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Climate change causes sea ice to melt, transforming the Arctic from an icy desert into an open ocean. Polar bears and seals may lose their habitats, phytoplankton growth may increase and fuel the Arctic food web , which may lead to higher carbon burial rates and possibly decrease the amount of CO 2 in the atmosphere.
A garbage patch is a gyre of marine debris particles caused by the effects of ocean currents and increasing plastic pollution by human populations. These human-caused collections of plastic and other debris are responsible for ecosystem and environmental problems that affect marine life, contaminate oceans with toxic chemicals, and contribute ...
Debris on beach near Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Debris collected from beaches on Tern Island in the French Frigate Shoals over one month. Researchers classify debris as either land- or ocean-based; in 1991, the United Nations Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Pollution estimated that up to 80% of the pollution was land-based, [5] with the remaining 20% originating from ...
While marine pollution can be obvious, as with the marine debris shown above, it is often the pollutants that cannot be seen that cause most harm.. Marine pollution occurs when substances used or spread by humans, such as industrial, agricultural and residential waste, particles, noise, excess carbon dioxide or invasive organisms enter the ocean and cause harmful effects there.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch formed gradually as a result of ocean or marine pollution gathered by ocean currents. [39] It occupies a relatively stationary region of the North Pacific Ocean bounded by the North Pacific Gyre in the horse latitudes. The gyre's rotational pattern draws in waste material from across the North Pacific ...
This is an accepted version of this page This is the latest accepted revision, reviewed on 1 February 2025. Large floating field of debris in the North Atlantic Ocean The North Atlantic Gyre is one of five major ocean gyres. The North Atlantic garbage patch is a garbage patch of man-made marine debris found floating within the North Atlantic Gyre, originally documented in 1972. A 22-year ...
Motorists who journeyed into Ocean City, Maryland, over the Fourth of July faced major traffic congestion courtesy of a sinkhole, which was discovered at about 7 p.m. on Wednesday evening near the ...
Most land-based plastic pollution enters the ocean from South, Southeast, and East Asia, with the largest emitters including China, Indonesia, Philippines, and India. [19] [61] A source that has caused concern is landfills. Most waste in the form of plastic in landfills are single-use items such as packaging.