“Water and air, the two
essential fluids on which all life depends, have become global garbage
cans.”
-
Jacques-Yves Cousteau
Hong Kong is one of the
places where marine pollution is constantly affecting us. Reasons why we always
see trash in beaches and shores is because rubbish we litter in ocean washes
back to land, so we often see millions of pieces of trash on beaches. Pollution
in sea affects marine life drastically and kills thousands of fish daily. While
marine animals gets affected by our pollution, we consume a large portion of
fish daily which caused fish species to get endangered. 
One of the endangered species
in Hong Kong is the Chinese White Dolphin. From a population of 159 dolphins,
it decreases drastically with only 61 individuals left. The threatening reason
behind its decrease in population is largely due to threatening marine
pollution and over-fishing.
Results of Chinese tradition
of eating shark fin has widely affected the population of shark. Shark fin soup
is an essential dish in wedding banquets and elderly's birthdays.
Environmentalists identifies this problem and campaigns against this kind of
delicacy by raising awareness and boycotting the consumption of shark
fins.
Another endangered species is the Giant Panda. Pandas only live in mountainous regions in central China. Pandas cannot be found in any other place except for China. In 2004, only 1,600 pandas are left alive in the wild.
The elephant species, which is found in parts of Asia and Africa is also an endangered species. According to World Wild Life, elephants number drastically dropped in the 20th century due to massive ivory trade.
As stated above, new species have been found but old species are on the verge of extinction. Many of the reasons that led to their extinction is due to human activity, ruining their habitats and routines. By littering our ocean, marine animals get affected by the polluted water they live in and might die because of toxic substances that was released. Another reason for their ruined habitats is the trees that were cut down in forests, Because of our demand in paper and tissue, more and more trees have been cut down to supply us. But have we ever thought that our paper we use probably came from an animal's home? Please be conservative of your resources and use the amount you needed.
Another endangered species is the Giant Panda. Pandas only live in mountainous regions in central China. Pandas cannot be found in any other place except for China. In 2004, only 1,600 pandas are left alive in the wild.
The elephant species, which is found in parts of Asia and Africa is also an endangered species. According to World Wild Life, elephants number drastically dropped in the 20th century due to massive ivory trade.
As stated above, new species have been found but old species are on the verge of extinction. Many of the reasons that led to their extinction is due to human activity, ruining their habitats and routines. By littering our ocean, marine animals get affected by the polluted water they live in and might die because of toxic substances that was released. Another reason for their ruined habitats is the trees that were cut down in forests, Because of our demand in paper and tissue, more and more trees have been cut down to supply us. But have we ever thought that our paper we use probably came from an animal's home? Please be conservative of your resources and use the amount you needed.
TAKE ACTION:
- see trash, pick up trash
- be good role models and spend time in
beaches to help clean up our environment
- be aware of over-fishing and eat less
fish
Sites:
http://www.goodreads.com/quotes/tag/pollution
http://wwf.panda.org/about_our_earth/blue_planet/problems/pollution/
http://sciencecity.oupchina.com.hk/biology/teacher/download/reference/sts_ref_1ch06_04.pdf
http://www.wwf.org.hk/en/whatwedo/conservation/marine/
http://www.wwf.org.hk/en/whatwedo/conservation/species/chiwhitedolphin/status/
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chinese_white_dolphin#Conservation
http://animals.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/giant-panda/
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