Applied Ethics and Sustainability: Pollution and Exploitation of Marine Environment

This report discusses the ethical implications of pollution and exploitation of the marine environment. It covers topics such as synthetic pollutants, plastic waste, and loss of biodiversity. The report also explores the utilitarian theory and its application in solving ethical problems related to the environment.

APPLIED ETHICS AND
SUSTAINABILITY

Applied ethics and sustainability: 1
Contents
Answer a................................................................................................................................................2
Answer b................................................................................................................................................2
Answer c................................................................................................................................................3
Answer d................................................................................................................................................5
References.............................................................................................................................................7

Applied ethics and sustainability: 2
Answer a
The marine environment is in danger of serious and sustained pollution. This is a biological
issue, but also one with strong ethical implications. In terms of act utilitarianism, the choices
we make and policies frame are based on practical outcomes and must be evaluated in terms
of achieving maximum benefits from amongst a set of possible outcomes. This is a
significant challenge for today’s world. The topic drawn for the report will be pollution and
exploitation of marine environment. Pollution is one of the major issues affecting the marine
life (Allen et al. 2012, p. 2817).
Synthetic pollutants discharged from industries such as pesticides, chemical fertilisers, oil
sewage, herbicides, and plastics are diverted into the water bodies, which affect the marine
life. This contamination affects the food chain and respiration problems globally (Zbyszewski
& Corcoran 2011, p. 367).
Oceans cover 70% of earth`s total surface. Marine contamination affects the physical and
biological characteristics of the coastal area, which threatens the marine ecosystem and
affects its quality (Mambra, 2017). The major causes of marine pollution are discharging of
effluent from industries, human activities, and solid waste run off to rivers and seas. Due to
increasing environmental loss, there is an abundance of damage to the lives of coastal
habitats (Ommer et al. 2012, p. 320).
Marine pollution has adverse effect on both sea turtles and their food. The marine pollutant
kills aquatic life and destroys feeding habitats for sea creatures. For example- Small marine
creatures are on the lower level of the food chain such as plankton who absorbs toxic
chemicals. These chemicals accumulate in animal`s body, which concentrates toxins in the
surrounding water. With the continuous flow of food chain, large animals such as sea turtles

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consume small sea creatures as its food that increases density level of chemical and pollutants
in the water.
Answer b
Pollution is a man-made activity and has to be considered as a major ethical problem. The
addition of plastic to the environment is an outcome of improper disposal. Since plastics are
lightweight, they have the feature of covering long distances and floating on the water
surface. Floating plastics end up in mammals’ stomachs or around their necks. Extra nitrogen
nutrient can create algae blooms. These algae blooms use all the oxygen present in the water.
The level of oxygen drops causing a threat to marine life (Brown 2018).
The appearance of eroded plastic bags is similar to the food they eat. Fishes eat micro plastic,
which resembles phytoplankton. Swallowing plastic debris reduces the stomach capacity,
hinders growth, and blocks the intestines (Ouyang et al. 2015, p. 310). Eighty percent of
plastic floating on the sea surface is expected to create heaps near the seashores. The density
of plastic has been multiplying increasingly over several decades. The water supply is being
put under severe threat due to the population explosion, pollution, and overuse. Polluted
drinking water has become a cause of child mortality (Golden et al. 2016, p. 318). Around 1.9
million children have lost their lives due to contaminated water (Khuroo 2015, p. 45).
Meanwhile, the density of plastic has increased from 4256.6 pieces km-2 to 8966.3 pieces km-
2.
Scientists have discovered that most of ocean oxygen comes from tiny plants called
phytoplankton. The high concentration of plastics in seawater causes oxygen saturation is a
major factor of decline in fish population (Halle et al. 2016, p. 5669). These sites without
oxygen are known as dead zones. Another cause of the unbalanced food chain is acid
leaching from mines that drops the pH level of seawater, and the high content of sulphate

