back to index ofchapters1. What does the phrase 'think globally act locally' mean?
Ans. Thinking globally means to think about issues that effect the wholeworld. Acting locally means doing things locally to improve our back yard.
2. Give an example of what you could do to think globally.
Ans. Protest against nuclear disarmament.
3. Name two things you could do to act locally.
Ans. Plant mangroves or recycle oil.
4. What does the phrase 'scoop the poop' refer to?
Ans. Pick up animal droppings so that they don't pollute our seas.
5. Give an example of how materials on a building site could be arrangedto reduce sediment and rubbish pollution.
Ans. Use sediment traps. See Figure 251.3.
6. How does a sediment control fence help save our sea?
Ans. Keeps soils and dirt on the land. Stops soil and dirt from cloggingup filter feeding animals.
7. What is one source of the high levels of zinc that pollutes our seas?
Ans. Car brakes.
8. What happens to paint that is washed down into stormwater drains?
Ans. It ends up in creeks, rivers and the sea.
9. Study at Figure 252.1 and name two activities involving reducing waste;four activities involving reusing materials and six activities involvingrecycling.
Ans.
Reducing selecting packing with minimal packing in the supermarket,taking a box to the supermarket to reduce the number of plastic bags taken
Reusing reusing jars in the kitchen, boxes in the garage, old clothes,containers for garden plants, kitchen scraps, water for plants from washingcar, paper for doing homework
Recycling compost, glass and plastic in bin, old clothes,tyres for swings,
10. Why should we walk only on beach walkways?
Ans. So we don't trample the dunes and sensitive dune plants.
11. Give an example of how a group of surfers got together to changegovernment policy on sewage ocean outfalls.
Ans. They formed an association called the Surfrider Foundation and protestedand lobbied governments to stop polluting the seas with sewage pollution.
12. What is MARPOL and what are its regulations and basic principles?
Ans. MARPOL is an international marine pollution agreement that is partof the international law of the sea convention. This international conventionfor the prevention of pollution from ships prevents people from throwingrubbish overboard from boats and shipping. These regulations apply to allvessels include dinghies, yachts and fishing vessels.
The basic principles of MARPOL are that no plastics are to be throwninto the sea and no garbage discharged within 12 nautical miles of the nearestland.
13. Name any two international campaigns to save the sea.
Ans. Sewage pollution and nuclear waste. Clean up the world day. Banwhaling.
14. Why must the riparian zone be repaired if we are to improve the waterquality of our beaches?
Ans. Repairing the sea starts in the catchment for example by replantingtrees in the riparian zone or building nutrient-absorbing drains. Once thetrees grow they will encourage an undergrowth of plants which will increasethe absorbent power of the soil.
15. What do nutrient-absorbant rubble drains do and how do they helpsave our seas?
Ans. Nutrient-absorbing rubble drains and dam walls made of rocks boundtogether with wire promote the growth of beneficial algae which remove phosphorusand nitrogen from the water as it percolates through. Rubble drains area better drainage system than stormwater pipes that speed up water flowand only pollute the sea faster.
16. Describe how one chemical company became more environmentally friendlyin its production process.
Ans. Some industrial companies are now developing ways to treat theirwaste before discharging it into the sea.
One company that did this was ICI Olefines at Botany, NSW, which producespetroleum chemicals that are used to make plastics. Until 1994, the companywas discharging significant amounts of petroleum waste straight into thesewerage system. These petroleum by-products are difficult to break downat the wastewater treatment plant and can be toxic when mixed with water.In response to stricter controls on wastewater quality, the company designedand constructed new machinery that recycled wastewater for cooling purposesin the plant and reclaimed the petroleum by-products.
This program was highly successful and resulted in a 95 per cent reductionof petroleum in the discharged wastewater which was now clean enough toirrigate company gardens and lawns. In addition, the company significantlyreduced its water consumption and obtained useful by-products from the reclaimedhydrocarbons. Estimates in 1997 showed the company had saved $6.4 millionin three years.
17. Describe how to treat a large oil slick at sea.
Ans. Large spills well out to sea may be sprayed from the air with chemicaldispersants which break up the oil into smaller particles so that they forma bond with the water called an emulsion. In this form, they may be actedupon, broken down and made less harmful by micro-organisms. Unfortunately,dispersants are usually highly toxic and are not recommended for use inwaters shallower than 20 m or within 5 km of the coast
18. How do containment booms work and what are their limitations?
Ans. Response teams can use containment booms (Figure .1), which looklike long chains of floating macaroni and contain oil-absorbing material.Once contained, in calm conditions, the oil can be removed by pumping itonto tankers. Containment booms are not effective in strong waves or currentsbecause the oil can escape over or under them.
