Plastics impact on the worlds oceans

www.businessinsider.com /plastics-impact-on-the-worlds-oceans-2016-8/
Todd Reubold, Ensia Aug. 16, 2016, 6:59 PM 11,606
Tires, plastic bottles, and general trash washed up by the sea litter the beaches in Prestwick, Scotland, 22 March
2005.Christopher Furlong/Getty Images
The worlds oceans are awash in plastic pollution, and as these maps and charts show, the situation is poised to
worsen unless drastic changes take place.
Over the coming decades global plastic production is slated to increase nearly sixfold, and collection and recycling
systems in many parts of the world already are struggling to keep up with the proliferation of plastic products and
associated waste.
Broadly speaking, plastic pollution comes from three main sources: single-use applications such as food packaging
and disposable consumer goods; long-lasting plastic items, including pipes and construction materials; and durable
consumer products such as electronics and furniture.
The impacts of plastic and in particular, microplastic on marine life can be devastating. Hundreds of species of
seabirds, turtles, seals, sea lions, whales and fish have suffered entanglement or death due to plastic pollution in
recent decades.
This collection of maps and charts prepared by Norway-based GRID-Arendal a United Nations Environment
Programme affiliate and partner with a mission of creating environmental knowledge to enable positive change
explains how plastic ends up in the worlds oceans and explores steps being taken to reverse this trend.

View As: One Page Slides

Pathways to pollution

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Graphic by GRID-Arendal and Maphoto/Riccardo Pravettoni and reprinted with permission

One of the major challenges of addressing plastic pollution in the worlds oceans is the fact that sources of entry are
multiple and widespread.

Mismanagement

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Graphic by GRID-Arendal and Maphoto/Riccardo Pravettoni and reprinted with permission

The global production of petroleum-derived plastic has increased dramatically, from 1.5 million metric tons (1.7
million tons) in 1950 to more than 300 million metric tons (330 million tons) in 2014. If the current production trend
approximately 5 percent increase per year continues, another 33 billion metric tons (36 billion tons) of plastic
will accumulate around the planet by 2050, further driving the need for better methods of collection and recycling.

Capturing plastic at the source

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Graphic by GRID-Arendal and Maphoto/Riccardo Pravettoni and reprinted with permission

Not surprisingly, countries with limited wastewater treatment and municipal solid waste facilities often see larger
amounts of plastic debris entering the ocean from their shores.

Does it float?

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Graphic by GRID-Arendal and Maphoto/Riccardo Pravettoni and reprinted with permission

In terms of buoyancy, not all plastic is created equal. Absent from the graphic shown here are the ubiquitous
fragments of micro- and nano-plastic plaguing the worlds oceans.

Plastic currents

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Graphic by GRID-Arendal and Maphoto/Riccardo Pravettoni and reprinted with permission

The geographic distribution of marine plastic debris is strongly influenced by the entry points and different ocean
transport pathways, which are in turn determined by the density of plastic debris coupled with prevailing currents,
wind and waves.

Entangled marine life

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Graphic by GRID-Arendal and Maphoto/Riccardo Pravettoni and reprinted with permission

Entanglement can cause death due to drowning, starvation, strangulation, or cuts and injury that cause infection.
Much of the damage to marine life of this nature is caused by discarded fishing equipment so-called ghost
fishing. Studies of scarring on whales from the Gulf of Maine indicate that more than 80 percent of right whales and
50 percent of humpback whales have experienced entanglement in fishing gear.

Marine debris ingestion

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Graphic by GRID-Arendal and Maphoto/Riccardo Pravettoni and reprinted with permission

The ability of plastic particles in the ocean to attract organic chemicals that dont dissolve, which include many wellknown toxic substances, has led to a growing number of studies looking at plastics as a source of toxic chemicals in
marine organisms.

The way forward

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Graphic by GRID-Arendal and Maphoto/Riccardo Pravettoni and reprinted with permission

Legislation and policies aimed at reducing the release of litter on land and at sea,will help reduce the amount marine
debris entering the worlds oceans.

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