Problems of using the World Ocean. The world ocean is the main part of the hydrosphere, occupies 71% of the Earth's surface, surrounds continents and islands, and is also distinguished by its common salt composition. It has the richest food, mineral and energy resources. The problem of using the World Ocean is a global problem, consisting in the fact that with the expansion of economic activities and the development of new sea transport routes, the waters of the World Ocean are becoming increasingly polluted with dangerous consequences for all living things.
For the time being, man treated the oceans with reverence and fear, and then he began to dump all kinds of waste into the water. Steamboats and barges carry solid waste further out to sea. Waste from the galley is thrown over the side of the ship, and water from the toilet is poured directly into the sea. Rivers carry their load of wastewater, nutrients and suspended solids into coastal waters. Pesticides, lead compounds and many other pollutants travel through the atmosphere, settle and fall with rain, adding dirt to the ocean. An equally important problem is the extermination of marine animals.
Over the past 100 years, more than 2.1 million whales have been killed in the world's oceans. To regulate and limit whaling, the International Whaling Commission was created in 1964, which included representatives of 20 countries. By accepted rules International agreement prohibits hunting of certain species of whales. In 1972, English researcher N.A. Mackentosh calculated that in Antarctica the stocks of fan whales (a species of whale) have decreased by 5 times, blue whales by 25 times, and humpback whales by 30 times. All this indicates that the real measure to save whales would be a general ban on whaling.
Scientists have calculated that it will take at least 50 years to restore the Antarctic herd of blue whales to 150 thousand heads, and at least 60 years to grow the herd of humpback whales to 27 thousand heads. This information is only about whales, but imagine how many other marine animals die every day: seals, fur seals, fish. Some of them are exterminated, some die from environmental pollution.
Many species of marine animals are lost forever. Oil and petroleum products are the most common pollutants in the world's oceans, the consequences of which are detrimental to all life on Earth. By the beginning of the 80s, about 16 million tons of oil entered the ocean annually, which amounted to 0.23% of world production. The greatest oil losses are associated with its transportation from production areas.
Emergency situations, tankers draining washing and ballast water overboard - all this causes the presence of permanent pollution fields on the routes sea routes. In the period from 1962-1979, as a result of accidents, about 2 million tons of oil entered the marine environment. Over the past 30 years, since 1964, about 2,000 wells have been drilled in the World Ocean, of which 1,000 and 350 industrial wells have been equipped in the North Sea alone. Due to minor leaks, 0.1 million tons of oil are lost annually.
Large masses of oil enter the seas through rivers, household and storm drains. The volume of pollution from this source is 2.0 million tons/year. Every year 0.5 million tons of oil enters with industrial waste. Many countries with access to the sea carry out marine burial of various materials and substances, in particular soil removed during dredging, drilling slag, industrial waste, construction waste, explosives and chemicals, and radioactive waste.
The volume of burials amounted to about 10% of the total mass of pollutants entering the World Ocean. The basis for dumping at sea is the ability of the marine environment to process large quantities of organic and inorganic substances without much damage to the water. However, this ability is not unlimited. Therefore, dumping is considered as a forced measure, a temporary tribute from society to the imperfection of technology and poses a threat to the environment. The discharge of dumping materials to the bottom and prolonged increased turbidity of the water lead to the death of sedentary benthos from suffocation.
In surviving fish, mollusks and crustaceans, their growth rate is reduced due to deteriorating feeding and breathing conditions. Often changes species composition of this community. When organizing a control system over waste discharges into the sea, it is crucial to identify dumping areas and determine the dynamics of pollution sea water and sediments at the bottom. To identify possible volumes of discharge into the sea, it is necessary to carry out calculations of all pollutants in the material discharge.
Energy - raw material problems. The history of human development is closely connected with the production and use of energy. Already in the ancient world people used thermal energy for heating the home, cooking, making copper, bronze, iron and other household metals, tools, etc. Since ancient times, coal and oil have been known - substances that produce a large amount of heat when burned. Now the wording “fuel” includes all substances that produce a large amount of heat when burned, are widely distributed in nature and (or) are produced industrially.
Fuel includes oil and petroleum products (kerosene, gasoline, fuel oil, diesel fuel), coal, natural flammable gas, wood and plant waste (straw, husks, etc.), peat, oil shale, and currently substances used in nuclear reactors at nuclear power plants and rocket engines. Thus, the classification of fuel can be carried out, for example, according to its state of aggregation: solid (coal, peat, wood, shale), liquid (oil and petroleum products) and gaseous ( natural gas). You can also divide fuel types according to their origin: vegetable, mineral and industrial products.
Oil industry of Russia. Currently, the Russian oil industry is in a state of deep crisis, which has caused a sharp drop in oil production. Only in 1992 it decreased by more than 60 million tons compared to the previous year and in 1993. by another 40-45 million tons. Way out of the current crisis situation in the oil industry Government Russian Federation and the Ministry of Fuel and Energy are associated not with additional government investments, but with the consistent development of market relations.
Enterprises in the industry must independently earn the funds necessary for their industry, and the Government must create the necessary economic conditions for them to do so. Already undertaken in this direction major measures. Targets for the supply of oil for state needs have been reduced to 20% of its production, the remaining 80% of the enterprise has the right to realize independently.
