What human activities pose a threat to the ocean?

Question

What human activities pose a threat to the ocean?

Answer 1

In a sense, all of them. More to your point, however, oil extraction, especially on the coastal shelves and deeper areas always presents the potential of an immense oil spill. Dumping of wastes into the oceans, a longstanding practice, means many beaches are now littered with plastic junk. Forestry in inland areas leads to pollution that gets washed into the oceans. Ditto agriculture, and especially the overuse of fertilizer and pesticides. Large areas at the moths of several rivers are"dead zones," devoid of sea life, because they have been poisoned by pollution washed down stream. The Mississippi Delta and the adjacent area in the Gulf of Mexico are a sad example of this. Transportation and naval activities can pollute the oceans and the noise created by sonar etc. can harm sea mammals. That is by no means an exhaustive list of the ways in which human activities can be detrimental to the oceans and the creatures that live in them.