Pollution of the Atlantic Ocean
Pollution is one of the major problems of the world’s oceans and the Atlantic is no exception. Tankers contribute to pollution by cleaning their oil containers on the high seas. Major tanker disasters have repeatedly occurred in the Atlantic. In 2010 the explosion of an oil platform in the Gulf of Mexico caused oil to leak out for over three months.
Many pollutants reach the ocean through factories and industries along the major rivers. Densely populated areas along the Rhine in Europe and the Mississippi in North America bring waste and other pollutants into the ocean.
Ships often transport heavy metal, chemicals and radioactive waste in barrels and dump them into the sea.
Age of Exploration
The Atlantic has been an area of human exploration since the Vikings started to explore the northern half of the ocean over a thousand years ago.
During the Middle Ages European merchants were looking for new routes to Asia. Towards the end of the 15th century European navigators explored the western coast of Africa. In 1498 Vasco da Gama , a Portuguese explorer, was the first to sail around the Cape of Good Hope and find his way to India.
In 1492 Christopher Columbus became the first explorer to sail to the New World. Many others followed in the next centuries. In the 16th and 17th centuries the transatlantic slave trade brought thousands of Africans to the New World.