Acidification In The Great Gatsby By F. Scott Fitzgerald

With humans producing over 300 million tons of plastic each year, the ocean has become a wasteland for plastic, trash, and other debris. Unfortunately, plastic in the oceans is the leading cause of deaths for marine animals. Seabirds and fish ingest the plastic and then die of starvation as their stomachs are filled with plastic. Likewise, marine life is affected by toxins and runoff that land in the ocean. Between surface runoff and oil spills in the ocean, animals in the sea face calamitous effects. In addition to pollution and runoff, acidification has become a larger problem in the ocean than ever before. This has great importance due to its catastrophic effects on coral and other marine life. In The Great Gatsby F. Scott Fitzgerald describes

According to Ocean Science, the ocean serves as a reservoir for carbon (Hoffman, 161). This is significant because carbon in the Earth’s atmosphere is at an all-time high due to humans burning fossil fuels and increase in deforestation leading to fewer trees emitting oxygen in place of carbon dioxide. Excess amounts of carbon leads to acidification forming, and the acid in the ocean is impacting both fish and coral that have lived in the ocean for millions of years. The acid in the ocean is impacting both fish and coral that have lived in the sea for millions of years. The Ocean Portal Team writes, “a small change in the pH of seawater can have harmful effects on marine life, impacting chemical communication, reproduction, and growth” (p. 7). Not only are these animals effected by trash and debris, but they are also greatly affected by the compounding effects of the pollution. It creates a ripple effect in the sea. The Ocean Portal Team also claims that “Acidification may limit coral growth” and “A recent study predicts that the 2080 ocean conditions will be so acidic that even otherwise healthy coral reefs will be eroding more quickly than they can rebuild” (p. 9). Ocean acidification has become a major effect of pollution and will become more harmful as time continues. Coral reefs

This notion is portrayed in Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, where he writes, “This is a valley of ashes – a fantastic farm where ashes grow like wheat into ridges and hills of grotesque gardens; where ashes take the forms of houses and chimneys and rising smoke” (Fitzgerald, 23). This depiction of a 1920s industrial wasteland that threatened habitable living standards delivers a powerful warning. Today, there is too much waste and not enough land space to hold all of the trash and debris created by humans. This leads to ocean pollution. About eight million tons of trash from the wastelands end up in the ocean each year along with the 14 million tons of plastic each year. Between 80% and 90% of marine litter is plastic which creates an unsafe environment for a countless number of species (Dudley, 25). Often times, humans do not consider the consequences that their actions have on marine life, leading to many unfortunate consequences in the ocean. For instance, National Geographic reports finding shopping bags, cigarette butts, alcoholic beverage bottles, food wrappers, and fishing gear, all waste that takes a long time to disintegrate (p. 4). A clear example of human activities contributing to the degradation of marine life is seen through a whale who died in 2010. When the whale washed up on shore, it contained remains of over 20 plastic bags, golf balls, and other rubber