Only its export from Russia is limited so as not to leave the Russian market without petroleum products in the context of the existing discrepancy between domestic and world oil prices. Control over the level of domestic oil prices has been practically removed. The state regulates only to the utmost permissible level profitability in price. The ongoing work on its corporatization and privatization is of great importance for increasing the efficiency of the functioning of the Russian oil complex.
During the process of corporatization, fundamental changes occur in organizational forms. State-owned enterprises for the extraction and transportation of oil, its refining and supply of petroleum products are being transformed into open joint-stock companies. At the same time, 38% of the shares of these companies remain in state ownership.
For the commercial management of state-owned blocks of shares, a special State enterprise Rosneft, to which packages of state shares of about 240 joint-stock companies are transferred, including 26 in oil and gas production, 22 in oil refining, 59 in petroleum product supply, as well as in the production of oils and lubricants, gas processing, well drilling, geophysics , mechanical engineering, science and other types of service industries.
Rosneft also includes various associations, banks, exchanges and other organizations. Prospects for the development of the Russian oil industry. The prospects for the development of the Russian oil industry for the coming period largely depend on the state of its raw material base. Russia has large undiscovered oil resources, the volume of which is many times greater than the proven reserves. The results of the analysis of the qualitative structure of undiscovered oil resources in Russia indicate that they are not identical to the explored reserves.
It is expected that the discovery of new large deposits is possible mainly in regions with low exploration - on the shelves of the northern and eastern seas, in Eastern Siberia. The possibility of the discovery of similar deposits in Western Siberia cannot be ruled out. Several thousand more oil fields are predicted to be discovered in this region. The introduction of new methods and technologies for enhancing oil recovery is hampered by high capital investments and specific operating costs for their use compared to traditional methods of oil production.
In this regard, the Ministry of Fuel and Energy of the Russian Federation is developing proposals to legislatively adopt a number of measures aimed at economically stimulating the use of new effective methods increasing oil recovery. These measures will improve the financing of research and development work to create new technologies and technical means, more actively develop the material and technical base of institutes involved in the development of new methods, and most importantly, more dynamically increase oil production from fields with hard-to-recover reserves.
Cooperation with foreign companies in the oil and gas industry is becoming increasingly widespread. This is caused both by the need to attract foreign capital in the current economic conditions, and by the desire to use the most advanced technologies and techniques for developing oil and gas fields used in world practice, which have not received proper development in the domestic industry.
Fuel production is continuously increasing, which in the future may lead to a serious global energy crisis. Since the 1970s In the world there has been a transition to other principles of resource consumption in general and fuel in particular. Humanity must reorient itself to other energy resources, primarily to the Earth’s vast hydroresources. All processes of extraction, processing and transportation of fuel are covered by the fuel industry, which is an integral part of the fuel and energy complex (FEC). All sectors of the fuel and energy complex are interconnected.
To take into account the proportions in the production of various types of fuel, its distribution and use in the country, fuel balances are used - tables expressing the ratio of the production of various types of fuel and their use in the economy. Fuel balances are usually compiled on the basis of a unit of standard fuel. In the fuel balance of the USSR until 1990. Oil has been the leader since 1990. Gas came first. This situation still persists, and gas is Russia's main export product.
The fuel industry of our country has a rare opportunity to rely exclusively on its own reserves.
End of work -
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With three-quarters of the world's population living in coastal areas, it is not surprising that the world's oceans are suffering from the effects of human activity and widespread pollution. The high tide zone is disappearing due to the construction of factories, port facilities, and tourist complexes. The water area is constantly polluted by household and industrial wastewater, pesticides, hydrocarbons. Heavy metals were found in the bodies of deep-sea (3 km) fish and Arctic penguins. Every year, rivers bring about 10 billion tons of waste into the ocean, sources silt up, and the oceans bloom. Each such environmental problem requires a solution.
Environmental disasters
Pollution of water bodies manifests itself in a decrease in their ecological significance and biosphere functions under the influence of harmful substances. It leads to changes in organoleptic (transparency, color, taste, smell) and physical properties.
In the water in large quantities present:
- nitrates;
- sulfates;
- chlorides;
- heavy metals;
- radioactive elements;
- pathogenic bacteria, etc.
In addition, oxygen dissolved in water is significantly reduced. More than 15 million tons of petroleum products alone end up in the ocean every year, as disasters constantly occur involving oil tankers and drilling rigs.
A huge number of tourist ships dump all their waste into the seas and oceans. A real environmental disaster is radioactive waste and heavy metals that enter the water area as a result of the burial of chemicals and explosives in containers.
Wrecks of large tankers
Transporting hydrocarbons can result in a shipwreck and an oil spill on a huge water surface. Its annual release into the ocean accounts for more than 10% of global production. To this we must add leaks during production from wells (10 million tons), and processed products coming with storm drains (8 million tons). 
Tanker disasters caused enormous damage:
- In 1967, the American ship Torrey Canyon off the coast of England - 120 thousand tons. The oil burned for three days.
- 1968–1977 – 760 large tankers with massive release of oil products into the ocean.
