Saving the Oceans: Combatting Pollution and Raising Awareness through the Mass Media

Abstract

Oceans form an essential part of human existence. Half of the oxygen in the atmosphere is provided by the oceans while providing habitation to millions of species. For these reasons, oceans ought to be protected. But on the contrary, the oceans have been neglected, and humans are slowly killing these massive waters (Johns and Jacquet, 2018). The mass media stands a higher ground of informing the public on the importance of marine conservation. Mainly, pollution is a result of human activity. Through the proper channels, information could be passed, and people could be more cautious about ocean conservation activities (Stoll-Kleemann, 2019). Unfortunately, the mass media is usually a vital organ in which such information could be passed across, but its effectiveness is lacking as far as marine conservation is concerned. The most severe pollution in the oceans is plastics, and the mass media has its works centered elsewhere. Globally, there is usually low coverage in matters about marine life in the newspapers and the television broadcasts, radio, and the internet, which form the effective forms of mass communication. The mass media has been neglected due to late concentrated world business and economics and information about marine conservation (Johns and Jacquet, 2018). Research revealed that soon the ocean is expected to have higher quantities of valuable resources, and with this in mind, there has come the need to preserve the integrity of the oceans. This is because people have engaged in all activities, including small-scale desalination. There has been advancement in technological advances, increasing the contamination effects in the oceans. The industrialization has hurt the ocean ecology through the industrial and municipal discharge of wastes in the oceans (Stoll-Kleemann, 2019). Combustion of petroleum, chemical wastes, and sewage disposals has brought attention to the need for controlled use of resources and planned disposal of waste products in the oceans. There are still concerns about other contaminants like insecticides and pesticides, which have adverse effects on ocean life. These pesticides and insecticides have tended to increase the levels of lead in the water surface within the oceans, further negatively affecting marine life. Research done in the early 21st...