Plastic pollution is devastating the ecosystems of our planet, especially the oceans. The so-called “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” is an astonishing accumulation of debris, which has been assessed by a fleet of ships and aircraft by researchers in the Netherlands, and which has been documented in a publication in the journal Scientific Reports.
Scientists have found about eighty thousand tons of plastic on this “garbage island” , sixteen times more than the plastic mass discovered in previous studies.
This large accumulation of plastic parts, about 1.8 billion items , is 1.6 million square kilometers and, they warn, is growing. But the bottom line is that it represents a double threat to marine life.
On the one hand, the risk represented by the smallest pieces of waste must be taken into account. Microplastics, small pieces of plastic less than five millimeters in size, can enter the food chain when ingested by fish. These tiny elements make up most of the mass of this plastic buildup.
Furthermore, the pollutants contained in microplastics become more concentrated as they move through the food web, among sharks, seals and polar bears.
The other environmental impact comes from larger waste, especially net fishing. These larger fragments literally kill marine life by trapping fish and other animals , such as turtles, in a process that the scientific community calls “ghost fishing.”
Eight million tons of plastic end up in the ocean every year
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is not alone. According to the Ocean Cleanup project, which led the study, eight million tons of plastics per year accumulate, mainly in five giant garbage dumps around the planet.
Despite the seriousness of the situation, the dimensions of the problem could be even greater, given that “levels of plastic pollution in the layers of deep water and the seabed below it remain unknown,” the study warns.
In the wake of this problem, a team of 75 researchers and engineers plans to build a network of experts in the field of climate change.
But optimistic researchers still insist that the global damage caused by plastics can be mitigated, through coordinated human action. However, they point out: “We need to take serious action on this front.”
“The fishing industry is not the only culprit. The problem also comes from, scientists describe, the” throwaway society “ , as a result of the use of single-use plastics.
References: Evidence that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is rapidly accumulating plastic, Scientific Reports (2018). nature.com/articles/doi:10.1038/s41598-018-22939-w
