In many developing countries, 80-90% of human sewage entering the marine environment is untreated. Large numbers of people, particularly in East Asia, have risen out of economic poverty in recent years, but waste treatment infrastructure has not been able to keep pace with rapidly growing coastal populations. China, for example, has a coastal population of around 300 million (roughly the size of the entire United States), yet has the capacity to treat only 25% of all its wastewater and sewage.
As a result of increasing sewage and pollution levels, fisheries, mangroves, coral reefs, wetlands, and seagrass beds--valuable ecosystems to millions of people worldwide--are all threatened.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) recently released the State of the Marine Environment Report in conjunction with the Second Intergovernmental Review Meeting (IGR-2) of the Global Programme of Action (GPA) for the Protection of the Marine Environment from Land-based Activities, being held in Beijing, China this week (16-20 October).
The report shows that overall progress has been made in curtailing marine inputs of oil and industrial chemicals (the Caspian Sea is a notable exception) as well as securing funding for GPA-related projects.
But several areas show 'mixed' or 'worse' progress:
- Heavy metals
- Sewage
- Marine litter
- Agricultural run-off and nutrient deposition--responsible for toxic algal blooms or 'red tides'
- Physical alteration of coastal zones due to agricultural and urban development
- Changes in sediment mobilization due to dam building, large-scale irrigation, urbanization, loss of forests and land change uses
These trends raise serious concerns about the future impacts on marine life, human livelihoods, and local, tourism-based economies.
Other findings released at IGR-2 include:
The number of low-oxygen "dead zones" worldwide is now estimated to be as high as 200.
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