19. Describe the steps you would take to clean up a beach if oil cameashore.
Ans. If oil does come ashore, we need to act quickly to save affectedmarine birds and mammals and clean up the beach. At this point everybodyin the community can be involved by forming into organised action groups.
These are some of the jobs that you can do in the action groups. Washoil-coated seabirds and mammals carefully with warm, soapy water then rinsewith salt water. After a suitable recovery period, they can be releasedback into the sea.
Clean up oil on sandy beaches with hand spades, rakes and bulldozers.The oil-contaminated sand can then be removed and replaced by clean sand.Fortunately, beaches can recover very quickly in cases like this.
20. What is the problem with sandmining our coastline?
Ans. Sandmining and seabed mining upset marine habitats. For example,seagrass beds around extraction sites can be permanently ruined and seagrassbeds are the basis of many marine food chains and dune systems which stabilisethe coastal zone. Mining damage may also affect long-term food resourcesand reduce the local area's tourist potential.
21. Draw a diagram of the EEZ around your country.
Ans: Use Figure 259.1
1. Debate the effectiveness of national cleanup days.
Suggestions:
Form two teams and debate the topic.
2. Explain the meaning of the statement ' We may yet have to cure thecause rather than the effect of the problem'.
Suggestions:
Form a discussion group
3. On the internet? - Get involved with world wide save the beaches onhttp://ednhp.hartford.edu/www/nina/beaches2.html.
Suggestions:
Look it up.
4. Find our about nutrient removal drains and apply for a Landcare/Coastcaregrant to build one.
Suggestions:
See your local Environment Protection/Catchment Management Group.
5. Apply for a dune revegetation grant. Work as a team to remove introducedplant species and start a planting program to revegetate the dune systeminto a natural state.
Suggestions:
See your local Environment Protection/Catchment Management Group.
6. Conduct a beach litter survey to see where the most littler on yourlocal beach is coming from.
Suggestions:
Design a litter sheet
7. Design a series of posters and campaign to reduce litter.
Suggestions:
Posters can be A3 or bigger, but use colours
8. Design a drain stencil and, after getting permission from your localcouncil, start a drain spray and leaflet drop program to increase awarenessabout pollution.
Suggestions:
Look carefully at Figure 253.5
9. Look up the address of a marine conservation group in the telephonebook and find out about membership of such groups as Greenpeace, SurfriderFoundation or Worldwide Fund for Nature.
Find out if there are any local branches and how to get involved in activitiessuch as World Environment Day, Ocean Care Day or Seaweek.
Suggestions:
Look up Greenpeace on the INTERNET.
Address are:
10. Ask your school to join education groups such as the Australian MarineTeachers Associations, MESA or the New Zealand Association for EnvironmentalEducation.
Suggestions:
Check out the www.wetpaper.com.au for links
11. Type in Surfrider and Waterwatch to your www. search engine and surfto student pages in Hawaii and Victoria.
Suggestions:
See www references from Chapter 24
12. Find our about acid sulphate soils and how they are caused in thecoastal zone.
Suggestions:
See your local Environment Protection/Catchment Management Group.
13. Write to WaterWise Australia, PO Box 2454, Brisbane 4001 Australiafor a copy of their Envirogroup manual.
· Read up on how to form a local envirogroup.
· Ask for some time off school to make contact with another school'senviroclub and find out how they run their club.
· Form your own club and start some local marine conservationactivities.
· Search for Kingscliffe on your www. search engine and make contactwith this schools enviroclub.
Suggestions:
Do it.
14. Find out about the Dawsville Cut and what effect it had in WesternAustralia.
Suggestions:
Look up information from Western Australian Gov
15. Find out about the Kiwi Conservation Club and how to join and becomeinvolved in its activities.
Suggestions:
Address is:
1. educated
2. generations
3. densely
4. bacteria
5. zinc
6. paint
7. recycling
8. pollution
9. reduce
10. growing
11. worm
12. compost
13. recycling
14. exclusive economic zone.
15. MARPOL
16. garbage
17. ecological sustainability.
18. Waitangi
19. Mabo