The Effects Of Plastic Pollution On The Ocean

Is plastic really that harmless innovation that saves us time and energy without any repercussions? “80% of plastic waste in the ocean originates on land, and recycling rates are poor, with just 9% of plastic in the U.S. recycled, according to the EPA.” - Kieron Marks. Massive amounts of our plastic begin on land and appear in the ocean. The majority of plastic that is in the ocean is in a microscopic form which makes the plastic extremely difficult to find let alone clean up. This affects not only the ocean life by killing 1 million sea creatures a year, but it also has effects on the fishing and the shipping industry, along with tourism. Furthermore, the pollution causes 13 billion dollars in damage to the marine environment every year. This

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

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.

The ocean’s vast marine life is dying more and more each year due to plastic. Over 100,000 marine animals die each year from plastic entanglement and ingestion says Gianna Andrews, author of the 2012 “Plastic in our Oceans Affecting Human Health” on ser.carlton. Chemicals in the plastic are also intoxicating the marine life. Reducing the use of plastic could save thousands of sea animals and make our ocean a cleaner place. There are many questions concerning our ocean, like how much plastic is in our ocean? What are the effects? How do we stop it? These questions will be answered by explaining and describing our ocean’s plastic.

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.

Recycling and going green has been at the forefront of everyone's mind for the last 10 years. It has become a major concern to able to preserve the planet and reverse some of the damage that society has been inflicting over the last two hundred years. Everyone's concerned with emissions and electric cars but the world is in fact over two-thirds water. So naturally what society should be concerned about should be the oceans in the pollution and negative human impact that people have placed on them. Part of the problem as an initial estimate of the amount of plastic is not accurate. Not to mention incredible environmental and ecological effects the plastic has on marine life. Ocean plastic has reached a critical level where human intervention needs to take place.

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.

Plastic is taking over the ocean and it should not be, a problem that is going on is the plastic is getting caught in the sea animals and they eventually die. “More than 8 million tons of plastic are dumped in our oceans every year”(The Facts).The sea animals think that the plastic is food and they eventually die from all the plastic they consume. “Marine plastic pollution has impacted. . .86% of

One of the biggest reasons plastic pollution is such a problem is because, people are uneducated on how severely this tainting is affecting the planet. Not only does plastic liter the coastlines, and make the aesthetic of an ocean view hideous; Plastic kills marine life. This is a blanket statement, but the pollution has now gotten so bad, that trash is

Plastic, a lightweight, tough and flexible material, first invented in 1907, and is constantly present in daily, modern life. Ironically, it was invented to save animals as it replaced materials such as ivory and whale bone. Plastic production isn’t slowing down - in 2012 there was a 4% increase in production of plastic from 2013 worldwide. In New Zealand, we use 1 billion shopping bags per year and around 60 kg on average of plastic per person per year! Astoundingly, only 5.58 kg on average of plastic per person is recycled. Plastic never goes away completely and it’s only increasingly going into oceans and onto beaches. Plastic can take up to 500 years or more to biodegrade. Plastics pollution in oceans has a direct and deadly

To begin with, plastic in the ocean hurts the animals within it. Humans are not the only inhabitants of the Earth. The animals inside the ocean pay for the consequences. What is failed to be seen is that every time humans abuse of what there is, they are hit just as bad. Humans dump the trash and animals have to adapt to it. However, “It has been only around 60 years since plastic came to be,” and it doesn’t give them animals much room to work with (“Measuring biodegradability”). An example of how animals are hurt by plastic is

Plastic never leaves. Also, it's inexorably discovering its way into our seas and onto our shorelines. Huge amounts of plastics are drifting around the sea today — like grocery plastic bags, straws and bottles — are conveyed into the Pacific Sea consistently. Today billions of pounds of plastic can be found in twirling convergences on the world's sea surfaces. Plastics contamination has an immediate and fatal impact on wildlife. A vast amount of seabirds and ocean turtles, seals and other marine animals are killed every year subsequent to ingesting plastic or getting snared in it.

To begin, pollution has an enormous impact on the oceans. Every year about 180 million tons of waste are dumped into the ocean by companies. This waste greatly affects the organisms inside the ocean, from coral bleaching to eutrophication. The ocean is roughly 140 square miles, and 84 square miles of it, is filled with billions of pounds of plastic swirling in convergences. This adds up to around forty percent of the world's entire ocean surface. In addition, eighty percent of all this pollution enters the ocean through land activities. Plastic doesn’t decompose, it instead photodegrades. This means that plastic only breaks into smaller pieces, and it never fully goes away. Plastic garbage, which decomposes very slowly, is often mistaken for food by marine animals. These high concentrations of plastic material, particularly

To begin with, plastic in the ocean hurts the animals within it. Humans are not the only inhabitants of the Earth. The animals inside the ocean pay for our consequences. What is failed to be seen is that every time we abuse of what we have, we are hit just as bad. Humans dump the trash and animals have to adapt to it. However, “It has been only around 60 years since plastic came to be,” and it doesn’t give them animals much room to work with (“Measuring biodegradability”). An example of how animals are hurt by plastic is when animals in the ocean consume plastic. It might appear weird that they are interested in eating plastic. However,

Plastic never, ever, ever, ever, ever goes away. It will continue to break down, but it will never fully decompose. What does this mean for our ocean? It means that more and more plastic is getting into our waterways and ocean-life is consuming the plastic, thinking it is food. Unfortunately, they are being poisoned by our trash. They are also consuming it, and think about this, then we eat that fish, which means we are consuming the plastic - YUCK!