Underwater Garbage Pollution
You may not be familiar with the phrase 'garbage dumping' but it's one of the biggest contributions to the pollution of our oceans. The mindless dumping of garbage results from human beings that dump harmful and/or waste materials into the waterways and oceans. The rubbish dumped can come from sewage, waste water from bathing, general garbage items and especially plastic.

Mother nature can also affect the way in which our oceans are polluted. Heavy rains and floods can cause sewage pipes to overflow for example, which can make its way into rivers and other waterways and then eventually into the ocean. Underwater garbage dumping and sewage pollution have catastrophic effects on the natural environment and to the earth's sea life, causing diseases, beach closures and death to animals and fish. Sea turtles (see photo) naturally eat jellyfish and a plastic bag looks and behaves very similar to a jellyfish. The turtle would think that the plastic is food and many die from suffocation after eating floating plastic garbage in our seas and oceans.

Underwater Oil Pollution
Pollution from oil has serious consequences for the ocean and environment. Every year, it's estimated that more than forty million gallons of oil gets spilled into the ocean accidentally by oil tankers.

However, even more oil is spilled from a non-accidental source, which culminates in more than 60 million gallons of underwater oil pollution every year. The 'sticky' effect of oil tends to glue the feathers of birds and other wildlife, it clogs the gills of fish and a large oil slick can block out natural sunlight. This lack of sunlight causes plants to suffer because they struggle to perform their normal photosynthesis below the slick. Underwater oil pollution also affects the growth and reproduction of the world's coral reefs because coral is especially sensitive to crude oil.

Toxic Pollution
Toxic waste is another serious cause of pollution. Poisonous waste and materials can harm humans, animals and fish. You may question why toxic waste pollution in the ocean is also harmful to human life ? The impact on our health stems from the food chain. If plants and animals become affected, when we eat them, the result can be deadly. Fish can become toxic from the pollution and we eat seafood which can then enter the human food chain.

How does toxic waste end up in the ocean ? The answer is simple. Mining, landfills and farms all potentially produce toxic waste products that can leak into our waterways and land mass, causing possible health problems to humans and fatal consequences to marine animals.

Carbon Dioxide Pollution
How does Carbon Dioxide Pollution harm our ocean life ? During the previous two hundred years, the earth's oceans have absorbed near to 50 percent of the waste gas that humans have produced. The figure is staggering, approximately 120 billion metric tons of the stuff.

Oceans gather Carbon Dioxide from the motion of the currents. The polluted air gets pulled down by deep water currents from the surface which traps CO2 in the ocean. This pollution harms the coral reefs and free-swimming algae.

Although Carbon Dioxide pollution threatens much of our ocean life, it's the species that exists near to the surface that suffer the most. This is mainly due to the way in which the currents gather the gases from our atmosphere. The air above the seas and oceans is being continuously pumped with dangerous carbons from industry, vehicle exhaust systems, boat gases and agricultural machinery.