Plastic And The World 's Oceans : More Than 5 Trillion Plastic Pieces

In the article, "Plastic in Our Oceans", Kimberly Amaral discusses the everyday uses of plastic and how it can be beneficial to humans, but harmful to marine life. As fishermen casually dump waste overboard, animals mistake it for food sources, such as a turtle mistaking a plastic grocery bag for a jellyfish. From the trash brought out to sea, gyres, large circulations of water, carry the garbage through currents, spreading it to all over the ocean, specifically to the central gyre. Amaral notes common ways for marine life to die from plastic, which include entanglement by plastic rings, consumption of plastic bags and pellets which stuff the intestines and lead to health problems, and suffocation. As researchers today work hard to discover

In 1988, it was determined that the United States alone, was producing 30 million tonnes of plastic per year (Derraik, J.G.B., 2002). This can be compared with the global and annual production of 260 million tonnes of plastic as of 2012 (Pearson, E., 2014). Plastics are lightweight, durable, and cheap to make. This makes them incredibly easy to sell and manufacture. However, these attributes are many of the reasons why plastics are the most prominent type of marine debris, and why they are a serious hazard to various ecosystems and the organisms that live within them (Derraik, J.G.B.,

Over the few years, humans have discarded millions of tons of garbage into the oceans. Ever wonder where the cup you threw out this morning will end up? Or the plastic spoon you used for lunch? How about the cap of a water bottle? The calamitous plastic ends up in the water, taking thousands of years to decompose. The consumption of plastic by the marine life is perilous and the leading cause of death for life on shore.

One of the issues that is currently harming the ocean is the presence of pollution. Studies have shown that over the past thirty years, people have increased their use of plastics and synthetic materials and recently it has become even more abundant (Laist). The amount of plastic debris that has entered the ocean is partially due to people 's inability to properly dispose of plastic and waste. This has immeasurable effects on the physical ecosystem, as well as the creatures who inhabit it. While plastic is very buoyant, it takes a very long time to degrade, and it is usually eaten by

Plastic comes in innumerable shapes and sizes; it is used for various purposes. We use it to bag our groceries, pay with it, drink from it, occasionally eat off it or unwrap it to get to food, etc. The functionality of plastic is continual and surrounds us, so what is the con of plastic? When plastic cups, bottles, and bags are abandoned in the street, the wind transports and the rain seizes them into storm gutters, tributaries and eventually the ocean. When rubbish and plastic originate from terrestrial territory and enters the sea it is swept away by an eddy vortex called the North Pacific Gyre. Charles Moore discovered the North Pacific Gyre, or also known as “The Great Pacific Garbage Patch” in 1997. This garbage patch stretches hundreds of miles off the shoreline of California and Hawaii. Scientists estimated its size to be twofold the size of Texas or maybe even more substantial. This garbage patch contains some ten million tons of litter. According to Lindsey Blomberg, who wrote the article titled The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, writes, “What is known for certain is that the marine debris in the North Pacific Gyre is 80% plastic and it's mostly coming from land.” (1) Although the trash is in the ocean, it not only affects us but, wildlife on land or in sea too. Furthermost of the waste in the ocean consists of "microplastics" which according to Kitt Doucette, who wrote the article titled An Ocean Of Plastic is, “Larger chunks of waste that have been reduced to tiny

A large number of marine species are known to be harmed and/or killed by plastic debris, which jeopardize their survival, since many are already endangered by other forms of anthropogenic activities. Marine animals are affected through entanglement in and ingestion of plastic litter (Marine Debris). Less conspicuous forms, such as plastic pellets and “scrubbers” are also hazardous. To address the problem of plastic debris in the oceans is a difficult task, and a variety of approaches are required. According to research conducted by the National Academy of Sciences, 14 billion pounds of trash is dumped into the ocean each year. That is more than 38 million pounds a day. More than 85% of all the trash that is dumped comes from the world’s merchant shipping fleet. According to the same research, the United States is responsible for an estimated one- third of all the trash that is dumped into the ocean (Amaral). The reason this is still going on is because the majority of the trash that is dumped is in international waters. United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea that convened in 1982 defines territorial waters and international waters as: territorial waters are waters extending up to 12 nautical miles from a coastal state, and they are considered to be within the jurisdiction of that particular state or ‘territorial waters’ If oceans, seas, rivers or lakes extend beyond international boundaries and are not territorial waters, they are classed as

According to Oceana, the agency in charge of protecting the world’s oceans, the number one pollutant in the North Pacific Gyre is still plastic. Oceana remains unsure of the quantity of plastic in the water. Our “need” for plastic has harmed innocent little creatures and ourselves as well when we should be searching for safer alternatives instead.

