Dear Next President,

In our country there is water pollution damaging our oceans, lakes, ponds, streams, and rivers. I have a few ideas to improve the quality of our oceans. We should make water pollution illegal. You and the government must do something about water pollution and stop it before it ruins all of the water on the planet.

People are finding chemicals and trash in seafood and animal fats. Scientists have also found high levels of mercury, which is “liquid silver”, and highly harmful when breathed in by a living creature. The mercury levels rise as it goes through the food chain. In the article “How Plastic In The Ocean Is Contaminating Your Seafood” by Eliza Barclay says “That's why the biggest, fattiest fish, like tuna and swordfish, tend to have the highest levels of mercury, polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and other dioxins.” Imagine eating your favorite seafood dish and biting into a piece of plastic. People are dumping the chemical into the ocean, where is being swallowed and breathed in by animals then which we eat. If water pollution were illegal, the amount of mercury and plastic could be decreased instead of increased.

Humans live off of water. We wouldn’t survive without fresh water to drink. With us polluting the ocean, rivers, streams, ponds, and lakes, our fresh water is not pure enough for us to drink. If we drink contaminated water, this can give us many health problems. In the article “Will Rio be Ready?” by Brooke Ross it reads “According to an ESPN report earlier this year, more than 150,000 gallons of raw sewage flows into the bay every minute. Last summer, athletes from several nations became sick after training in the water.” Not only can people become sick but they can also receive cancer, damage to the immune system, behavioural problems, and reduced fertility.

Some people think that's impractical. In the article “The Earth’s Water Supply Is Not In Danger” by Rob Lyons “Handily, though, natural processes cause seawater to evaporate and form clouds, which then dump their contents onto land—so in most populated parts of the world there is currently sufficient water to supply our needs in an endlessly renewable way.” There is sea water into our supply of drinking water, but when it goes through condensation, it cleans out the salt and pollutants in the water. It costs more money than just dumping it into the ocean. But none of these ideas are as great as they sound.

Even though in the evaporation, condensation, and precipitation, seawater and makes it pure, there are consequences to having too much water and air pollution. If there is too much water and air pollution, instead of purifying the water, it mixes with the other water and oxygen molecules and creates acid rain. We are not able to drink acid rain, and damages trees, and we would loose a big part building supplies. Although filtering water or throwing the trash out might cost more money, I think most people would rather lose money than lose their entire business, beaches, and animals. And without our trees, we would have no oxygen to breathe!

I believe that polluting the ocean should be illegal to businesses and regular people. Not only does it poison our food and make people sick, but pollution can mess up our water cycle. As I’ve outlined, this could ruin our country and our world. Please take this into serious consideration, and best of luck running our country.

Yours truly,

Bree S