How severe is plastics Pollution In Atlantic Ocean -Burning Issues – Free PDF Download

PLASTIC POLLUTION

• It is well-known that pollution from plastic, especially smaller microplastics, have reached the oceans and even some of the most remote corners of the Arctic.
• Even so, there is uncertainty about the magnitude of plastic pollution in marine environments and it cannot be exactly said how much pollution does plastic, especially microplastics cause.

PLASTIC POLLUTION

• Now, a new study published in Nature Communications has estimated the amount of microplastic pollution in the Atlantic Ocean and put it at 11.6-21.1 million tonnes, indicating that the inputs and stocks of ocean plastics are much higher than determined previously.

What are microplastics?

• Microplastics are plastic debris smaller than 5mm in length, or about the size of a sesame seed.
•  While they come from a variety of sources, one of them is when larger pieces of plastic degrade into smaller pieces, which are difficult to detect.

How does plastic reach the oceans?

• There are multiple pathways. For instance, riverine and atmospheric transport from coastal and inland areas, illegal dumping activities and direct-at-sea littering from shipping, fishing and aquaculture activities, scientists have said.
• According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), at least 8 million tonnes of plastic end up in the oceans every year and makes up about 80 per cent of all marine debris.

Why is plastic pollution especially harmful?

• Plastic can take hundreds to thousands of years to decompose depending on the type of plastic and where it has been dumped.
• In the oceans, plastic pollution impacts marine life, ocean health, coastal tourism and even human health. Over the past few years, various news reports have shown that marine animals such as whales, seabirds and turtles unknowingly ingest plastic and often suffocate.
•  While all sorts of marine species are prone to get impacted by plastic pollution, typically, bigger marine species.

Why is plastic pollution especially harmful?

• For humans, too, marine plastic pollution is harmful if it reaches the food chain. For instance, microplastics have been found in tap water, beer and even salt.
• Even so, since microplastics is an emerging field of study, its exact risks on the environment and human health are not clearly known.

So what does this mean?

• In the study, scientists studied pollution of the Atlantic Ocean caused by three types of plastics: polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene, which were suspended in the top 200 metres of the ocean. These three types of plastic are most commonly used for packaging.
• Smaller plastic particles are a hazard, the scientists note, as it is easier for them to sink to greater ocean depths and some marine species such as zooplanktons show preferential ingestion of smaller particles, making them easier to enter the food chain

So what does this mean?

• They also estimate that based on plastic waste generation trends from 1950-2015 and considering that the Atlantic Ocean has received 0.3-0.8 per cent of the global plastic waste for 65 years, the Atlantic waters could hold 17-47 million tonnes of plastic waste.

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