Marine Pollution

Fall 2006
Instructor: Markus Huettel

Pollution Photo Every single drop of the 1.4x109 km3 of ocean water contains traces of substances produced by humans, and a large fraction of these materials is toxic. The activities and contaminants generated by the 6 billion people that populate our planet today have dramatic effects on the physics, chemistry and biology of the oceans: we change the sea water level, wave heights and ocean temperature, alter the pH, CO2 content and dump non-degradable pollutants, and deplete fish stocks, eradicate coral reefs and wipe out marine species at unprecedented pace. Continuous growth of the human population, expected to reach 8 billion persons by 2025, will uncompromisingly increase environmental pressure on all marine ecosystems.

Any effective approach to release some of that pressure and to solve marine pollution problems requires profound knowledge of the processes involved and the limitations of corrective measures. This course introduces the student in the complex aspects of marine pollution. We will address sources and types of contaminants, their impact on the marine ecosystems and discuss approaches that could lead to the reduction or elimination of pollutants.