- In 1978, the American tanker Amono Codis off the coast of France - 220 thousand tons. Oil covered an area of 3.5 thousand square meters. km. water surface and 180 km of coastline.
- In 1989, the ship "Valdis" off the coast of Alaska - 40 thousand tons. The oil slick had an area of 80 square meters. km.
- In 1990, during the Kuwait War, Iraqi defenders opened oil terminals and emptied several oil tankers to prevent American troops from landing. More than 1.5 million tons of oil covered a thousand square meters. km of the Persian Gulf and 600 km of coastline. In response, the Americans bombed several more storage facilities.
- 1997 – wreck of the Russian ship “Nakhodka” on the China-Kamchatka route – 19 thousand tons.
- 1998 - the Liberian tanker Pallas ran aground off the European coast - 20 tons.
- 2002 – Spain, Bay of Biscay. Tanker "Prestige" - 90 thousand tons. The cost of eliminating the consequences amounted to over 2.5 million euros. After this, France and Spain banned oil tankers without a double hull from entering their waters.
- 2007 – storm in the Kerch Strait. 4 ships sank, 6 ran aground, 2 tankers were damaged. The damage amounted to 6.5 billion rubles.
Not a single year passes on the planet without a catastrophe. The oil film is capable of completely absorbing infrared rays, causing the death of marine and coastal inhabitants, which leads to global environmental changes.
Another dangerous water pollutant is wastewater. Large coastal cities that cannot cope with the flow of sewage waste are trying to divert sewer pipes further into the sea. From mainland megacities, wastewater flows into rivers.
Heated waste water discharged by power plants and industries is a factor in the thermal pollution of water bodies, which can significantly increase the surface temperature.
It prevents the exchange of bottom and surface water layers, which reduces the supply of oxygen, increases the temperature and, as a result, the activity of aerobic bacteria. New species of algae and phytoplankton appear, which leads to water blooms and disruption of the biological balance of the ocean.
An increase in the mass of phytoplankton threatens the loss of the species gene pool and a decrease in the ability of ecosystems to self-regulate. Accumulations of small algae on the surface of seas and oceans reach such sizes that spots and stripes of them are clearly visible from space. Phytoplankton serves as an indicator of the disappointing ecological state and dynamics of water masses.
Its vital activity leads to the formation of foam, a chemical change in composition and water pollution, and mass reproduction changes the color of the sea.
It acquires red, brown, yellow, milky white and other shades. For the color to change, the population needs to reach a million per liter.
Blooming plankton contributes to the massive death of fish and other marine animals, since it actively consumes dissolved oxygen and releases toxic substances. The explosive proliferation of such algae causes “red tides” (Asia, USA) and covers large areas.
Algae (spirogyra), which is unusual for Lake Baikal, have grown abnormally as a result of the extensive discharge of chemicals through wastewater treatment plants. They were thrown onto the coastline (20 km), and the mass was 1,500 tons. Now locals call Baikal black because the algae are black and, when dying, emit a monstrous stench.
Plastic pollution
Plastic waste is another factor in ocean pollution. They form entire islands on the surface and threaten life sea creatures.
Plastic does not dissolve or decompose and can last for centuries. Animals and birds mistake it for something edible and swallow cups and polyethylene, which they cannot digest, and die.
Under the influence of sunlight, plastic is crushed to the size of plankton and thus already participates in food chains. The shellfish attach themselves to bottles and ropes, sinking them to the bottom in large numbers.
Garbage islands can be considered a symbol of ocean pollution. The largest garbage island is located in Pacific Ocean– it reaches an area of 1,760,000 square meters. km and 10 m deep. The vast majority of garbage is of coastal origin (80%), the rest is waste from ships and fishing nets (20%).
Metals and chemicals
Sources of water pollution are numerous and varied - from non-degradable detergents to mercury, lead, cadmium. Together with wastewater, pesticides, insecticides, bactericides and fungicides enter the oceans. These substances are widely used in agriculture to combat diseases, plant pests and weed control. More than 12 million tons of these funds are already in the Earth's ecosystems.
A synthetic surfactant found in detergents has a detrimental effect on the ocean. It contains detergents that lower the surface tension of water. In addition, detergents consist of substances harmful to the inhabitants of ecosystems, such as:
- sodium silicate;
- sodium polyphosphate;
- soda ash;
- bleach;
- flavoring agents, etc.
The greatest danger to the oceanic biocenosis is mercury, cadmium and lead.
Their ions accumulate in representatives of marine food chains and cause their mutations, diseases and death. People also belong to part of the food chain and, by eating such “seafood”, are at great risk.
The most famous is Minamata disease (Japan), which causes vision, speech, and paralysis.
The cause of its occurrence was waste from enterprises producing vinyl chloride (the process uses a mercury catalyst). Poorly treated industrial waters have been flowing into Minamata Bay for a long time.
Mercury compounds settled in the bodies of shellfish and fish, which the local population widely used in their diet. As a result, more than 70 people died and several hundred people were bedridden.
The threat posed to humanity by the environmental crisis is vast and multidimensional:
- reduction in fish catch;
- eating mutated animals;
- loss of unique recreational areas;
- general poisoning biosphere;
- disappearance of people.
