Running Head: MARINE POLLUTION AND THE US NAVY
Relationship between Marine Pollution and the US Navy Engineering
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Environmental pollution and conservation of the same have been a great challenge to
mankind over the last two centuries especially after the age of industrialization began. There
have been many forms of environmental pollution ranging from air, to the soil as well as to water
(Gray, 2015). However, this paper is going to focus on marine pollution or rather ocean pollution
by most textile industries, especially in third world countries. The paper is going to analyze the
causes of marine pollution, the effects as well as ways in which it can be controlled and reduced.
However, all these will be discussed in detail and in relation to the field of a US Navy
Engineering. We will see how Navy causes marine pollution, how the marine pollution is
affecting the Navy and also how they can control the same.
First of all, marine pollution occurs when potentially harmful or rather harmful effects
result from the spread of invasive organisms, noise, residential, agricultural and industrial waste,
and harmful particles as well as chemicals in the ocean. Research shows that 85% of marine
pollution is caused by industries (Kant, 2012) Moreover, out of the 85%, more than 69% of the
same represents the textile and manufacturing industries. In most third world countries, most
textile and manufacturing industries do not have good sources and techniques put in place so as
to take care or rather reduce the amounts of pollutants that are deposited into the large water
bodies including oceans and seas. There are many forms or pathways that marine pollution can
occur. They include direct discharge, land runoff, ship pollution, atmospheric pollution, and deep
sea mining (Imtiazudddin, 2012).
Before we look into the effects caused by the textile industries on the marine environment
to eventually cayuse marine pollution, let us look at how the US Navy is playing a role in marine
pollution. We all know that the Navy is associated with huge Naval Ships including survey ships,
commercial vessels, low-frequency sonar platforms, and submarines. All these pose a great
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danger in as far as marine pollution is concerned. The major and the most prominent marine
pollution effect that is caused by these Navy vessels is the marine noise pollution. The noise
pollution has caused the deaths of many marine's aquatic life.
To explain the above, according to Clark (1989), two major reasons why noise pollution
is more prominent in water is because first of all, the speed of noise id thrice as fast is water as
compared to its speed on air and secondly is that the marine life is highly sensitive in as far as
noise pollution is concerned. Marine life is usually disrupted on a serious note due to their
extreme reliance on the sound waves which are underwater so as to perform their usual basic
functions including safeguarding themselves, mating activities and in search for food to ensure
survival. Interruption of such sound waves, therefore, is highly catastrophic to their ways of life
(Clark, 1989). It has been proven that even though these sounds do not have any negative effects
on human beings, they can cause detrimental effects on the aquatic/marine life.
There has been a reported 24% drop on aquatic life in the last five decades especially in
areas prone to these waves like the naval bases (Clark, 1989). The major sources being the
coastal jet ski, naval commercial shipping traffic, seismic airgun vibrations from gas and oil and
the low-frequency sonar that is usually used by the submarine for obstacle detection purposes.
Extreme underwater noise can cause the death of marine life after a few hours of exposure.
Sound causes detrimental effects on the aquatic life. For example exposure to seismic airguns
can cause severe damage to the ears and some of the internal organs of the fish and due to this,
quick death usually strikes.
Moreover, most naval bases have extremely sophisticated labs which encourage
continuous research and innovation programs for their engineers. Due to this, any waste material
that comes out of these research facilities including batteries and other harmful chemicals are
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dumped out to the oceans and seas (Kucuksezgin, 2006). This cause marine chemical pollution
which eventually kills marine life. Therefore, we can see that major naval activities have led to
the cause of marine noise pollution.
According to Kucuksezgin (2006), here are three basic needs that a man possesses
including shelter clothing and food. The textile industries on a global basis are considered to be
huge and are worth over USD $560 and are expected to rise to over USD $800 in the next few
decades due to the rising industries in the third world countries and more so it fulfills the second
most basic requirement of human beings. In third world countries, textile industries are
considered the most common industrial pollutants to air, soil as well as marine. Some of the third
world countries with huge economies when ranked by their Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and
doing extremely well in textile industries and at the same time high levels of marine pollution
due to the same include, Haiti, Comoros, Mali, Ethiopia, Guinea, Afghanistan, Madagascar and
Togo just to mention a few (Slabbekoom, 2015). Along the coastlines of these countries except
Ethiopia are US naval bases. Due to the textile industries, the bases are facing a lot of effects.
