Wolfgang Korsus Dipl.-Ing. NT, Astrophysiker
Klingenberg 40
25451 Quickborn
Email: wkorsus@gmx.de
iPhone: 01625680456
FN: 04106 69295
Website: Wolfgang.korsus.netH
Part 1 333/12
I am aware of the issue of the oceans, but their inaccessibility and sheer size make them difficult for me to grasp in the here and now. I believe that they are largely beyond our consciousness. And they have neither an advocate nor anyone to represent their interests. I say this when I consider how satanically humanity treats them. This is all the more remarkable given that the oceans 1. have a significant influence on our „precious climate“ and 2. are even an increasingly important source of food. So what can we do to help?
Yes, it is the „public.“ It is there to raise awareness among political decision-makers about marine science issues and thus contribute to more effective marine conservation. There is something… In 2008, mare Verlag, in cooperation with the Kiel Cluster of Excellence „The Future Ocean“ and the IOI, the International Ocean Institute, founded the non-profit organization maribus GmbH. It is worth noting that there is no commercial motive behind this initiative; the work of the international scientists and journalists is focused solely on raising awareness of marine issues. The fourth World Ocean Review was published here in November 2015 and is a unique publication on the state of our oceans. It holds up a huge mirror to our faces… reflecting the current state of scientific knowledge…
It is we humans who have lived with and from the oceans for ages. Remember, „they“ have always provided us with food, natural resources, transport routes, and other services. Not to mention… and this makes them of fundamental importance for the climate-regulating „effects“ of the oceans and the „biochemical processes“ that also take place in the sea.
Think of the amount of „ecosystem services“ that the sea provides, because it is these that are now threatened by overuse, pollution, and greenhouse gases. I tend to say that they are being desecrated on a daily basis.
In a few lines in my text, I asked the question:
„So what can help now?“
I like to answer: An analysis… …because it is a systematic investigation in which the object under investigation is broken down into its constituent parts (elements). These elements are recorded on the basis of criteria and then classified, examined, and evaluated. In particular, relationships and effects are often considered in terms of their interdependence between the elements.
I suggest an analysis along these lines, which is important for planning concrete protective measures and defining limit and target values. Causes of the critical state of the oceans Whether it’s overfishing, marine pollution (plastic), warming, or even acidification, these problems are already here, already existing. The oceans and their ecosystem services are now more threatened than ever before.
First of all, I would like to point out that there are not just many but countless
problems caused by regional human activity and global climate change. The term „marine protection“ is becoming a particular challenge. It can only be tackled with a variety of individual measures, and as some of you readers will no doubt realize, densely populated coastal regions are particularly affected. This is because it is in coastal waters that most fish are caught, natural gas and oil are drilled for, and intensive shipping takes place. Tourism also poses a particular threat.
The coasts immediately spring to mind, as they are popular vacation destinations, and the natural areas located there are increasingly being destroyed by the construction of hotel complexes [castles]. I emphasize that the first prerequisite for the future, highly sustainable use of the sea is that the individual threats are reliably identified and correctly assessed or addressed.
Look, the pollution caused by a damaged oil tanker is far from the worst, because it can still be estimated relatively well. However, researchers and even absolute experts cannot overlook the creeping „acidification“ of the oceans on marine life such as fish, mussels, or snails.
I will list a few threats and influencing factors that are of particular importance, such as general marine pollution. As I do so, I notice how the contents of my stomach are talking to me and moaning very quietly:
„I want out, let me throw up!“
1. What do you think about heavy metals from industrial plants… since time immemorial
2. Industrial plants include (wastewater and exhaust gases)
3. Nutrients, especially phosphates and nitrogen, from agriculture and untreated wastewater (undesirable increase in nutrients in water bodies and associated useless and harmful plant growth in coastal waters)
4. Noise pollution of the oceans from shipping and the growing offshore industry (natural gas and oil extraction, construction of wind turbines, future marine mining)
5. Rising demand for resources Natural gas and oil extraction in coastal areas and increasingly in the deep sea, where smaller or larger quantities of oil are released,
6. Sand, gravel, and stones for construction projects.
7. For the development of new medicines: extraction of genetic resources from bacteria, sponges, and other organisms, which could damage habitats on the seabed during extraction.
8. Future marine mining (extraction of minerals from the seabed), which could damage habitats in the deep sea.
9. Aquaculture (release of nutrients, drugs, and pathogens)
10. Overfishing Industrial-scale fishing and overuse of fish stocks; illegal fishing
11. Destruction of habitats Construction projects such as port expansions and hotels
12. Deforestation of mangroves Destruction of coral reefs through fishing or tourism
13. Bioinvasion
14. Immigration of alien species through shipping or shellfish farming; alteration of characteristic habitats
15. Climate change Ocean warming Sea level rise Ocean acidification .
You can see threats piling up without letup—they have not diminished in recent years. I can only mention that, on the contrary, the threat is increasing. All those responsible worldwide—or rather, those criminally responsible—continue to go about their business! And the next generation is already growing up.
It’s just a global threat!
It is simply a global threat!!!
