TIME TO END PLASTIC IN THE OCEAN
A HORROR OF OUR WORLD
The crisis of plastic in the ocean is one of the most understated horrors of our time.
Somewhere between 15 trillion and 51 trillion pieces of plastic litter the world's oceans, a recent study has found. By 2050, the ocean is expected to contain more plastic than fish. And there are huge islands of garbage all around the world, including an island of garbage in the Pacific Ocean that is now one of the world's largest continents. The amount of plastic currently in the ocean is set to triple in a decade, unless major reforms are put in place.
One really scary fact to consider is that plastic is slow to decompose, sticking around for centuries.
The plastic doesn't biodegrade, but fragments into smaller and smaller pieces, until microscopic, or nano-sized particles enter the food chain, the soil, and the air we drink. So basically, now the ocean's fish are eating this plastic. And so are people, apparently.
Studies have shown that people are ingesting plastic and excreting it (Forbes). A study presented at the 26th United European Gastroenterology (UEG) Week meeting in Austria suggests that there is now so much plastic around us that it has now made its way into our guts. The study found that all the volunteers who took part in the study found plastic in their stool.
Plastic is also invading the food chain of ocean life.
In one study, deep-sea fish in the North Pacific gyre were estimated to have ingested between 12,000 and 24,000 metric tons of microplastics annually. (Takepart)
Plastic has even been found in the guts of creatures living in the deepest parts of ocean trenches (Weather).
And the scary thing is that the impact of all this plastic on marine life remains largely unknown. We have no idea what all this plastic is going to do to the web of life itself.
Plastic pollution has become "one of our planet's greatest environmental challenges," Erik Solheim, head of UNEP, wrote in the introduction of the report, the first comprehensive review of efforts in more than 60 countries to address the crisis. (Common Dreams, 6-5-18)
Ocean Plastics Worse Than Thought (Common Dreams, 9-8-20) Report
A recent study also shows the ocean plastics problem is worse than thought—although with tonnes of plastic debris and particles swirling in massive ocean gyres, it’s hard to imagine it could be. The study, from the U.K.’s National Oceanography Centre, found the Atlantic has 10 times more plastic than had been estimated. Researchers previously calculated the amount entering the Atlantic between 1950 and 2015 to be from 17 million to 47 million tonnes. New measurements show it’s closer to 200 million.
CHARTS ON PLASTIC IN THE OCEAN
DEATH OF THE WORLD'S WILDLIFE
The massive amount of plastic in the ocean is ruining the habitat of turtles.
The amount of plastic now in the ocean is truly disturbing.
There's currently a garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean three times the size of France.
It contains 1.8 million pieces of plastic, weighing as much as 500 jumbo jets.
It's the largest accumulation of plastic in the world.
SAVE EARTH - SAVE NATURE - VIDEO
"It's just one straw, it's just one disposable cup, it's just one plastic bag" - 7.4 billion people.
WORLD FUTURE FUND REPORTS
Midway Film (World Future Fund)
UN REPORT
As Planet Chokes on Plastic Waste, UN Report Offers Roadmap to Tackle Global Crisis (Common Dreams, 6-5-18) UN Report
GENERAL ARTICLES ON PLASTIC IN THE OCEAN
Microplastics found in human hearts for first time, alarming new study finds (New York Post, 8-12-23) Study
Tonnes of ‘recycled’ European plastic pollute the oceans (Climate and Capitalism, 7-1-20)
The plastic polluters won 2019 – and we're running out of time to stop them (The Guardian, 1-2-20)
Dangerous Microplastic Is In Our Oceans, Air And Food (Hashem Al-Ghaili Facebook Video, 9-10-18)
The plastics crisis is more urgent than you know. Recycling bottles won’t fix it (The Guardian, 3-28-18)
Pacific plastic dump far larger than feared: study (Yahoo, 3-22-18)
World Water Day for a plastic world (Aljazeera, 3-22-18)
Plastic fibres found in tap water around the world, study reveals (The Guardian, 9-5-17)
There's Rage-Inducing New Data On The Amount Of Plastic In The Ocean (Huffington Post, 1-7-16)
The Ocean Is Contaminated by Trillions More Pieces of Plastic Than Thought (Take Part, 12-15-15)
22 Facts About Plastic Pollution (And 10 Things We Can Do About It) (Ecowatch, 4-7-14)
ANIMAL EXTINCTION
Every Animal Pulled From the Deepest Part of the Ocean Had Plastic in Its Gut (Global Citizen, 2-28-19)
Half of dead baby turtles found by Australian scientists have stomachs full of plastic (Independent, 9-13-18)
Baby Turtles Struggle to Swim Through Plastic Pollution in Honduras (Now Future Facebook, 11-28-18)
Sperm Whales Found Dead In Germany, Stomachs FULL Of Plastic And Car Parts (Expand Your Consciousness, 5-11-16)
RIVERS
90% of plastic in the ocean comes from 10 rivers (Brut Nature, 6-15-18)
Stemming the Plastic Tide: 10 Rivers Contribute Most of the Plastic in the Oceans (Scientific American, 2-1-18)
Shocking report reveals that 95% of plastic polluting the world's oceans comes from just TEN rivers including the Ganges and Niger (Daily Mail, 10-11-17)
GROWTH OF OCEAN PLASTIC IN THE FUTURE
Ocean plastic could triple in decade (BBC, 3-21-18)
The Oceans Will Contain More Plastic Than Fish by 2050 (Fortune, 1-19-16)
PHOTOS OF PLASTIC IN THE OCEAN
Haunting Photos From Scuba Divers Across the World Show Devastating Impact of Ocean Plastic (One Green Planet, 10-25-15)
TOP POLLUTERS
These 5 Countries Account for 60% of Plastic Pollution in Oceans (Eco Watch, 10-15-15)
There’s a Horrifying Amount of Plastic in the Ocean. This Chart Shows Who’s to Blame. (Moyers, 2-19-15)
DESTINATION OF PLASTIC
Plastic in the Med | Mediterranean with Simon Reeve (BBC, 10-28-18)
A colossal ‘sea of plastic’ stretching for miles has been found floating in the Caribbean (BBC Earth, 11-4-17)
A colossal ‘sea of plastic’ which stretches for miles has been found floating in the Caribbean (BBC World Service, 11-3-17)
We dump 8 million tons of plastic into the ocean each year. Where does it all go? (Vox, 10-21-15)