When contacting contaminated water (washing, swimming, fishing), there is a risk of penetration of all kinds of bacteria through the skin or mucous membranes, causing serious illnesses. In conditions of an environmental disaster, there is a high probability of such well-known diseases as: 
- dysentery;
- cholera;
- typhoid fever, etc.
There is also a high probability of new diseases emerging as a result of mutations due to radioactive and chemical compounds.
The international community has already begun to take measures to artificially renew the biological resources of the oceans; marine reserves and man-made islands are being created. But all this is the elimination of consequences, not causes. As long as there is a release of oil, wastewater, metals, chemicals and garbage into the ocean, the danger of the destruction of civilization will only increase.
Impact on ecosystems
As a result of thoughtless human activity, ecological systems are the first to suffer.
- Their stability is compromised.
- Eutrophication is progressing.
- Color tides appear.
- Toxins accumulate in biomass.
- Biological productivity decreases.
- Carcinogenesis and mutations occur in the ocean.
- Microbiological pollution of coastal zones occurs.
Toxic pollutants are constantly entering the ocean, and even the ability of some organisms (bivalves and benthic microorganisms) to accumulate and remove toxins (pesticides and heavy metals) cannot withstand such quantities. Therefore, it is important to determine the permissible anthropogenic pressure on hydrological ecosystems and study their assimilation capabilities for the accumulation and subsequent removal of harmful substances.
A bunch of plastic floating on the ocean waves could be used to make plastic containers For food products.
Monitoring ocean pollution problems
Today we can state the presence of the pollutant not only in coastal areas and shipping areas, but also in the open ocean, including the Arctic and Antarctic. The hydrosphere is a powerful regulator of whirlpools, air circulation and temperature regime planets. Its pollution can change these characteristics and affect not only flora and fauna, but also climatic conditions.
On modern stage development with the increasing negative impact of humanity on the hydrosphere and the loss of protective properties of ecosystems, the following becomes obvious:
- awareness of reality and trends;
- greening of thinking;
- the need for new approaches to environmental management.
Today we are no longer talking about protecting the ocean - now it needs to be cleaned up immediately, and this is a global problem of civilization.
Golovacheva Alexandra, Samarkina Lyubov
The world ocean is one of the most important objects of environmental protection. The peculiarity of this object is that currents in the seas and oceans quickly carry pollutants long distances from the place of their release. Therefore, the problem of protecting the cleanliness of the ocean is of a clearly international nature. The purpose of the work is to study one of the global problems of humanity: pollution of the World Ocean. The work makes an attempt to highlight the role of the World Ocean in the lives of modern and future generations of people, and examines the problems of combating pollution of the waters of the World Ocean.
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Ocean: problems and solutions.
Ocean: problems and solutions.
Authors of the project. Students of grade 11a of MBOU secondary school No. 1 in Volzhsky
Golovacheva Alexandra
Samarkina Love
Project manager: Lebedeva Marina Gennadievna, physics teacher
Purpose of the work. The purpose of this work is to study one of the global problems of humanity: pollution of the world's oceans. IN lately this problem has become quite urgent. This work makes an attempt to highlight the role of the World Ocean in the lives of modern and future generations of people. The issues of the impact of pollution of the World Ocean, as well as the problem of combating pollution of the waters of the World Ocean are considered.
Project objectives: 1) Consider transport, mineral resources and bioresource use of the ocean. 2) Cover the problems of the World Ocean.
The importance of the World Ocean. Only on a planet where water occupies a significant part of the surface is life possible. The importance of the World Ocean for humans and all living things is so great that it is difficult to appreciate it. Let's try to do this at least partially.
Life originated in the ocean - this opinion is most widespread in scientific circles. It is the habitat of many living organisms. The ocean is a giant filter that purifies water. More than half of the oxygen in the atmosphere comes from the ocean. The ocean is a source of food. Sea transport (cheap) .This is a storehouse of minerals.
What is the world ocean? The world ocean is the main part of the hydrosphere, constituting 94.1% of its total area, a continuous but not continuous water shell of the Earth, surrounding continents and islands and characterized by a common salt composition. Continents and archipelagos divide the world ocean into 5 large parts ( oceans): Atlantic Ocean Indian Ocean Arctic Ocean Pacific Ocean Southern Ocean
A few words about water. Water is the most unique substance on Earth: The most common mineral on the surface of the Earth The source of life on Earth The best solvent All living things are 70-98% water It makes daily and seasonal fluctuations in air temperature on Earth acceptable for the existence of life.
Resources of the world's oceans.
sea water (table salt, magnesium, bromine) copper, silver, gold, diamonds, sapphires uranium, deuterium production of fresh water bottom sources on the continental shelf (Normandy) oil, gas biological resources
Human influence on the ocean.
Positive.1. Creation of fish factories for raising fry from eggs2. Creation of underwater farms and plantations for breeding shellfish and growing algae3. Ban on hunting whales4. Reducing fish catch5. Cleaning ocean waters from oil spills and household waste
Negative. 1. Overfishing. As a result, whales, walruses, fur seals, and many species of fish are under threat of extinction2. Ocean pollution
Pollution of the world's oceans.