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harms the marine life. The marine ecosystem near coastal areas is being threatened by aquatic
pollution and urbanisation. Reportedly, the Mississippi river contains nearly 1.5 million tons
of pollutants and carries it to the Gulf of Mexico (Mallin et al. 2015, p. 407). Dumping the
industrial waste and sewage in the water bodies is the cheapest way to dispose wastes.
Industrial wastage contains mercury, DDT, and cryolite, which eventually brings the
ecosystem under threat (Mambra, 2017).
Answer c
To solve ethical problem using ethical theory utilitarianism-
The aim of the question is to explore exploitation of the marine environment through the lens
of utilitarian theory. Utilitarian theory turns an ethical lens on marine wildlife. The ethical
theory of utilitarian extends and brings moral concern to animals. Business organisations
utilise available resources to maximise profit to attain economic benefits from the human
perspective (Allen, Jarvis, Sayer, & Mills, 2012, p. 2817).
There is nothing wrong in using resources to meet the business aims but there is a need to
reduce the negative impact of an imbalanced ecology and loss of marine life. The central idea
regarding utilitarian is the act of decision making which satisfies all the interested parties.
Utilitarian is recognised as universal because it always thinks of an action that does not harm
anyone and anything. It is considered as a welfarist ethic that focuses on maximising gain and
pleasure and minimising pain (Mambra, 2017).
The utilitarian theory demands critical examination of benefit claims to check whether the
benefit claims are valid or not. Utilitarianism implies that every human or non-human activity
should be considered equally while evaluating decision-making actions. However, from birth
until death, the environment lends its resources to humans to spend their life. Nature and the
environment can fulfil various necessities of human existence. One major initiative towards

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protecting the marine and environmental ecosystem is to make available peaceful and secure
homes for different living animals (Mallin et al., 2015, p. 407).
Excessive nitrogen content in a marine ecosystem creates dead zones. People focus on
working and satisfying their own interest and selflessness. Many ethicists argue that
utilitarianism must be complemented by more principles to justify maximum welfare
production. Environmental ethics creates an ethical relationship between people and the
environment they live in. Utilitarianism is a consequentialist theory in which actions are
either wrong or right depending on the result of decision (Ommer, Perry, Murray, & Neis,
2012, p. 320).
Utilitarian theory is identified as a teleological theory (Sigler, 2014, p. 4). The concept of
maximising happiness over pain is considered profitable when it applies to environmental
ethics. For example, in order to handle the issue of the greenhouse effect, the government
decides to plant trees to reduce co2 and maximise clean air. The ethical theory of utilitarian
will give more weight to long-term effects rather than short term (Dobson, J 2011, p. 220).
However, spending lots of money on planting trees can be expensive for the economy.
Directly or indirectly, the government collects its taxes from the public and society, which
may prove financially onerous to the public reducing their personal disposable income.
Planting trees covers hectares of land, which reduces the space for industry establishments,
hampering the growth rate. Due to less available space, the growth rate becomes gradual and
slow. It is not necessary that every human contribute actions to protect the environment.
Taking responsibility for oneself to save the natural resources of the planet is doing one`s
duty for the environment (Tupper et al. 2015, p. 39).

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Answer d
Problems are solved to achieve long-term sustainable growth. However, it is crucial to solve
the ethical problem of the loss of the fishery ecosystem. The issue of loss of biodiversity
associates risk with cultural identity, risk of regular degradation of the marine ecosystem, loss
of capacity for breeding the remaining species of fishes. The entire ecosystem is being
disturbed and depleted due to human intervention. The loss of the marine ecosystem led to a
decrease in food supply for coastal residents and increased economic losses for the
stakeholders such as government, coastal developer, policy maker, and conservationist
(Rummel et al. 2015, p. 137).
Many people live around the ocean and depend on fisheries for their food. FAO (Food
and agricultural organisation) indicates a red signal for the exploitation of total marine
resources which has already reached 50 percent and remaining 25 per cent are overexploited,
and rest of fisheries around 25 percent could be at risk in next few years (Ocean Atlas 2017,
p. 20).
By solving problems related to contamination of marine ecosystem, it helps to achieve
balance of ecosystem. Environmental dimensions by severe actions such as reporting of
pollution violation like illegal and hazardous waste. In most areas, people are not even
concerned and aware of ecosystem imbalance. Socially, it is a society’s responsibility or
obligation to take care of ecology surrounding them. More often, the environment suffers
from various careless human activities. Misinformation and disregard of Environment
Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 (EPBC Act) can cause negative effects on
the interaction of living beings on the planet. For this social problem, the government should
create awareness programs related to ecological problems.

