Marine pollution and ecological destruction
Environmental problem is a complex problem faced by human beings, and it is difficult to fully understand it in the limited space here. Mainly divided into ecological damage, environmental pollution and global warming, ozone layer damage, acid rain and other global atmospheric environmental problems. There are other outstanding aspects of environmental problems, such as energy and resources, marine pollution, transboundary movement of hazardous wastes, urban environmental problems, water crisis, loss of biodiversity and so on. The following is just an introduction to marine pollution.
Marine environmental problems include two aspects: first, marine pollution, that is, pollutants enter the ocean, which exceeds the self-purification ability of the ocean; The second is the destruction of marine ecology, that is, under the influence of various human and natural factors, the marine ecological environment is destroyed.
(a) marine pollution
Most marine pollutants are produced on land. Coastal activities such as waste dumping and port engineering construction also discharge pollutants into coastal waters. Pollutants enter the ocean, polluting the marine environment, endangering marine life and even endangering human health.
Waste discharged from industrial production is the main source of marine pollutants, which is concentrated near large ports and industrial cities. 1953- 1970 mercury pollution occurred in Minamata Bay, Kyushu Island, Japan, because the factory discharged mercury-containing waste during the production of organic products. These harmful substances are gradually enriched in fish and shellfish after flowing into the ocean. Finally 100 people were seriously poisoned and died one after another.
The cooling water discharged from nuclear power plants and factories, with high water temperature, often affects marine life when it flows into estuaries or the sea. Pesticides applied to farmland flow into rivers with rainwater, or deposit near estuaries with soil particles, and finally enter the ocean. Occasionally, accidents occur on offshore oil platforms and oil tankers, resulting in oil leakage and overflow, resulting in marine pollution.
(2) marine ecological destruction
In addition to marine pollution, human production activities, such as engineering construction and fisheries (reclamation and overfishing, etc. ), as well as changes in the natural environment such as global warming and sea level rise, will destroy and change the marine ecological environment. Over-fishing of some marine organisms by human beings has led to a decline in the quantity and quality of marine biological resources, and some species are on the verge of extinction.
Some coastal engineering construction and reclamation lack scientific demonstration, which destroys the coastal environment and coastal ecosystem. At present, marine development activities still lack comprehensive and long-term planning, and the comprehensive benefits are poor.
Oil pollution and its monitoring and prevention
Ships in coastal industrial production and shipping routes are the main sources of oil pollution. Therefore, oil pollution areas are concentrated in coastal waters and along sea lanes. Accidental oil spill has attracted public attention because of obvious pollution signs, concentrated pollutants and serious harm, and is also the focus of pollution control at present.
In order to reduce accidents, many countries are experimenting with new crude oil loading methods. Some countries are equipped with cleaning boats to remove garbage and dirty oil from the port surface.
Maritime rights and interests and the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
Since the 1960s, there has been an upsurge of developing the ocean in the world. The rapid development of marine science and technology has become one of the important fields of contemporary new technological revolution. In order to adapt to the new situation of international marine development, protection and management, after more than 20 years' efforts, the international community adopted the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, which came into effect on June 5438+0994165438+10/0/6, 2006. The birth of the Convention on the Law of the Sea has brought great changes to the international maritime legal system. For example, the long-standing dispute over the width of the territorial sea has been resolved; The international seabed and its resources have been identified as the common heritage of mankind.
According to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, 144 coastal countries in the world have the territorial sea right of 12 nautical mile, and the sea area under their jurisdiction can be extended to 200 nautical miles. As their exclusive economic zones, they have the sovereignty to explore, develop, utilize, protect and manage the natural resources of the overlying waters and subsoil of the seabed. The sea area under the jurisdiction of China is 4.73 million square kilometers, which is about half of the land area of China. Therefore, it is increasingly important to strengthen integrated marine management.
The birth of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea has taken an important step towards establishing a new international legal order. However, because the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea should take into account the interests and requirements of all countries, there are still many imperfections and ambiguities. Therefore, in the process of implementation, some new contradictions and problems will inevitably appear. For example, in a closed and semi-closed sea area, the 200-nautical-mile exclusive economic zone advocated by neighboring countries may overlap, and some issues such as island sovereignty disputes and fishery resource allocation may become new factors of tension between neighboring countries and even lead to international conflicts. Therefore, the delimitation of maritime areas and maritime rights and interests under the jurisdiction of neighboring countries needs to be resolved fairly and reasonably by the countries concerned in the spirit of friendly consultation.