Marine Debris: A Wicked Problem Impacting Our Environment And Future Generations

What is Marine Debris and why is it a Sustainability Issue?

Marine debris is defined as persistent material of solid that is processed and manufactured and directly and indirectly, unintentionally or intentionally, abandoned or disposed of into great lakes or marine environment (Luo et al. 2021). Anything solid and human waste can easily become debris once they are littered or lost in the aquatic environments. Human trash can be found in every part of the ocean, from remote shorelines to ice in the Arctic and even in the deepest part of the sea. Plastic is one of the most harmful and common debris found in the ocean, including plastic bags, food wrappers, and butts of cigarettes (Luo et al. 2021).  Marine debris has various sizes ranges, from the smallest piece of plastic to huge abandoned vessels. Marine debris is preventable, and it is a problem that humans cause. To achieve sustainable goals, it is very important to stop marine debris and save our natural recourses and future generations (Coe & Rogers, 2012) This paper will show light on marine debris as a sustainability issue and why it is important to prevent marine debris, characteristics of a wicked problem. And why marine debris is considered a wicked problem. This paper further sheds light on why governments cannot solve this marine debris issue, and by applying the iceberg model, addressing marine debris is a wicked problem.

The topic of Marine debris is considered a sustainability issue because this creates water pollution worldwide (Gall & Thompson, 2015). The problem of marine debris creates litter of plastic waste on the surface of water bodies responsible for killing the Marine animals. It is a sustainability issue mainly because the plastic waste exposed to Marine debris in the water bodies is harmful to the coming generations and aquatic life (Coe & Rogers, 2012). Some of the most harmful marine debris is plastic, like plastic bags and food wrappers. It is essential to discuss this sustainability issue as a priority because it is degrading the environmental conditions all over the world. Marine debris is killing and injuring coastal wildlife and causing maritime and fishing industries to lose and threaten human health and safety. It has become a global issue; no part of the world is left by its impacts. It is one of the most common problems of pollution facing waterways and the world's oceans (Coe & Rogers, 2012).  It is essential to address the issue of marine debris for a sustainable environment. Estimates by United Nations show that oceans and sea resources are very critical for human welfare and food security. Due to the debris of oceans, biodiversity is declining, and the climate is constantly changing. Under the 14th UN, sustainable goals clearly state that conserving and sustainably using seas, oceans, and marine resources is an essence now (Eisfeld-Pierantonio et al., 2022). More than 3 billion people depend upon coastal biodiversity and marine for their livelihood. Ocean supports the life of our planet, and it also regulates global climate systems. The most extensive ecosystem in the world is living below our ocean. These oceans and fisheries support the world's social, economic and environmental needs. It is essential to reduce the ocean's debris to make a sustainable environment (Gall & Thompson, 2015). Our oceans absorb more than 23% of the greenhouse emissions generated by activities of humans, and oceans also help extenuate the impacts caused by climate change. 5 to 10 million metric tons of plastic waste are thrown into the ocean. 89% of plastic bags are found on the floor of the oceans, primarily single-use plastic (Gall & Thompson, 2015). To create a sustainable future, carefully managing essential global resources is critical. Saving oceans is the priority, and it is imperative to reduce the impact on our planet and people's health. It should be effectively managed with new rules and regulations that reduce the effect of marine debris, marine pollution, ocean acidification and overfishing for creating a sustainable environment (Gall & Thompson, 2015).

The Harmful Effects of Marine Debris on Marine Life and the Importance of Prevention

Wicked problems are tough to solve, and the current challenge is related to social and cultural problems. These problems are challenging to solve because many people and opinions are involved. It creates a significant economic burden due to contradictory and incomplete knowledge (Sheavly& Register, 2007). This case is a wicked problem because the increased amount of debris in the world's ocean harms health and the ecosystem, killing many animals. People's health is also at risk because tiny plastic particles dissolved in water may result in the food and water used for consumption. Marine debris causes many problems, including the ecosystem, people, and economy (Sheavly & Register, 2007). Much wildlife becomes knotted in nets of fishing and packing bands of plastic. This debris wraps around the animals cuts down their bodies and makes swimming difficult. Also, dirty and waste thrown on the beaches directly affects the tourism industry and recreation. The tourism sector wholly depends on ocean resources, healthy coastal, and the aesthetic qualities of our environment (Löhr et al., 2017). Marine debris is also responsible for non-native transport and hitchhikers, and many animals attach to marine debris and travel to the areas where they are not found. It must be noted that some debris like vessels is hazardous for many sea life habitats. This way, marine debris is impacting our environment very severely, and it is everyone's responsibility to reduce waste thrown in the ocean to create a sustainable ocean environment (Löhr et al., 2017).