First of all, textile manufacturing industries or rather mills to be specific are well known
for their high consumption of both artificial as well as natural resources like a variety of
chemicals and fuel as well as water respectively. They are also characterized by long sequence
process that leads to an eventual production of large amounts of waste be it on land, air and in
water as well. In third world countries, most textile mills are only concerned about making
money and profits while on the other hand do not care what happens to the environment. Clark
(1989) argues that due to the low levels of technologies in these countries, textile mills lack both
proper dumping mechanisms for waste as well as a good technological advancement which will
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help in ensuring that all the waste products released by the textile mills and manufacturing
industries are properly treated so as to ensure safety of the environment before they are released.
Textile mills usually generate oxides of Sulphur and nitrogen from their ovens and
boilers (Kucuksezgin, 2006). Considering this fact, since the mills use a lot of water during its
operations ranging from the washing of finished goods, dyeing, bleaching and also washing of
fibers, the large amounts of water that is produced after use contains a lot of chemical
substances. Due to the lack of proper treatment of such water before being released into the
water sources, they are drained into larger water bodies which will eventually harm the marine
life. Kucuksezgin (2006) also says that the most common contributor to foaming and BOD as
well as effluent aquatic toxicity include surfactants and compounds like dispersants, emulsifiers,
and detergents. All these are found in untreated waste products from the textile mills.
When these waste products (chemicals) comes into contact with any form of metallic
substance, they corrode them. This has always been a challenge to the naval warships,
submarines as well as naval commercial ships and sonar devices on the sea. Since they are made
of iron and steel alloys as well as copper when it comes into contacts with these chemicals, they
become corroded and their life of service is reduced (Gray, 2015) It also makes it difficult for the
naval engineers on deciding what they should do between innovating new ways of attacking their
enemies or deal with the problem of corrosion.
Moreover, as Navy seals, even though in the field of engineering, swim on a daily basis
in the sea either as part of their usual routine training program or when performing their own
research (Kant, 2012). However, while doing this, they are in a greater danger. This is because
the waste products released into the oceans and seas by the textile mills as discussed above
contains effluents that are in liquid form and of molecular sizes which are non-biodegradable and
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they can easily enter into the skin of a human being while swimming in the affected water for a
longer period of time. When this happens, these substances accumulate in the primary body
organs. This has led to serious diseases like cancer, tumors as well brain damage among others
just to mention a few among the Navy engineers who are involved in innovations.
Based on the above discussion and analysis, we can see that the US Navy plays a vital
role in ensuring that they reduce marine noise pollution. As US Navy engineers, they to come up
with a new way they can navigate through the sea without using any form of sonar radar
(Imtiazuddin, 2012). Also, for the time being, they should come up with a way that will ensure
the frequencies of the sonar radar are well spread out so as to ensure full attenuation and at the
same time reducing the bandwidth between the frequency strings. This way, they will be able to
reduce noise pollution through sonar frequencies.
It is also the responsibility of the governments of the third world countries to ensure that
they enact laws and policies that will ensure that any textile milling and manufacturing industry
is forbidden from and prevented from dumping its waste products to the oceans and seas before
treating them to ensure the safety of the marine life (Gordon, 2003). Gordon (2003) also argues
that the same governments should also form environmental bodies that will help in enforcing
these laws and policies. By doing this, reduction in marine pollution will be reduced and the
navy seals will be benefited since they will not have to deal with the problem of corrosion by
their ships in their undersea naval bases.
In a nutshell, based on the above critical analysis about marine pollution which has
turned out to be a global impact and its relation to the US Navy and textile mills in third world
countries, it can be concluded that marine pollution has turned out to be a great menace. It is,
therefore, the responsibility of naval engineers to ensure that they curb marine noise pollution
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and the governments of the third world countries to ensure that they carb marine chemical
pollution through direct blast marine water pollution. Both can do this through innovation by the
naval engineers and enacting laws and policies together with the bodies to enforce them by the
third world countries' governments. This way, we will be able to guard our marine life.
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References
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