More than 10 thousand tourist ships pass along the Cote d'Azur of the Mediterranean Sea in the summer, the sewage of which is thrown into the sea without treatment. By the end of the 20th century, world catches of fish and other ocean products had almost stabilized at the level of 95-100 million tons. A catastrophic reduction in the anchovy catch off the coast of Peru, one of the largest fishing countries in the world, served as a signal of disaster. In the 70s it decreased by 5 times. Then “overfishing” of fish appeared in the Atlantic. In the Baltic waters, all biological life has been destroyed.
The modern technological revolution has assigned the World Ocean the role of a giant “garbage dump”. Total weight polluting waste - oil, industrial and domestic wastewater, garbage, radioactive waste, heavy metals discharged into the World Ocean amounts to billions of tons per year.
Oil. The main scourge for the ocean is oil. As a result of the widespread practice of washing tanker holds, between 8 and 20 million barrels of oil are deliberately dumped into the ocean each year. Once in the marine environment, oil spreads in the form of a film. Oil pollution is global.
Wastewater. In addition to oil, the most harmful waste is wastewater. In small quantities they enrich water and promote the growth of plants and fish, but in large quantities they destroy ecosystems. Harmful organisms contained in wastewater breed in shellfish and cause numerous diseases in humans.
Household waste. Household waste contains significant amounts of oxygen-absorbing substances. In recent decades, plastic products have become a special type of solid waste polluting the oceans. There are known cases of death of large marine mammals due to mechanical blockage of the lungs with pieces of synthetic packaging.
Heavy metals. Hazardous chemicals that can disrupt the ecological balance include heavy metals such as cadmium, nickel, arsenic, copper, lead, zinc and chromium. According to estimates, up to 50 thousand tons of these metals are dumped annually into the North Sea alone. Large masses of these compounds enter the ocean through the atmosphere.
Creation of international control over fishing activities in the Ocean. Formation of an international mechanism for the protection of the marine environment. Adoption of a number of international agreements limiting its pollution. Make every effort to reduce the danger from the discharge of wastewater. Involvement in human exploitation of not all biological resources of the Ocean. The maximum number of people should participate in practical environmental activities and see the direct results of their work. These can be not only clean lakes, etc., but also planted trees, extinguished forest fires, illegal logging was stopped. Volunteer work is an invaluable contribution to the work of preserving the environment. Widespread development of conservation volunteering can significantly change the way many people think and live. Some Greenpeace experts believe that governments should make marine reserves out of 40% of our oceans, in which the exploitation of all living and non-living resources should be prohibited.
Ways to solve the problem of pollution of the World Ocean.
World days dedicated to water resources. International holidays such as: World Day water resources, World Oceans Day, World Whale Day and World Environment Day stimulate interest among the general population in the problems of the World Ocean and water resources in general.
World Water Day. Celebrated annually on March 22. On this day, events are held dedicated to the conservation and development of water resources. The period from 2005-2015, starting from March 22, 2005, was declared the International Decade for Action “Water for Life”.
World Oceans Day. Celebrated annually on June 8. Established by the UN General Assembly on February 12, 2009. Motto: “Our oceans, our responsibility.”
World Whale Day. Held on February 19th. Goal: to draw humanity's attention to problems
It needs to be understood and realized.
The problems of the world ocean are environmental, economic, technical, and social problems at the same time. His future depends on how wisely a person resolves them. The environmental problems of the Ocean are so acute that it is time to move from making a diagnosis to treating the “patient,” otherwise he may die.
The consequences of mankind's wasteful, careless attitude towards the Ocean are terrifying. Pollution can cause very significant changes in life important characteristics for climate and weather conditions on the entire planet. Symptoms of such changes are already visible today. Be that as it may, ocean protection is one of humanity’s global problems.
Let's save the ocean - save life on the planet!
This is a problem of conservation and rational use of its spaces and resources.
Currently, the World Ocean, as a closed ecological system, can hardly withstand the greatly increased anthropogenic load, and a real threat of its destruction is created. Therefore, the global problem of the World Ocean is, first of all, the problem of its survival. As Thor Heyerdahl said, “a dead ocean is a dead planet.”
Legal aspect of ocean use
Up until the 70s. last century, all activities in the World Ocean were carried out in accordance with the generally recognized principle of freedom of the high seas, which means all maritime space outside the territorial waters, the width of which was only 3 nautical miles.
In the 20th century the situation has changed radically. Many countries, especially developing ones, unilaterally began to appropriate vast coastal waters up to 200 (and even more) nautical miles from the coast and extend their jurisdiction within them to individual species maritime activities, and some countries even declared their sovereignty over these waters. By the end of the 70s. More than 100 countries, including the USSR, have already announced the introduction of 200-mile zones (they were called economic zones).
In 1982, the III UN Conference on the Law of the Sea, which adopted the relevant Convention, drew a legal line under various types of maritime activities. The ocean was declared "the common heritage of mankind." 200-mile exclusive economic zones were officially established, covering 40% of the area of the World Ocean, where all economic activities fell under the jurisdiction of the respective states. Shelf zones (even if they exceed the economic zone in width) also fell under the jurisdiction of these states. The bottom of the remaining, deep-sea part of the ocean, rich in iron-manganese nodules, received the status of an international area, where all economic activities should be carried out through a specially created International Seabed Authority, which has already divided the deep-sea areas of the ocean between the world's largest powers; The Soviet Union also received a certain part of the bottom. As a result, the principle of freedom of the high seas ceased to exist.
