Marine pollution in Hong Kong

Marine pollution in Hong Kong

Marine pollution takes place when the harmful effects are perceived to occur from the entry into the ocean of items like chemicals, particles, agricultural, and residential wastes. At some point, noise and the invasion of organisms into the waters is also a form of marine pollution. The major part of marine pollution is perceived to be coming from the land. Air pollution also facilitates contamination through the carrying off and disposing of pesticides or any form of dirt to the waters, thus causing harmful effects to its habitats. Hong Kong is a city that is located on the South coast of China. The South China Sea surrounds it, and also it’s at the edge of Pearl River estuary. The western waters of Hong Kong are affected by the Pearl River estuary, more especially during the summer season. On the Eastern side, the waters are affected by the oceanic currents, like the Haina currents summer and Kuroshio during the winter season. The tropical cyclones and also the monsoon winds play a significant role in polluting the marine lives of the Hong Kong waters. The essay will help in discussing the major causes of the pollution affluent, solution, and the recommendations to be employed shortly to save lives.

Challenges to Hong Kong’s marine environment

Hong Kong’s water problems begun to increase in the year 1980, after there was an increasingly urban and industrial development. Pressure on the territory issues was experienced, making it hard for the environment to be able to control the affluent, thus a significant strain by the water bodies. The sewage and wastewater from the homesteads ended in the water bodies. However, the bulk of all these affluent had received little or no treatment, since the sewer services had not developed to help in treating the water. This water and sewage led to the organic and inorganic form of pollution, thus causing the reduction of oxygen supply in the water. Since there are living organisms that are living in the seas, they end up suffocating and dying because of lacking oxygen supply. The problem of industrial and homestead affluent is still experienced up to the current era since the population, and industrial development keeps growing day by day.

Marine life was at risk, since the explosion of Hong Kong’s pollution, because by the year 2005, the population had risen to at least 7 million. All these people were disposing of their tones of effluent to the water bodies. The increased development of new towns by the government led to the increased works of construction of new housing facilities. However, the sewerage system was strained, leading to leakages of the waste products to the water bodies. For instance, Sha Tin and Tai Po are among the town that was built on water catchment areas of Tolo Harbor, thus increasing the pollution effects to the living things living in the water.

Pollution from the ships is another primary source that is caused by oil spillage. The ship oil is toxic to marine life. However, the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons found that cleaning oil in water is very difficult because it will float on the water surfaces. Oil can last for a coup of years on water as sediments that have been disposed of, preventing Oxygen from entering the water bodies. The use of the ship in water bodies can also cause noise pollution to the living things living in such environments. This alone causes disturbance to such living things that are living underwater. The ship is, therefore, a significant source of pollution in the current era due to the increased cargo transport through the sea and oceans.

The solution to the marine pollution problems in Hong Kong

It is the responsibility of the government to ensure that it has created a blueprint through which human beings next to water bodies have protected marine life. According to the Water Control Zones, they give geographical boundaries each year to the government to help in facilitating nay measure that is to be employed in such areas. The government will ensure that it has qualitative water objectives and other discharge standards that are to be followed to facilitate any form of disposing to the water bodies. Treatment of the wastewaters before discharging it is a significant solution since most people are eliminating such affluent to the water bodies, in their raw forms.

As per the environment protection department, sea transport should be improvised to reduce any form of leakage while in transit. This will help in reducing oil on t eater surfaces. During the manufacturing of the ships, technology will be improvised to help in reducing any form of noise pollution that may be in place to regulate disturbances of the sea living things. The sewerage system is repaired from time to time to reduce any form of leakage of the human waste effluent to the water bodies. The increased levels of connectivity as well will help at directing all the effluents in one direction. It is, therefore, up to the government and fellow citizens of Hong Kong to ensure that they maintain the environment and any form of hygiene that will help at preventing the marine life since they cannot manage on their own.

The government will have to introduce the concept of manufacturing those plastics that can rot when exposed to the water environment. Some water surfaces that are covered by the hyacinth are bound to be harvested for different purposes so that there should be an open way through Oxygen enters the water bodies. The government will also work out in reducing the instances through which they will regulate the sewage leakage from each homestead, making it hard for such cases. Deep-sea mining should be regulated, making it possible to reduce any form of pollution, through noise or and oil spillage safeguarding the lives of the marine living organisms.

The Hong Kong government is the key stakeholder in the fight against marine pollution. Other departments are working closely with the government to ensure that they have mitigated the problems that are encountered by the affluent that are disposed to water bodies. Environmental protection department (EDP) is a body that is meant to monitor the marine waters and measure the extent of pollution to facilitate quality changes to safe marine life. Harbor Area Treatment Scheme (HATS), works out on the treatment of the sewage and any form of discharge to the water bodies. At least 75% of the effluents are being treated before its release to help at regulating the health of marine life. During the times of El Niño, it’s up to the metrological departments to ensure that all is in place to help at preventing any leaking and discharge to the water bodies. The citizen as well is stakeholders must ensure that they have maintained secure codes of conduct in preserving marine life since some of those living things are as food. It is, therefore, evident that there are no significant stakeholders in the control of marine pollution. Still, instead, all human beings and government departments must work together to regulate the environment.

Recommendation

The Hong Kong institutions will introduce an education system where students will be taught about research skills to help shortly. The increased research centers will give room for the young researcher to venture into inventing ways through which pollution can be reduced, thus saving marine life. It is also recommended that the use of plastic papers and other plaything materials should be reduced to help with the number of depositions on water bodies. For instance, the use of plastic bags will have to be reduced to assist in creating room for the treatment of debris. The government should come up with means through which the waste products should be recycled to reduce their amount in the water bodies. According to the US, it used to experience the same form of polluting. Still, after thorough measures, it was possible for the actions that were put in place, which facilitated the reduction in the fast-growing rates. China is another state that has increased industrial production because of technology. However, it has managed the pollution effects in the water bodies through the introduction of strict measures that have facilitated recycling and reduction of emissions. Some countries have introduced enormous penalties and fines, for anybody who is found disposing waste products into the water bodies. It is, therefore, the responsibility of every citizen to ensure that they protect marine life through their daily undertakings.