English VI: UNIT 1 - (READING EXERCISE)

Pollution from ships

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world."— Mahatma Gandhi

Read the thought-provoking article and answer the given questions. Be prepared to talk about these issues with classmates and the professor in class.

Water covers more than 70 percent of Earth's surface. It is essential to all life. Organisms can survive longer without food than without water. It is one of our most valuable resources.

Over the past fifty years, it has been recognized that the earth's oceans are under serious threat from all kind of wastes.

Society has also come to understand that its oceans are under serious threat from over-fishing, mineral exploration and coastal construction activities.

The detrimental effects of ocean pollution are physically visible at trashed beaches, where dead fish and mammals entangled in plastic products may sometimes be observed. They are additionally reflected in the significant toxic chemical concentrations in fish and other sea life.

The accumulations of some toxins, especially mercury, in the bodies of sea life have resulted in some harvestable seafood unfit for human consumption. Seriously affected areas include commercial and recreational fishing, beaches, resorts, human health, and other pleasurable uses of the sea.

Sea air pollution
In most countries, air pollution is the largest single environment-related cause of ill health. In other countries it is the second, after the scarcity of safe water. Many air pollution-related deaths and illnesses in people are proved to be due to respiratory infections.

Here are some facts. A single cargo ship coming into a harbor can release as much pollution as 350,000 current model year cars in one hour, while 16 container ships in port produce as many smog-forming emissions as one million cars and a single port visit by a cruise ship generates the emissions of more than 12,400 cars.

These ship smokestacks release toxic emissions that lead to acid rain, global warming, the formation of ground-level ozone, vegetation productivity reduction, and the damaging of health effects (heart ailments and lung diseases) to communities situated near ports. The environmental impact is far greater than previously estimated, as a 2003 study has found that large ships generate 30 percent of global nitrogen emissions - twice the previous estimates of 14 percent.

Port communities suffer the most from the diesel exhaust emitted by ships, but this pollution travels hundreds of miles inland depending on wind and weather patterns.

Despite the fact that ships are more energy efficient than other forms of commercial transportation, marine engines operate on extremely dirty fuels. Most large ships use the dirtiest and least expensive diesel available. Known as bunker oil, this fuel is the collection of residue from the production of higher grade fuels and contains significant concentrations of toxic compounds banned from use in most other industrial and consumer applications. It is thick as asphalt and must be heated to be burned.

Sea water pollution

The seas and oceans receive the brunt of human waste, whether it is by deliberate dumping or by natural run-off from the land. They cause harm to natural marine ecosystems and to human health.

The pollutants may be sewage (treated and untreated), industrial waste, oil spills, ballast water, military wastes (munitions and chemicals), entire ships, marine debris from ships (pallets, ropes, nets, anti-fouling paint and paint solvents, packaging items…), dredged material, construction debris, and radioactive wastes (both high- and low-level), farm waste, toxic chemicals, or inert materials that may smother, choke, or strangle living organisms.

Wastes enter the ocean through river, atmospheric, and pipeline discharge; construction; offshore mining; oil and gas exploration; and shipboard waste disposal. Here the pollutants enter marine food chains, building up their concentrations until they reach toxic levels.

The accumulations of some toxins, especially mercury, in the bodies of sea life have resulted in some harvestable seafood unfit for human consumption. It often takes human casualties to alert us that people died as a result of a pollutant building up in food chains.

Unfortunately, the ocean has become the ultimate dumping ground for civilization.

Sea to sky pollution solutions applied to ships
As Mahatma Gandi once said, "You must be the change you wish to see in the word". It only takes YOU to contribute to the changes from sea to sky pollution patterns.

As people change, technology changes for the good of all. As technology changes, we unconsciously give other people permission to deepen their efforts to make more positive actions.

It is necessary to identify and modify technology to produce effective and cost-effective solutions to monitor and mitigate, if not eliminate, the environmental and health impact of marine ships. Here are some feasible and reachable solutions:

By manufacturing alternative products
we develop and manufacture a variety of marine engines systems that provide innovative solutions to meet the needs of the marine industry.

By monitoring the marine activity industry
we develop and comply to international regulatory agreements.

By innovating new marine disposal ways
we create waste reception facilities in ports to avoid the illegal dumping of ship waste, whether oily bilge water, oil cargo slops from washed tanks and general 'household' garbage at sea.

By educating the maritime responses to pollution
we learn to correct attitude problems towards the environment, which means, we appropriate new ways on how to do things. That is, on how to prevent, stop, clean, eliminate, monitor, treat, dispose, reduce, use, reuse and recycle materials and pollutants that affect us today and future generations to come.

By planning responses to the environmental challenges
we increase the capacity of contingency plan arrangements to respond to spills of chemicals and heavy oils at the national and regional level.

Answer to the following questions

Should I leave behind my old ways and go green?

Preliminary awareness questions about earth and sea to sky pollution

Do I walk or take a vehicle for short distances?
Do I maintain your vehicle?
Do I know what carpooling is?
Do I commute by bike to work?
Do I use fluorescent light instead of incandescent light?
Do I set up your devices on power saving?
Am I the type of person that leaves the lights on in rooms?
Have I ever cleaned with homemade cleaning methods to avoid pollution?
Do I waste water while taking a shower with the water heater on?
Do I discard paper, plastic, metal and wood in any disposable dispenser?
Have I ever participated or got involved in advocacy groups promoting environmental awareness?
Do I tell others what to do with their waste?
Do I care about on street bad smells?
Have I ever complained to a person for his/her attitude towards air/water/land/noise pollution?
Am I the type of person that leaves waste behind for others to pick up?
Do I mind picking up after people you don’t know?
Do I smoke?
Can I carry on my own garbage until you find a garbage bin?
Do I reuse and recycle things or believe in having a healthy life?
How do I feel about pollution?