Economics of ocean use
Today this is an acute problem that is being solved by all of humanity on the scale of the global economy. For a long time The world's oceans serve as a transport artery. Maritime transport provides trade and economic ties; it accounts for more than 60% of global cargo turnover. In the second half of the 20th century. The rapid development of maritime transport was facilitated by the formation of a very large geographical gap between the areas of production and consumption, and the increasing dependence of economically developed countries on the supply of raw materials and fuel. However, starting from the 80s. the growth of maritime transport cargo turnover has ceased. Currently, commercial maritime shipping generates more than $100 billion in revenue per year.
The world's oceans are a storehouse of natural resources. Humanity has long used its biological resources. Currently, marine fishing produces approximately $60 billion worth of products per year. The main part of the world's marine products is fish (about 85%). During the 20th century. Fish catch volumes increased steadily. The exceptions were the years of World War II and the 70s, when severe overfishing made itself felt. However, starting from the 80s. catch growth has recovered. Now they exceed 125 million tons per year. It should be noted that although in the 80s. the rate of extraction of marine biological resources was restored, the “quality” of the resources noticeably decreased.
Today, 90% of fish and other seafood products are caught offshore. The leader in the world catch is China (about 37 million tons, but more than half of its catch is freshwater fish). Next come Peru (about 10 million tons), Chile, Japan, USA; Russia is in 8th place (just over 4 million tons). No further increase in fish production is expected, as this could lead to irreversible erosion of the ocean's biological resources.
In addition to biological resources, the World Ocean has enormous mineral wealth. Among them, the most important are oil and natural gas, the production of which has grown at a particularly rapid pace in recent decades on the shelf of the World Ocean; Already today, their extraction will produce products worth more than $200 billion per year.
At the current technical level, oil production occurs at depths of up to 500 m, i.e. already beyond the continental shelf. Accordingly, the cost of “sea” oil is growing, especially in Arctic latitudes. It is the rise in price of “sea” oil that explains the fact that in the last decade the rate of oil production in the ocean has decreased slightly.
The ocean is also rich in hydrochemical raw materials dissolved in ocean waters: salts of sodium, magnesium, calcium, potassium, bromine, iodine and many other elements. Coastal deposits of heavy metals, which are strategic raw materials, are very valuable. Another untouched treasure trove of the world's oceans is young rift zones. As a result of contact with the escaping mantle material, the water heats up to 50-60°C. salinity rises to 260%. The resulting hot brine contains the most valuable metals; sulfide ores of rare metals are formed at the bottom, the concentration of which is sometimes 10 times higher than in iron-manganese nodules and even more so in “land” ores.
The world's oceans are a colossal source of renewable energy resources, but ocean energy has so far been used to a very small extent to serve humans. At the same time, using the energy of sea tides, currents, waves, and temperature gradients causes almost no harm environment. The vast majority of ocean energy is uncontrollable. An inexhaustible source of energy is thermonuclear fusion using deuterium - heavy hydrogen. The amount of deuterium contained in 1 liter of sea water can provide as much energy as 120 liters of gasoline.
Demographic aspect of ocean use
The result of active development of ocean resources has been a many-fold increase in “demographic pressure” on the ocean environment. The population is increasingly moving towards the coastal zone. Thus, about 2.5 billion people now live in the 100-kilometer coastal strip, i.e. almost half of the world's population. And if we add to this figure temporary vacationers arriving from all over the world and passengers on cruise ships, then the number of “sea” residents will increase significantly. Moreover, the area of urbanized areas in the coastal zone is much larger than in inland areas, due to the fact that there is a global process of geographical mixing of industries towards the sea, into port areas, where powerful port-industrial complexes are being formed. Only sea tourism and tourism (beach facilities, infrastructure and cruise tourism) generates about $50 billion in income, i.e. almost as much as marine fishing provides.
Defense and geopolitical aspects of ocean use
Currently, the World Ocean is considered as the main potential theater and launching pad for military operations. Unlike slow-moving land-based missiles, sea-based weapons provide maximum mobility from a geographic and strategic perspective. It is known that only five major maritime powers have about 15 thousand nuclear warheads on their surface and underwater vessels, capable of destroying all life on Earth. Therefore, the ocean has become the most important center of geopolitical interests of most countries of the world. Here the activities and, accordingly, the interests of the most diverse countries of the world collide: developed and developing, coastal and continental, island, archipelagic and continental, resource-rich and poor, heavily populated and sparsely populated, etc.
Environmental aspects of ocean use
The world's oceans have become a kind of focus where legal, defense, geopolitical, economic, scientific, technical, research, and demographic problems of using its resources and spaces come together, which, taken together, contribute to the emergence of another major global problem modernity - ecological. The ocean is the main regulator of the content of basic nutrients (oxygen and hydrogen) in the atmosphere: the ocean is a filter that cleanses the atmosphere of harmful products of natural and anthropogenic origin; The ocean, among other things, is a huge battery and a cesspool for many human waste products.
