1 Introduction
1.1 General
In the years 1968-1972, public concern was greatly attracted to the problem of the
pollution of the ocean: press and television reported on it and marine scientists were
pressured by politicians research the questions of marine pollution. In the meantime,
public interest has turned elsewhere to the energy question and economic crises, and
interest in things relating to marine pollution has decreased. In 1980, however, dump·
ing of sewage sludge and of wastes from titanium dioxide fabrication caused consider·
able public concern in the Netherlands and in the Federal Republic of Germany.
There is a general feeling that the sea, the last paradise on earth, must be kept clean
at any price. However, according to my information, there are good reasons for a
decreasing interest in matters of marine pollution:
First, measures were taken to lessen or even to prevent pollution of the sea in coastal
regions or by ships. New industrial construction in coastal areas is being strictly moni·
tored by agencies and by public interest groups. Treatment plants are under construction or in the planning stage. Laws have been passed, and regulatory agencies are
beginning to achieve positive results. By virtue of this, it has been possible to prevent
new catastrophes and to stop, or at least slow, insidiously damaging processes.
Second, people have come to terms with some threats to marine life because effective
measures to combat them would be so costly that no one would be willing to pay the
price. This can be demonstrated, using the examples of oil and chlorinated hydrocarbons.
Pollution by oil must be combated in the most decisive manner. Everybody knows,
however, that there will be accidents; they could only be eliminated if ocean surface
transportation and subsurface piping were eliminated,
Every year, probably around 80,000 t of chlorinated hydrocarbons, including significant amounts of DDT, continue to reach the world's oceans via the atmosphere. As
long as the underdeveloped countries of the world can point with convincing arguments to the fact that, on economic and technological grounds, DDT is irreplaceable
for combating mosquitoes and cotton-damaging insects, nothing will change. Nothing
will change, that is, unless science advances significant new arguments.
These are just two examples in which oceanographic research finds itself in conflict
between the quality of life and the ecosystem on the one hand and obvious economic
interests and realities on the other.
Third, there have been no new sensational news items about ocean catastrophes in
the years 1971 to 1980, except oil accidents, It has been possible to revise some
gloomy findings from the previous years, findings which initially seemed even more
1
1.1 General
In the years 1968-1972, public concern was greatly attracted to the problem of the
pollution of the ocean: press and television reported on it and marine scientists were
pressured by politicians research the questions of marine pollution. In the meantime,
public interest has turned elsewhere to the energy question and economic crises, and
interest in things relating to marine pollution has decreased. In 1980, however, dump·
ing of sewage sludge and of wastes from titanium dioxide fabrication caused consider·
able public concern in the Netherlands and in the Federal Republic of Germany.
There is a general feeling that the sea, the last paradise on earth, must be kept clean
at any price. However, according to my information, there are good reasons for a
decreasing interest in matters of marine pollution:
First, measures were taken to lessen or even to prevent pollution of the sea in coastal
regions or by ships. New industrial construction in coastal areas is being strictly moni·
tored by agencies and by public interest groups. Treatment plants are under construction or in the planning stage. Laws have been passed, and regulatory agencies are
beginning to achieve positive results. By virtue of this, it has been possible to prevent
new catastrophes and to stop, or at least slow, insidiously damaging processes.
Second, people have come to terms with some threats to marine life because effective
measures to combat them would be so costly that no one would be willing to pay the
price. This can be demonstrated, using the examples of oil and chlorinated hydrocarbons.
Pollution by oil must be combated in the most decisive manner. Everybody knows,
however, that there will be accidents; they could only be eliminated if ocean surface
transportation and subsurface piping were eliminated,
Every year, probably around 80,000 t of chlorinated hydrocarbons, including significant amounts of DDT, continue to reach the world's oceans via the atmosphere. As
long as the underdeveloped countries of the world can point with convincing arguments to the fact that, on economic and technological grounds, DDT is irreplaceable
for combating mosquitoes and cotton-damaging insects, nothing will change. Nothing
will change, that is, unless science advances significant new arguments.
These are just two examples in which oceanographic research finds itself in conflict
between the quality of life and the ecosystem on the one hand and obvious economic
interests and realities on the other.
Third, there have been no new sensational news items about ocean catastrophes in
the years 1971 to 1980, except oil accidents, It has been possible to revise some
gloomy findings from the previous years, findings which initially seemed even more
1