Ten characteristics of this wicked problem do not have any definitive formula (Peters, 2017). There is no stopping rule of wicked problems because there is no way to identify a final solution. Wicked problem solutions do not signify true-or-false concepts, and they can remain only good or bad. Wicked problems do not have any instant solution, but every solution is a one-shot operation mainly because every attempt counts, and there is no opportunity to run by error and trial (Peters, 2017). There is no set of the potential solution to the wicked problem as every wicked problem is significantly unique, the wicked problem always has more than one explanation because all clarifications are depended on the perspective of an individual, and the designer/ planner is wholly responsible for their actions, and it has no right/wrong (Peters, 2017). The marine debris problem can be solved by implementing these various characteristics of wicked problems. These problems are solved by becoming eco-friendly and making sustainable seafood choices because fishes play a significant role in creating ocean sustainability. By reducing carbon footprint, it is possible to make sustainable enticement of oceans (Peters, 2017).

The government of all the nations together failed to solve the problem of marine debris because of improper planning. Many projects are made for cleaning plastic waste. Many are regularly implemented, but the main issue most the government faced was not creating a proper law for plastic waste. Cleaning marine is not easy because debris size is minimal (Agamuthu et al., 2019). These sizes match with sea animals and nets created to take debris from the ocean and catch sea animals. Many nets are designed to catch garbage, but the ocean's size makes it very time-consuming. The government cannot reduce plastic dependency, and people use single-use plastic daily like straws, packaging, plastic cups, and plastic bags. The government needs to build proper laws or completely ban disposable items (Agamuthu et al., 2019). Governments cannot establish an actual target for reducing plastic and waste consumption. In the last 50 years, the production of plastic has doubled, and the government cannot increase producer responsibility due to this per capita plastic consumption being 43kg; however, in 1974, it was 2kg per capita (Agamuthu et al., 2019). These things are taking the world in the wrong direction. Government is not able to increase taxes and fees on polluting plastics. Today, many plastics are made of oil, which badly impacts our climate. Fossil plastic costs less than renewable plastic, for this government needs to investigate implementing a tax on plastic that is polluting. Governments cannot increase waste management due to this increasing daily problem. In December 2017, the Environmental assembly of the UN was working on a goal to stop the discharge of plastic waste into the sea (Agamuthu et al., 2019).

Marine Debris: A Global Problem Impacting Our Environment and Economy

The iceberg model is a system thinking tool designed to help people or groups and determines the forms of behaviour and mental modes that highlight specific events and supporting structures (Thordal-Christensen, 2020). An iceberg is a tool that helps shift the individual's perspective, and everyone notices beyond immediate events. The iceberg model helps cover the roots of the causes of why these problems are occurring and the reason behind all these problems. It is only possible by looking at lower levels of thought within the system without immediately apparent (Bigg, 2020). Most of the pressurizing issues like sustainability are not related to technical problems. System thinking helps make knowledgeable choices that are important in addressing the wickedness of the problem. It encompasses data observing or events that play an essential role in analyzing how a system expands and works in various choices available for our thinking and broadening and articulating problems in many different ways (Bigg, 2020).  The iceberg model way of solving wicked problems is that it is needed to describe and observe what is happening and why it is happening. This is the first step towards it, and if people duplicate, they would have better results. This step leads to discovering the problem (Thordal-Christensen, 2020). Sustainability of marine debris problems is identified in this step, and now people will work according to the events in oceans. Trends and patterns- this is the second step in the iceberg model. This part shows the trends and patterns of marine debris, like which patterns are occurring. Whether this similar pattern has happened before, and which type of trends have people started seeing in marine debris (Bigg, 2020). All shows the trends and what type of solution is offered by seeing these trends while analyzing the wicked of the problem. Structures and systems identify the things, behaviours, and procedures contributed. While understanding the wicked problems, system thinking plays a significant role in identifying more related problems and dividing them into groups why they are regularly occurring (Thordal-Christensen, 2020).

At last, it defines the mental models that show the assumptions and beliefs that are shaped and create the triggers/systems by which these marine debris problems are occurring. The iceberg model of system thinking is a tool that is designed in helping groups and individuals in discovering the patterns of supporting structure, behaviour patterns, and models of mind that help in underlining a particular event of marine debris (Bigg, 2020). The event level of the iceberg is known as the first level of the iceberg model. The observed events are the oceans problems observed recently. Patterns level and structural level are followed equally. This iceberg model is advantageous in analyzing the problem, and thus it makes marine debris find the solution for sustainable growth of the oceans (Horejs, 2020).

Conclusion

Marine debris is a global problem, and it arises from across national boundaries and multiple sources. Governments take various initiatives worldwide to stop the marine debris problem. Our ecosystem is damaged due to this problem because it impacts life below water. It is directly related to global warming. By using less plastic, avoiding chemical fertilizers, and recycling, it is possible to reduce the effect of marine debris pollution. Many people are started participating in the river and ocean clean-up. It is a very effective technique in reducing the effect of marine debris. Many non-profit organizations are working towards sustainability of ocean pollution by reducing their effect on the environment are; 5 Gyres, Algalita, plastic soup foundation, oceanic society, plastic pollution coalition and many more. Small donations to these organizations make a big difference in the environment. In this way, marine debris can be controlled and reduced. For achieving UN sustainability goals, ocean pollution is very important to solve.

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