Times’ first-rate ‘Ocean’ series a wake-up call

Re “Altered Oceans,” five-part series, July 30 -- Aug. 3

Thank you for the excellent series on the state of our oceans. It should be required reading for anyone who refuses to admit that our beautiful little world is in deep trouble. We’re all responsible for this mess. Not demanding that something be done to correct this horrible condition only compounds the sin.

Where’s the outrage and righteous anger over these deplorable conditions? It isn’t as though nobody knew that the planet was in trouble. What is more important than making sure that there’s a world to pass along to your kids? Why isn’t anyone raising hell? This isn’t going to go away by itself, folks. The Times’ series could easily be the only wake-up call we get.

MICHAEL MORAN

Los Angeles

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The Times’ extraordinary series should put to rest any debate over the impact of human waste disposal on marine ecosystems and human health. However, it is important to highlight that these problems are solvable, and some of the solutions are being successfully implemented in the Los Angeles area. Sewage treatment plant upgrades have resulted in a more than 90% reduction in sewage solids discharged into Santa Monica Bay, and we no longer have a dead zone there. The city and county of Los Angeles will install more than 25,000 catch basin inserts in the next two years that will prevent thousands of tons of trash from polluting our rivers, creeks and beaches. The Santa Monica City Council recently voted to draft the most far-reaching plastics ban that will bar the sale and use of non-recyclable plastic packaging for food sold and packaged in Santa Monica.

These measures will go a long way toward moving water quality to restoration instead of degradation.

MARK GOLD

Executive Director, Heal the Bay

Santa Monica

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I look at the world into which I am sending my granddaughter with horror. I can imagine her saying in a few years, “Grandpa, why didn’t you do something? Why is the only thing that man seems to be able to do is destroy himself and his environment?”

In the meantime, let the good times roll. We have our Hummers, massive homes, huge oil company profits and wars in the Middle East. Down this path we are all dead meat no matter our trappings.

ROGER NEWELL

San Diego

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Why isn’t this information on the front page of every newspaper or the top story on every news broadcast across the globe every day? What could be more important than the welfare of our oceans? The wars in Lebanon and Iraq, the ongoing saga of North Korea and Mel Gibson’s arrest -- these stories should hardly be a blip on our radar compared with the impending doom that faces the entire globe if we do not change our greedy destruction of our precious oceans.

I don’t know about the rest of humanity, but I don’t believe that there should be any “dead zones” in our oceans. All the money, oil, bombs and movie stars in the world will not save us when our oceans seize up. This is a global problem.

JEFF FOSTER

La Habra

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Your articles on the degradation of our oceans are exceptional. Now, how do we get our representatives to do something about it? This is an issue that affects us as a planet, as does global warming. Is anyone (who cares) listening out there? Or are we going to continue to have legislation introduced, like offshore drilling that would further degrade a resource that all of us depend on, and decisions from our Supreme Court justices like that on wetlands that was recently handed down? It boggles the mind to believe that we will not apply solutions that are really quite simple to remedy these world-threatening ills. Or have we all just become too greedy?

BARBARA SIMON

Coronado, Calif.