Sophia S. New Jersey

Ocean Pollution

Ocean pollution is beginning to invade our oceans and affecting our food resources, animals and industries.

Dear President,

 President John Kennedy once stated, “We are tied to the ocean. And when we go back to the sea,whether it is to sail or to watch- we are going back from whence we come.” The ocean is interdependent with us because we depend on earth's waters everyday by eating the creatures from it,exploring, tools, and more. John Kennedy shows a great example by how the ocean and us are both useful and helpful together. However, Ocean Pollution is a major concern because it is harmful to us and affecting our ecosystem.

Pollution gets into our water in other ways too. Pesticides farmers spray onto farms, to have healthy crops. Pesticide travel into soil like water because they are liquids. That liquid could easily travel to our waterways. The amount of toxins in water can cause tons of marine life deaths. Marine life animals could absorb toxins in water and suffocate because of the toxins contaminating sea animals, sea food industries will shrink and people will lose jobs.

The amount of fish affected with toxin has not only affected the seafood industries, but other industries as well. www.biologicaldiversity.org claims fish are not the only victims, but also land animals that eat sea creatures, their predators. Animals such as deer, bear and seals are some of the animals that can get easily affected by this and possibly become extinct. This affects other industries because without animals people wouldn’t be able to use them for clothes,food,medicine, and more. We are all part of the chain of life. If poison enters anywhere, the whole chain is affected.

We are also the cause of these disasters because according to www.seaweb.org our everyday products like, disinfectants, contain toxic and people don’t discard it properly without realizing. What some people do is either flush, or rinse toxin products into drains. Once the toxin goes through the drains, it leads straight to waterways. Oil Drilling, transportation vehicles and mining operations also create pollution because we use it as well. If we create biodegradable and arrange strategically, water pipes will be a huge spent. This use to be the one main solution ,but now since we have more power and solutions people like us realize it is a good solution,but way to expensive . People know that water pollution is bad, but some people may not support because they may think changing Pesticide spray for farms is not helpful and the amount of money to adjust is expensive.

I understand changing from Pesticides spray for farms is risky especially for our entire food industry, however there are other ways to produce and use biodegradable products. According to worldwatch.org the article states farmers can do their part too, by using different techniques to make our environment safe. For example when planting or farming crops, they could use crop rotation, inter-cropping and, crop diversity too. We’re not just talking about farmers and crops,but also each individual can start to use non-toxic items. This process may take time, but everything is little by arranging certain crops together. This will also prevent the farming industry to run out of business. Same for us, if we also take charge of our products we could also achieve water free pollution.

Water pollution has affected our environment and needs to stop before these events become more serious. Our part is to try our best to be aware of the items we use daily and remember to use non-toxic items. It may take time, but it also isn’t impossible to stop. That’s why water pollution is an important issue.

Sincerely, Sophia 

Brielle Elementary

Eighth Grade Citizens

The students in the eighth grade who wished to post their letters are featured here. Students worked for several weeks in both Social Studies and Language Arts classes, crafting their arguments. They participated in Penpal Schools Decision 2016 as well as Media Literacy Week.

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