Report: Sewage, coastal destruction threaten oceans
Pastor Dale Morgan
Report: Sewage, coastal destruction threaten oceans*
POSTED: 1406 GMT (2206 HKT), October 5, 2006
THE HAGUE, Netherlands (Reuters) -- Sewage is a growing threat to oceans
and seas, putting at risk marine life and habitats as the pollution
problem escalates, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) said in
a report on Wednesday.
The "State of the Marine Environment" report found that substantial
progress had been achieved in reducing oily wastes and organic
pollutants such as long-lived industrial chemicals in the past two
decades but other problems had grown worse.
In many developing countries, between 80 and 90 percent of sewage
entering coastal zones is estimated to be raw and untreated, said the
report compiled by the UNEP global program of action for protection of
marine environment (GPA).
The pollution -- linked to rising coastal populations, inadequate
treatment infrastructure and poor waste handling facilities -- is
putting at risk human health and wildlife as well as livelihoods from
fisheries to tourism, it said.
"In the past we thought the ocean could be our sewage treatment plant,"
UNEP executive director Achim Steiner told a news conference in The Hague.
"But we cannot do that any more as even in the Arctic we see two-three
times increase in concentration of mercury in seals and whales," Steiner
said.
The report estimated that an additional $56 billion is needed annually
to address the global sewage problem. UNEP said countries should make
polluters contribute to the bill.
There is also a rising concern over the increasing damage and
destruction of essential and economically important coastal ecosystems
like mangrove forests -- needed for coastal defenses and fisheries, as
well as coral reefs and seagrass beds.
Population pressure
Growing coastal populations and overuse of marine resources are the main
source of the problem, the UNEP said. Close to 40 percent of the world's
population live on the coastal fringe.
Threatened areas include the North Sea's bed, coral reefs in South East
Asia, wetlands in North America, Southern and Western Africa, mangroves
in many Caribbean countries, Ecuador and Colombia, and fisheries in
Latin America.
The report also noted increasing levels of pollutants from sources like
agricultural fertilizer, manure, sewage and fossil fuel burning, with
the problem spreading from developed to developing countries as well.
This has led to doubling of the number of oxygen deficient coastal "dead
zones" every decade since 1960, and degradation of seagrass beds and
emergence of toxic algal blooms.
The UNEP highlighted progress made in reducing global oil and chemicals
pollution. The world has cut oil discharges from industry and cities by
nearly 90 percent since the mid-1980s.
But concerns of further oil pollution remain as climate change and the
loss of ice is opening up the North East passage across the roof of the
world to shipping and oil exploration.
The findings will be given to more than 60 member governments of the GPA
initiative at a meeting in Beijing on October 16-20 to encourage a
review of their planning and investment strategies to ensure they are
genuinely marine-friendly, the UNEP said.
"An estimated 80 percent of marine pollution originates from the land
and this could rise significantly by 2050 if, as expected, coastal
populations double in just over 40 years time and action to combat
pollution is not accelerated," Steiner said.