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While working in industries, humans feel that their lives are being affected due to industrial
neglect. Human health is affected in many ways such as labour work in dangerous industries
and plants. Human intervention causes ecological imbalance because of dangerous fuel
emission vehicles. Recycling and reusing can help the industries in some ways to avoid the
problem of disposing and littering everything. Recycling enables us to utilise those parts of
resources that are not expected to be used such as large material quantities of junk material
paper, packages, newspapers, jars, and bottles. However, nowadays both governments and
businesses keep waste paper so it can either be recycled or used to make new products. The
sustainable growth and the living time of the planet will increase if people show enough
concern and commitment to eliminate pollution from the environment, which will lead to
sustainable growth and serve future generations as well (Dobson, 2011, p. 215).

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References
Allen, R, Jarvis, D, Sayer, S & Mills, C 2012, ‘Entanglement of grey seals Halichoerus
grypus at a haul out site in Cornwall, UK’, Marine Pollution Bulletin, vol. 64, no. 12, pp.
2815–2819, < viewed 2 August 2018>
Brown, DA 2018, The Ethical Dimensions of Global Environmental Issues, viewed 31 July
2018, <https://www.amacad.org/content/publications/pubContent.aspx?d=1292>
Dobson, J 2011, ‘Towards a utilitarian ethic for marine wildlife tourism’ Tourism in Marine
Environments, Vol. 7, Nos. 3/4, 213–222
Golden, CD, Allison, EH, Cheung, WW, Dey, MM, Halpern, BS, McCauley, DJ, Smith, M,
Vaitla, B, Zeller, D & Myers, SS 2016, ‘Nutrition: Fall in fish catch threatens human health,’
Nature, vol. 534, no. 7607, pp. 317-320, < viewed 2 August 2018>
Halle, AT, Ladirat, L, Gendre, X, Goudouneche, D, Pusineri, C, Routaboul, C, Tenailleau, C,
Duployer, B & Perez, E 2016, ‘Understanding the fragmentation pattern of marine plastic
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August 2018>
Khuroo, MS 2015, ‘Sanitation and sewage disposal in India’ JK-Practitioner, vol. 20, no. 1-
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Mallin, MA, McIver, MR, Robuck, AR & Dickens, AK 2015, ‘Industrial swine and poultry
production causes chronic nutrient and fecal microbial stream pollution’ Water, Air, & Soil
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Mambra, S 2017 ‘Ocean Pollution: 6 Things That Make It Worse’ Marine Environment,
viewed 31 July 2018, <https://www.marineinsight.com/environment/causes-and-effects-of-
ocean-dumping>
Ocean Atlas, 2017 Ocean Atlas Facts and Figures about Our Relationship with the Ocean,
Viewed 2 August 2018, <Available at: http://oceanrep.geomar.de/38239/1/ocean-atlas.pdf>
Ommer, R, Perry, I, Murray, G & Neis, G 2012, ‘Social–ecological dynamism, knowledge,
and sustainable coastal marine fisheries’ Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability,
vol. 4, no. 1, pp. 316-322 <Viewed 2 August 2018>
Ouyang, W, Guo, B, Cai, G, Li, Q, Han, S, Liu, B, & Liu, X 2015, ‘The washing effect of
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2018>
Rummel, C, Löder, M, Fricke, N, Thomas, L, Griebeler, M, Janke, M & Gerdts, G 2015,
‘Plastic ingestion by pelagic and demersal fish from the North Sea and Baltic Sea. Marine
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Sigler, M 2014, ‘the Effects of Plastic Pollution on Aquatic Wildlife: Current Situations and
Future Solutions’ Water Air Soil Pollut, vol. 20 no. 4, pp. 2-9, < DOI 10.1007/s11270-014-
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Tupper, M, Asif, F, Garces, LR, & Pido, MD 2015 Evaluating the management effectiveness
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42

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Zbyszewski, M, & Corcoran, PL 2011 Distribution and degradation of fresh water plastic
particles along the beaches of lake Huron, Canada. Water, Air, & Soil Pollution, 220(1), 365–
372