In some water areas where human activity is most active, it has become difficult for the ocean to clean itself, since its ability to self-clean is not unlimited. An increase in the volume of pollutants entering the ocean can cause a qualitative leap, which will manifest itself in a sharp imbalance in the ocean ecosystem, which will lead to the inevitable “death” of the ocean. In turn, the “death” of the ocean inevitably entails the death of all humanity.
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Almost 3/4 of the surface of our planet is occupied by oceans. Water is a precious liquid, nature's gift to our planet. It is not found in such quantities as on Earth anywhere in the solar system. Water is the basis of all life processes, the only source of oxygen in the main driving process on Earth - photosynthesis.
Currently, humanity uses 3.8 thousand cubic meters. km. water annually, and consumption can be increased to a maximum of 12 thousand cubic meters. km. At the current rate of growth in water consumption, this will be enough for the next 25-30 years. Pumping out groundwater leads to subsidence of soil and buildings and lowering of levels groundwater tens of meters.
The term “World Ocean” was introduced into science by the prominent Soviet geographer and oceanographer Yu.M. Shokalsky. By this name he meant “the totality of that water shell of the globe, the main feature of which is salinity.” “The ocean is a storehouse of colossal biological and mineral resources, a means for intercontinental connections, a generator and regulator of the climate - is now becoming a factor that directly determines the future of humanity, the future of each of us.”
Are the world's oceans really under threat? Unfortunately, this question must be answered in the affirmative, without any hesitation. And the danger to the ocean is brought by man himself with his frivolous, soulless attitude towards the riches of the sea.
The modern technological revolution has assigned the World Ocean the role of a giant “garbage dump”. The total weight of polluting waste - oil, industrial and domestic (sewage) waste, garbage, radioactive waste, heavy metals discharged into the World Ocean is billions of tons per year. The shelf (continental) part is the most polluted, especially in areas where seaports are concentrated, which is the second factor after fishing in reducing the biological wealth of the ocean, because The continental shallows are the habitat of 95 - 98% of the ocean's inhabitants.
Marine pollution means the introduction by humans, directly or indirectly, of substances and energy into the marine environment, which leads or may lead to such harmful consequences as harm to living resources and life at sea, danger to human health, interference with maritime activities, including fishing and other legitimate uses of the sea, a decrease in the quality of sea water used and deterioration in recreational conditions.
The main disaster for the ocean is oil. Oil and petroleum products enter the ocean during transportation by tankers, during oil production on the coastal shelf, and during the washing of empty tanks of the oil tanker fleet and engine rooms of ships. Oil forms a film on the surface of water only 0.001 cm thick (each drop of oil covers 20 square meters of surface with an impenetrable film). This sharply reduces gas and water exchange between the ocean and the atmosphere, destroys microorganisms, fish, seabirds. Heavy metal ions, pesticides and other harmful substances accumulate in the film.
The consulting firm Cutter Information Corporation analyzed which regions of the planet experience oil spills most often. As part of the study, statistics were checked for the period from 1960 to 2005, and only fairly large accidents were taken into account, as a result of which more than 10 thousand gallons (34 tons) of oil and petroleum products ended up in the water. The largest number of accidents occurred in the Gulf of Mexico, off the Northeast Coast of the United States, in the Mediterranean Sea, in the Persian Gulf and in the North Sea. According to estimates by the US National Research Council, almost 1.5 million cubic meters of oil and petroleum products enter the water annually, about 45% of leaks have natural causes. Approximately 5% of oil ends up in seas, oceans and lakes as a result of the extraction and production process. Transport accidents account for 22% of such spills. The rest of the oil ends up in the water as a result of hundreds and thousands of minor accidents and leaks. The British consulting firm TINA Consultants, involved in preventing oil leaks from oil fields, refineries and pipelines, calculated that for the period from 1995 to 2005, for every 1 million tons of oil produced or stored, there were 0.94 leaks, as a result of which 3.06 ended up in the sea and lake. tons of oil or petroleum products. The Environmental Protection Agency claims that despite all efforts, there are 14,000 oil spills annually in the United States, requiring thousands of specialists to clean up the consequences.
Accidents and leaks on underwater oil pipelines occur regularly and everywhere (for example, the accident in Guanabara Bay, 2000, which resulted in the release of 1.3 thousand tons of oil). The International Federation of Owners notes that from 2000 to 2006. There were 17 tanker accidents resulting in oil spills. As a result, in the 2000s, about 170 thousand tons of oil ended up in the sea.
Consequences of spills: in order to wash one bird covered with an oil film, it takes 2 people, 45 minutes. time and 1.1 thousand liters clean water. Not only flora and fauna suffer from such accidents. Serious losses are suffered by local fishermen, hotels and restaurants, as well as tourism business. The US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration claims that current technologies for combating large-scale oil spills are still ineffective.
