Ocean Pollution: Not Just For the Oil Companies

Pollution of the open seas by human activities has become a serious problem. Ocean dumping is the dumping or placing of materials in designated places in the ocean, often on the continental shelf. A wide range of materials is involved, including garbage, construction and demolition debris, sewage sludge, dredge material, and waste chemicals. In some cases, ocean dumping is regulated and controlled, while some dumping occurs haphazardly by ships and tankers at sea, or illegally within coastal waters. Incineration at sea of organic wastes, with subsequent dumping, has been allowed as a viable disposal process, both in the United States and in Europe.

This infographic will reveal a few types of ocean dumping – from munitions to radioactive materials to human waste – it will blow your mind. This is a topic that is on all of our minds and in the media – thanks BP – but oil is just the tip of the iceberg. Mother Nature is not happy!

[CLICK IMAGE FOR LARGER VIEW]