Pristine Ecosystem of Antarctica Tainted By Human Interaction

Not even the pristine waters of Antarctica are safe from being permanently tainted at the hands of human interaction. The native wildlife that makes up the Antarctic ecosystem is now in danger thanks to human activity. The usual suspects that are most commonly at stake with harming the marine life environment all make an appearance, such as pollution, overfishing, introduction of alien species, and other various human activities. The conclusion was made by U.K. and U.S. researchers who were researching the wide range of human activities on the Antarctic Ecosystems. The Antarctic Treaty System, which includes environmental and fisheries management, tries its best to provide an effective framework for the safety and overlooking of the continent. Unfortunately, not all of the potential threats to Antarctica are being properly dealt with. While some of the threats, namely local pollution, can be addressed with more direct impact, unfortunately nothing can be done about carbon dioxide emissions and the other greenhouse gases that have the potential to affect the whole Antarctic region for decades. Richard Ronson, a paleoecologist at the Florida Institute of Technology commented on the issue stating that “Simultaneous action at local, regional and global scales is needed if we are to halt the damage being done to the marine ecosystems of the Southern Ocean.”

This ultimately relates to the course in how we have seen in multiple case studies that our involvement with various ecosystems, for example, the comb jelly (Mnemiopsis leidyi) in the Black Sea, have either interrupted or changed the way that particular ecosystem functions. If it weren’t for the cargo ships discharging ballast water, the comb jelly would never have caused such huge population fluctuations in the Black Sea’s ecosystem. The comb jelly population in the Black Sea skyrocketed, while the zooplankton populations crashed. This cause the oxygen levels to decrease, thereby affecting the entire ecosystem, as oxygen is a key factor in sustaining life. The article also relates to the course in how events in the natural world are interconnected and affect all ecosystems on the globe in one way or another. This is found in how global warming affects the entire planet, even in the areas that are not inhabited by humans.

Based on these facts, I can derive that we as citizens of this Earth must not only realize that our actions are causing the few pure areas on our planet to decay into the rest of our rotting planet, but we must take action in stopping global warming and the destruction of pure environments. We must realize that the southern ocean isn’t the only thing affected by our shortsighted actions, that the pollution and overfishing affects the entire planet as well. In order to keep our planet sustainable, we must make our changes with haste and permanence if we are to survive.