<P> Invasive species can take over once occupied areas, facilitate the spread of new diseases, introduce new genetic material, alter underwater seascapes, and jeopardize the ability of native species to obtain food . Invasive species are responsible for about $138 billion annually in lost revenue and management costs in the US alone . </P> <P> Another pathway of pollution occurs through the atmosphere . Wind - blown dust and debris, including plastic bags, are blown seaward from landfills and other areas . Dust from the Sahara moving around the southern periphery of the subtropical ridge moves into the Caribbean and Florida during the warm season as the ridge builds and moves northward through the subtropical Atlantic . Dust can also be attributed to a global transport from the Gobi and Taklamakan deserts across Korea, Japan, and the Northern Pacific to the Hawaiian Islands . Since 1970, dust outbreaks have worsened due to periods of drought in Africa . There is a large variability in dust transport to the Caribbean and Florida from year to year; however, the flux is greater during positive phases of the North Atlantic Oscillation . The USGS links dust events to a decline in the health of coral reefs across the Caribbean and Florida, primarily since the 1970s . </P> <P> Climate change is raising ocean temperatures and raising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere . These rising levels of carbon dioxide are acidifying the oceans . This, in turn, is altering aquatic ecosystems and modifying fish distributions, with impacts on the sustainability of fisheries and the livelihoods of the communities that depend on them . Healthy ocean ecosystems are also important for the mitigation of climate change . </P> <P> Deep sea mining is a relatively new mineral retrieval process that takes place on the ocean floor . Ocean mining sites are usually around large areas of polymetallic nodules or active and extinct hydrothermal vents at about 1,400--3,700 meters below the ocean's surface . The vents create sulfide deposits, which contain precious metals such as silver, gold, copper, manganese, cobalt, and zinc . The deposits are mined using either hydraulic pumps or bucket systems that take ore to the surface to be processed . As with all mining operations, deep sea mining raises questions about environmental damages to the surrounding areas </P>

Eighty percent of pollution to the marine environment comes from the land