BIOLOGICAL EFFECTS-A GENERIC VIEW

摘要: Our society's concerns with ocean pollution are centered about ourselves. Starting from public health worries about disease transmission from inadequately treated sewage, these concerns have grown to include pollution effects on the marine resources we value. Pollution jeopardizes what resources we can get from the ocean, what services the ocean can or does perform for us, how we can enjoy the ocean, and even how we feel about the ocean.The exploitation of marine resources has been an important factor in the development of the United States. It is not by accident that so many of this country's largest cities are located in the coastal zone. With careful management the oceans can continue to supply us with fish, shellfish, other food or natural products, petroleum, and minerals. But pollution and inadequate care in preventing potential conflicts among competing resource uses can jeopardize our renewable marine resources and disrupt human societies.