The NOAA Marine Debris Program is leading efforts within NOAA to research this topic. Standardized field methods for collecting sediment, sand, and surface-water microplastic samples have been developed and continue to undergo testing. Eventually, field and laboratory protocols will allow for global comparisons of the amount of microplastics released into the environment, which is the first step in determining the final distribution, impacts, and fate of this

Plastic in the Oceans: Having been to the Centers for Disease Control’s David J. Sencer Museum this past year, I was able to see the exhibition GYRE: The Plastic Ocean. The ocean has become littered with enormous amounts of plastic over the years and, in some places, entire islands can be found entirely composed of discarded or lost plastic objects. The sheer volume of new and current information currently being put forth on this topic makes it an excellent one for research.

The earth’s oceans take up roughly three fourths of the planet’s surface area and hold roughly 97 percent of all water on earth (Silverman). It is important that people make sure that the oceans are kept clean because the ocean contains many essential elements for the survival of both humans and animals. A rising problem that is not often brought up is the increasing amounts of man-made debris, especially plastic, that are accumulating in these waters that is slowly effecting the oceans ecosystem as well as the health of humans. Some may argue that the plastics have little effect on the environment but the facts show that this is not the case. The amount of ocean debris has increased

Ocean pollution can be found floating in large, island-like patches in the middle of the ocean or washed up on beaches, local and uninhabited. Plastic pollution can be found at the surface of water or in the deep depths of the ocean, going as far down as the ocean floor (Seltenrich, A36). Due to its negative buoyancy, most all plastic will begin to sink after entering the ocean. This becomes an issue because it is very difficult to account for how much plastic is truly in the ocean when most plastic counting assessments do not test ocean water lower than a few feet of the ocean’s surface. When scientists do not have a clear depiction of exactly how much plastic is in the ocean, it is very difficult to combat against its effects or understand how to fix the problem.

Zooplankton are a tiny marine creature that can ingest pieces of plastic that are smaller the one millimeter in size. Normally in a marine environment the faecal pellets transport nutrients and carbon in the deeper parts of the ocean where animals eat it thinking they’re getting food that will help them but in reality they are just taking in pieces of plastic. A new study showed that the faecal pellets that contain microplastic sink slower than the faecal pellets without the microplastic in it. With the pellets that sink slower it gives marine life a greater opportunity to eat it. (Plankton Feces Could Move Plastic Pollution to the Ocean Depths)

There are many forms of pollution that occur from oil spills, radioactive wastes, urban air pollution, the release of greenhouse gases, or agricultural pollution, and one of the most preventable, plastic pollution. Plastic pollution is an accumulation in the environment of man-made plastic products to the point that they become problematic and harmful to wildlife, wildlife habitats, or human populations. This accumulation is due to the excessive use of plastics, which has become a worldwide issue, and is accountable for approximately 10% of discarded waste. It has been calculated that 275 million metric tons (MT) of plastic waste was produced in 192 coastal countries in 2010, with as much as 12.7 million MT entering the ocean (Jambeck et al., 2015). Plastic pollution can be classified based on the overall size and thickness, as microdebris (2 µm), mesodebris (1-5 mm), or macrodebris (>20 mm). Plastic can be very harmful to the land, waterways, and the ocean due to its extremely slow biodegrading process, which can exceed hundreds of years. Plastic debris can also be harmful to marine life causing, entanglement, ingestion of plastic waste, and exposure to the chemicals within plastics, which ultimately affect humans as well.

We 're treating the oceans like a trash bin: around 80 percent of marine litter originates on land, and most of that is plastic. Plastic that pollutes our oceans and waterways has severe impacts on our environment and our economy. Seabirds, whales, sea turtles and other marine life are eating marine plastic pollution and dying from choking, intestinal blockage and starvation. Scientists are investigating the long-term impacts of toxic pollutants absorbed, transported, and consumed by fish and other marine life, including the potential effects on human health.

Throughout this research paper, we will analyze different standpoints to the plastic phenomenon. Humans have created this new form of synthetic polymer to use as a sustainable and dominant source that can outlive any living organism in Earth. However, there is harms to the environment by this overuse. “The scale of contamination of the marine environment by plastic debris is vast. It is found floating in all the world’s oceans, everywhere from polar regions to the equator” (Plastic Debris 2015). It is no doubt that plastic has extended all over the world including developed and developing countries. At the end of the day, there is not one particular group of people to blame for the cause; the whole world plays a part in this.