I used the word „acidification“ of the oceans and will now go into more detail. Climate change is happening, and with it, global warming, which is leading to the disastrous acidification of the oceans. According to many scientists working in this field, this is likely to have a global impact on the oceans. Now I would like to point out the reason for the acidification of seawater, namely that the higher concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the atmosphere also leads to a greater amount of dissolved CO2 in the sea. …actually, it’s almost completely logical…isn’t it?
While I’m on the subject of „logical,“ let’s continue with „logical“:
– carbonic acid is formed.
Laboratory experiments then clearly showed that the acidification of water „attacks“ the calcium carbonate (CaCO3) of marine animals such as corals, mussels, snails, and sea urchins. CaCO3 occurs naturally in various forms that differ only minimally in their chemical structure—for example, in the two CaCO3 variants aragonite and calcite, which are incorporated by various marine animals in different proportions in their shells and exoskeletons.
Experiments almost always lead to „results,“ of course, which provide information and show us… results.
OK! Then I’ll turn to the results… bad times! Ocean acidification initially affected mainly those animal species that use mainly aragonite (aragonite is a common mineral in the mineral class of „carbonates and nitrates“). Zooplankton such as „pteropods“ could be particularly affected in the future. These are pea-sized winged snails that row through the water. They are an important food source for fish and whales.
Pteropods have particularly delicate aragonite shells, which marine biologists fear could dissolve very quickly. Studies show that ocean acidification even threatens their offspring. Since gases such as CO2 dissolve particularly well in cold water, cold waters in higher latitudes are acidifying the fastest. Marine researchers have already found initial signs that the critical point at which aragonite begins to dissolve is slowly being exceeded.
A second example of animal behavior changing due to acidifying water.
Once again, researchers have found that the large pilgrim mussel native to the Atlantic Ocean is losing its ability to flee from its enemies. Normally, when in danger, the mussel presses its shells together and catapults itself out of the danger zone with a jet of water. However, as the water becomes more acidic, these jerky movements slow down, making it more difficult for the mussel to escape its enemies. What is worrying is that ocean acidification and ocean warming are two phenomena that can reinforce each other. Ecophysiologists who study animal metabolism have been able to show in laboratory experiments that some crabs and fish die faster when the water becomes both warmer and more acidic.
Focus on the coast
We now move slowly to the coastal regions, „as these are often among the most densely populated areas in the world.“ …and there, of course, we encounter „problems“…
Such as…
I have to turn to the United Nations for some interesting figures, here they are:
Today, more than 40 percent of the world’s population, around 2.8 billion people, live within 100 kilometers of the coast. [I groan]…Ufffff…
Of the 20 megacities worldwide, each with more than 10 million people, 13 are located near the coast. These include the cities or metropolitan areas of Dhaka (14.4 million), Istanbul (14.4), Kolkata (14.3), Mumbai (18.2), and Beijing (14.3).
According to reliable research, real „experts“ expect urbanization in coastal areas to continue to increase, or rather accelerate, in the coming years. Added to this is what I consider to be a fairly new observation, which states that by 2020, for example, the already densely populated 500-kilometer-long coastal strip between the Ghanaian capital Accra and the Niger Delta in Nigeria will develop into an urban belt, a megalopolis with more than 50 million inhabitants.
Incidentally, the hinterland is also very important for the coast!
The condition of coastal seas depends on activities directly on the coast and on the „influence of the hinterland.“
I often think about problems such as the discharge of untreated sewage or the destruction of the shoreline by construction projects, because these occur directly on site at the coast. The mess continues.“… In many regions, large quantities of pollutants are also carried into coastal waters from the hinterland via rivers or the air. For example, chemically very stable fluoropolymers, which are used in the manufacture of outdoor jackets or grease-, dirt-, and water-repellent papers, are released into the atmosphere via factory chimneys and can travel thousands of kilometers to distant regions.
The transport of faecal matter or industrial wastewater contaminated with heavy metals to the sea also often begins far inland. I repeatedly asked experts to provide a little more information, and they added that today 80 percent of marine pollution, including fertilizers, comes from land.
The sum of many threats is also known as „coastal syndrome.“
New names – new meaning (nonsense)
Environmental problems on the coasts, as I see it, are very common! Environmental researchers have therefore coined the term „coastal syndrome.“
The following factors contribute to coastal syndrome:
– Overfertilization (eutrophication)
– In regions where agriculture is intensive, large amounts of nutrients enter the soil. These are applied to the fields as „artificial fertilizers“ or accumulate as „manure“ in livestock farms.
– In addition, there is untreated wastewater from municipalities and sewage, which is also rich in nutrients.
– Excess nutrients also reach the sea via streams, rivers, and sewage systems. Phosphorus and nitrogen compounds in particular stimulate extremely strong algae growth, leading to algal blooms. Ultimately, the dead algae are broken down by bacteria, which consume oxygen. The more algae there is, the more intense the bacterial decomposition and the greater the oxygen consumption.
– In extreme cases, oxygen-free zones are created in which fish, crabs, and mussels can no longer survive. Examples of heavily eutrophicated marine areas are the Mississippi Delta in the Gulf of Mexico and the Yellow Sea on the east coast of China.