Pesticides: Pesticides are a group of man-made substances used to control plant pests and diseases. Pesticides are divided into the following groups: insecticides - to combat harmful insects, fungicides and bactericides - to combat bacterial plant diseases, herbicides - against weeds. They can enter open water bodies with wastewater from the enterprises that produce them, during aerial and ground processing of agricultural land and forests, with rain and melt water, as well as during direct treatment of open water bodies to destroy algae, mollusks, carriers of human and animal diseases, weeds. The influence of pesticides on the inhabitants of aquatic systems can manifest itself in both direct toxic effect(acute or chronic toxicity), and indirectly (decrease in water-soluble oxygen, change chemical composition water, destruction of aquatic insects, etc.). Once absorbed by a filter-feeding organism (for example, a type of planktonic organism), persistent drugs can be deposited in tissues and then enter the body of the fish. In subsequent links of the food chain, the effect of substances with cumulative properties increases several times.
A particular problem is the spread of plastic debris on the surface of the seas and in the tidal zone and surf. Having taken samples of water and sand at 200 points belonging to 20 countries, employees of Japan's largest university, Nihon University, found significant concentrations of bisphenol A (BPA) there. Concentrations harmful substance ranged from 0.01 to 50 ppm. Katsuhiko Saido and his colleagues showed that bisphenol-A can also get into water and sand from polycarbonates, very hard plastics that, contrary to traditional belief, degrade under normal conditions in the ocean. When asked where bisphenol A came from in the ocean, scientists answer - from the garbage. A kind of garbage flow has already formed between Hawaii and California, Japanese researchers complain. From the Japanese coast alone, 150 thousand tons of garbage are washed into the sea every year - a huge pile...
Synthetic surfactants: detergents (surfactants) belong to a large group of substances that lower the surface tension of water. They are part of synthetic detergents (SDCs), widely used in everyday life and industry. Together with wastewater, surfactants enter continental waters and the marine environment.
Heavy metals (mercury, lead, cadmium, zinc, copper, arsenic): heavy metals usually enter water bodies with wastewater from mining and metallurgical enterprises, as well as chemical and light industry enterprises, and through the atmosphere. For marine biocenoses, the most dangerous are mercury, lead and cadmium.
Currently, domestic sewerage in most cases does not correspond to modern sanitary requirements, while its replacement and installation of powerful treatment facilities are extremely expensive. When city sewer ceases to cope with the flow of waste and next to major cities contaminated water is formed, and they try to divert sewer pipes as far into the sea as possible. Of course, such a measure to a certain extent relieves city residents from miasma, but the problem is not solved in this way, since the flow of waste that pollutes the ocean continues with the same intensity. True, it should be recognized that for newly built large industrial enterprises, treatment facilities are usually planned and created.
To solve the problems that have arisen, humanity must radically reconsider its water consumption strategy, otherwise it is in danger of global shortage- this is the conclusion reached by experts from the Stockholm International Water Institute (SIWI) and the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). Analysts say the most serious threat to water security is the irrational use of food, the production of which consumes up to 40% of the fresh water consumed by humanity. Currently, about 1.5 billion people on earth suffer from water shortages, and by 2050 their number, according to forecasts, could grow to 3.5 billion. Already, a number of relatively developed countries, including Brazil, Turkey, Japan, China and Italy are forced to import water for the needs of their agriculture, and the prerequisites for improving the situation are not yet visible. Moreover, in the coming years, water scarcity may turn into an economic factor - in a number of countries, entire industries may be curtailed, the needs of which for water will exceed the capabilities of these states. Water shortages in desert regions will likely cause intense migration.
In 2006 in Moscow, average daily consumption drinking water per inhabitant amounted to 280 liters per day (in the late nineties - 450 liters). For comparison: one resident of Copenhagen consumes about 185 liters of water per day; a resident of London - 170, a resident of Paris - 167 liters.
Experts from the UN Department of Economic and Social Affairs estimate that about half of the Earth's wetlands have been lost, and more than 20 percent of the 10,000 known freshwater species have disappeared or become threatened or critically endangered.
Among the marine inhabitants at risk of extinction, scientists name sharks and sea foxes (stingrays), which are subject to overfishing. Moreover, the situation with the inhabitants of fresh rivers is no better - about 56% of the 252 fresh fish of the Mediterranean are on the verge of extinction. As of 2006, the IUCN Red List describes 1,173 endangered fish species. The depletion of fish stocks ultimately causes a collapse in numbers, since the number of new generations of fish does not cover the number of those caught. For recent years In the North Atlantic, fisheries stocks of cod, hake, sea bass and flounder have declined by as much as 95 percent, prompting calls for urgent action. Global fish catches appear to have peaked. Projections indicate that by 2030 average statistical fish consumption will drop to 11 kg/person.
A key stress on both freshwater and marine ecosystems is habitat degradation, including water pollution, dam building, removal of water for human use, and the introduction of exotic species. An example of a fish that has become endangered due to habitat modification is the pallid sturgeon, a North American freshwater fish that lives in rivers that have all been modified human activity. The depletion of marine fish stocks negatively affects not only food security and economic development a number of countries, but also negatively affects the biologically complex underwater ecosystem
The main strategy that all countries should follow is to significantly reduce or temporarily suspend fishing in devastated areas, take urgent measures to restore the marine ecosystem and improve natural conditions habitat.
