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2.  The North Sea is very important. Over 50 million people live close to its shores, and no other sea has as much industry operating around it.

3.  It gives us sand, gravel for the building industry, cooling water for power stations and fish for food.  Coal, oil, and gas are extracted  Shipping routes criss-cross its waters  Recreation – to sail on, swim or to relax

4.  It is also filthy due to dumping of waste in it.  This waste includes o Oil spills o Burning of waste at sea o Atmospheric pollution o Radioactive waste o Dumping of sewage and industrial waste

5.  Cleaning up is difficult –  Little is known about the kind of waste that is dumped  It is difficult to stop people from dirtying it.  Sewage can be cleaned up before it is dumped into the sea, but storm water pipes cannot.  Trying to control dumping through satellites  Greenpeace trying to raise public awareness to stop dumping.