pollution

10/12/20232 min read

Marine and terrestrial pollution has evolved dramatically since the 1950s.

Humans have gradually made incursions into the sea, from the humans of prehistory who relied on the seashore for food and lived in its vicinity with limited impact on the marine environment, to the seafaring fisherfolk and traders who set up markets along coasts and estuaries (Frid and Caswell 2017). Greater population densities are associated with higher levels of pollution from human waste (Beiras 2018), and the ocean’s capacity to absorb anthropogenic waste has continued to be tested.

Terrestrial (and atmospheric) pollution followed a rise in population levels and density, urbanisation, and industrialisation, particularly during widespread fossil fuel combustion during the Industrial Revolution and the use of coal for energy after World War II (Frid and Caswell 2017).

Plastics presented a new challenge to both sea and land after the discovery of its suitability for industrial application. From zero in 1950, annual global plastic production shot to nearly 370,000MT in 2020 (Horton 2022). Today, more than 14 million tons of plastic pass into the ocean each year, and plastic now constitutes 80% of all marine debris (IUCN 2021). Given that plastics are generally nondegradable, bioaccumulative, and often contain large amounts of harmful and reactive chemical additives, and a significant proportion of plastics are intended for single use (Beiras 2018), the burgeoning plastics industry has represented a worrying trend in marine and terrestrial pollution.

Pollutants generally enter the marine environment via rivers, the atmosphere, and direct input via dumping (Beiras 2018).

The main sources of input from rivers comprise industrial and human waste and run-off (Beiras 2018) and fertilisers and pesticides (Frid and Caswell 2017). Contaminants such as automotive exhaust fumes (Frid and Caswell 2017) can enter the atmosphere via evaporation and, by reason of atmospheric cycles, spread all over the Earth (Beiras 2018). Substances which humans intentionally dump include industrial and nuclear waste, fishing nets, dredged material, and accidents in maritime transport and oil and gas operations contribute to involuntary dumping incidents (Beiras 2018).

There has been a number of regional and global efforts in terms of international legislation for the mitigation of marine pollution.

With regard to environmental protection, the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (1956, 1994 rev ed) set outs “minimum standards for pollution regulation” including “on the high seas” (Frid and Caswell 2017:9), while the UN Convention on Biodiversity (1992) requires signatories “to protect biological diversity and the functioning (eco)systems on which they depend or of which they are a part” (Frid and Caswell 2017:9).

Manufacturers are also asked to disclose information on chemical components under the REACH initiative in Europe and the TSCA Inventory in the US (Frid and Caswell 2017). More generally, regulation in the EU comes under the aegis of the European Environment Agency in the European Union and, in England and Wales, the the Environment Agency and Marine Management Organisation.

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