Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
A majority of plastics used in people's day to day lives are never recycled. Single use plastics of this kind contribute significantly to the 8 million tons of plastic waste found in the ocean each year. [2] If this trend continues, by the year 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by weight. [28]
Some of the plastic in the patch is over 50 years old, and includes items (and fragments of items) such as "plastic lighters, toothbrushes, water bottles, pens, baby bottles, cell phones, plastic bags, and nurdles". Research indicates that the patch is rapidly accumulating. [14]
The survey found that, although the patch contains large pieces, it is on the whole made up of smaller items that increase in concentration toward the gyre's centre, and these 'confetti-like' pieces that are visible just beneath the surface suggests the affected area may be much smaller.
Plastic pollution has also greatly negatively affected our environment. "The pollution is significant and widespread, with plastic debris found on even the most remote coastal areas and in every marine habitat". [77] This information tells us about how much of a consequential change plastic pollution has made on the ocean and even the coasts.
The highest levels of pollution were found in recreation areas, such as South Sand Harbor and Hidden Beach. More than 600 pieces of plastic found polluting popular Lake Tahoe areas, new study ...
The biggest threat of ocean plastic pollution comes from microplastics. These are small fragments of plastic debris, some of which were produced to be this small such as microbeads. Other microplastics come from the weathering of larger plastic waste. Once larger pieces of plastic waste enter the ocean, or any waterway, the sunlight exposure ...
During the 5 Gyres expedition, 48 samples were taken from a 2,424 nautical sweep. The researchers found an increase in plastic pollution density, averaging 26,898 particles per square kilometer, but spiking at up to 396,342 particles per square kilometer, peaking near the center of the predicted accumulation zone, [4] with some estimates as high as one million particles per square kilometer.
The amount of plastic the researchers found in the average brain sample is about equivalent to a plastic spoon, Matthew Campen, the lead author, said. He said measurement methods are still being ...