Hi everyone!
We’re at the end of our journey into aquatic pollution; we hope you’ve enjoyed reading about the common forms of aquatic pollution due to tourism in the past two weeks or so, in which we covered the common types of pollution in canals, coastal waters, as well as marine pollution from cruise ships – the three common “C”s we identified in tourism-related pollution.
A brief summary
Right from the start, we introduced concepts relating to aquatic pollution – concepts like plastic pollution, heavy metal pollution, as well as issues like eutrophication due to excess nutrients like Phosphorus and Nitrogen.
We then delved into aquatic pollution in canals, citing a case in Ireland as well as another one in Amsterdam, with the latter being an example of a creative way to manage aquatic pollution by getting tourists to clean the canals while on tour. As we swam on into pollution at coastal sites, the case study of Phi Phi Island was used as way of demonstrating the effects of other aquatic pollution sources like sunscreen and engine oil; a follow-up post was made on the “Phi Phi Island treatment” of closure of tourist areas to ameliorate tourist-induced pollution. Lastly, we swam into deeper waters to reveal the nasty impacts of the lavish cruises we’re used to seeing on television commercials.
Charting murky waters ahead
With environmental issues gaining greater exposure in the world today thanks to vocal climate activists like Greta Thunberg, will aquatic pollution be able to hitch a ride and gain traction as well? Here, as we close our blog’s section on aquatic pollution, we would like to raise a few issues that we think would make the ride to cleaner waters less smooth-sailing:
- Coastal tourist sites can’t simply ban people from entering, especially if the economy of the area depends mainly on revenue from tourism. In the case of Thailand, where Phi Phi Island is situated, the loss in tourist arrivals have decimated the economy – and dreamy resort islands are no exception. In this case, the balance between economic gains and environmental health has to be struck, which is a well-trodden path of debate.
2. Cruise ships are tempted to pretend that they’re not the perpetrators, simply because of the way the ocean currents work – as the oceans circulate both horizontally and vertically through gyres and currents, the oceans transport pollutive substances/objects with them. Ultimately, then, it becomes extremely difficult to trace the pollutants to their source, allowing cruise ships (and indeed many other polluters, including coastal communities) to get off scot-free.
3. Pollution in canals might be just as difficult to mange due to the myriad of pollutant sources that can be associated with a single canal – a tourist may litter into it, tourist businesses might release effluent into the canal, the canal may be polluted from tourist-related recreational activities like gondola rides/motor boat rides… and the list goes on!
We’re still hopeful for the future, of course, but these nuances in terms of managing aquatic pollution due to tourist-related activities have to be taken into consideration even as countries and organisations push for a greener world.
Time to jump ship: goodbye water, hello air
Thanks for swimming with us all this while, but it’s time to get out of the water and take to the skies in the upcoming two weeks. We’ll be moving on to air pollution – so fly with us!