The ocean is considered Earth’s life support system, holding 97% of the world’s water. It helps to manage our climate, absorb CO2, and is the primary source of protein for over a billion people.
Nevertheless, at the rate at which we are polluting the ocean with around 12.7 million tonnes of plastic each year, the damage to marine life and our ecosystem is becoming irreversible.
Our activities during the ten years will decide the state of the ocean for the next 10,000 years.
Plastic In The Ocean Facts:
👉 Every year, plastic pollution kills about one million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals:
Marine litter is a ruthless killer of marine animals, seabirds, and many other marine and coastal life forms. It also has significant economic implications and losses for fishermen, coastal communities, farmers, power plants, and individuals.
👉 Plastic is found in the guts of all young sea turtles:
Green campaigners said Wednesday that a new study of sea turtles in three oceans and seas proved that the world’s governments and corporations are not doing enough to eliminate plastic pollution—and that marine life is suffering as a result.
The University of Exeter and Plymouth Marine Laboratory in the United Kingdom studied 102 sea turtles from the Atlantic and Pacific seas and the Mediterranean Sea. They found plastics, microplastics, and other synthetics in their digestive tracts.
👉 Plastic garbage pollutes 88% of the sea’s surface:
Every year, between 8 and 14 million tonnes enter our ocean. Every year, the globe uses about 500 billion plastic bags or 150 for everyone. 8.3 billion plastic straws litter the world’s beaches, although only 1% are waste in the ocean.
👉 Plastic is found in one out of every three fish taken for human consumption:
According to research, more than one-third of all fish consumed by humans contain plastic. It’s believed seafood enthusiasts eat 11,000 bits of hazardous plastic per year. Tap water, beer, and salt all contain microplastic.
👉 Every year, between 8 and 14 million tonnes enter our ocean:
Every year, at least 14 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean, and plastic accounts for 80% of all marine trash discovered from surface waters to deep-sea sediments.
Plastic trash ingests or entangles marine creatures, causing severe injury and death.
👉 Every day, 8 million pieces of plastic garbage enter our ocean:
79% of plastic garbage is dumped or dumped into the ocean, while just 9% is recycled and 12% is burnt.
Our oceans are littered with 25 trillion microplastics and 51 trillion microplastics. Two hundred sixty-nine thousand tonnes of that float on the surface.
👉 Our oceans are littered with 25 trillion microplastics and 51 trillion microplastics:
These numbers are referred to by scientists as the “wow factor” of ocean rubbish. The tallies, which were published in three independent scientific articles last year, are valuable in alerting the public to the scale of the problem.
👉 Just 1% of marine debris floats; the rest settles to the sea floor:
Litter that ends up in oceans, seas, or other big bodies of water is called marine trash. This man-made garbage enters the river in a variety of ways.
Trash is frequently left on beaches or thrown into the water from boats or offshore facilities such as oil rigs.
Litter can make its way into the water from land. Storm drains, canals, and rivers transport this detritus.
The wind can also blow trash from landfills and other sites into the lake. Storms and catastrophes at sea can sink ships or cause cargo to be lost.
👉 Plastic in the sea is expected to be tenfold by 2020:
According to scientists, around 8 million tons of plastic debris, such as food packaging and plastic bottles, are washed into the oceans yearly.
The cumulative amount of waste resulted in a tenfold rise in the overall amount of plastic in the sea by 2020.
👉 One in every three marine animals has been discovered entangled in plastic:
Every year, plastic trash in the water kills around 1 million marine species (including mammals, fish, sharks, turtles, and birds) (UNESCO Facts & Figures on Marine Pollution).
It is currently believed that 100 million tons of plastic are in the world’s oceans. About 60 billion pounds are predicted to be produced this year alone.
👉 Every minute, almost 1 million plastic bags end up in the trash:
Two garbage trucks of plastic are poured into our oceans every minute. Currently, 8 million metric tons of plastic end up in the oceans.
Every year, that’s enough rubbish to cover every foot of coastline on the planet with five full trash bags of plastic compounding.
The amount of plastic debris that enters the oceans each year is anticipated to nearly treble to 29 million metric tons by 2040.
👉 Approximately 10% of those will wind up in our oceans:
We have become more concerned about the amount of plastic in our waters over the last decade. Every year, more than 8 million tons of it are in the ocean.
If we continue to pollute at the current rate, by 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish.
For years, the country imported millions of tons of recyclable rubbish from other countries, but an increasing recycling burden at home drove the government to change its policy.
👉 Just about one out of every seven plastic bags is recycled:
They are often made of Polyethylene, which takes millennia to decompose. Each ton of recycled plastic bags saves the equivalent of 11 barrels of oil in terms of energy.
On average, a plastic bag is used for 15 minutes:
Some 500 billion plastic bags are used each year globally. Every minute, about one million bags are used.
A plastic bag has a “working life” of about 15 minutes. We have manufactured more plastic in the last ten years than in the previous century.
👉 Every day, 50 million straws are used in the United States:
Every day, Americans alone use half a billion drinking straws. Every year, the globe consumes 500 billion plastic cups.
Every year, the globe generates more than 29 million US tons of polystyrene (plastic foam).
👉 Drinking containers account for 14% of all litter:
The process of making bottled water requires around six times the amount of water contained in the container.
Beverage containers account for 14% of all litter. When caps and labels are included, the figure rises.
👉 In 2016, less than half of the bottles purchased were recycled:
Plastic consumption continues to rise globally. In 2016, 480 billion plastic bottles were sold, compared to 300 billion in 2004.
One million plastic bottles are sold every minute, and the number of bottles sold annually will have reached 583.3 billion by 2021.
These are the conclusions of a study conducted by Euromonitor, an international market research company.
In 2016, less than half of all purchased plastic bottles were recycled. Only 7% of these bottles were used to manufacture new PET bottles. The majority of plastic bottles end up in landfills or the environment.
👉 China is the world’s most polluting country:
Most of this pollution is generated by a few countries: China accounts for around 30% of total world emissions, while the United States accounts for nearly 14%.
👉 Marine plants create 70% of the oxygen on Earth:
Prochlorococcus and other ocean phytoplankton produce 70 percent of the oxygen on Earth.
Nonetheless, other experts claim that due to ocean warming, phytoplankton levels have decreased by 40% since 1950. The number of phytoplankton in the ocean is affected by ocean temperature.
👉 Plastic is found in one out of every three fish consumed by humans:
According to research, more than one-third of all fish consumed by humans contain plastic.
Every year, seafood enthusiasts are estimated to consume 11,000 pieces of harmful plastic. Tap water, beer, and salt all contain microplastic.
👉 Tap water, beer, and salt all contain microplastic:
Mary Kosuth (’17), a microplastics researcher and SPH graduate, investigated this.
The investigation discovered that microplastics were present in 81% of tap water samples and all tested brands of salt and beer.
👉 BPA levels in urine are found in 95% of American individuals:
BisphenolA (BPA) is a prevalent chemical used in producing polycarbonate plastics and epoxy resins, with measurable BPA levels in urine in more than 93% of US individuals.
According to recent animal research, BPA exposure may play a role in various pathways implicated in the development of hypertension, including weight gain, insulin resistance, thyroid dysfunction, endothelial dysfunction, and oxidative stress.
👉 Tap water, beer, and salt all contain microplastic:
Scientists have known about the presence of microscopic particles of plastic — microplastics — churning in the oceans and being consumed by birds and sea life since the 1970s.
Furthermore, a new study has revealed that the particles are also present in the Great Lakes, which hundreds of cities use for drinking water and other purposes.
Thus, we have learned some facts about the plastic in the ocean. To know more about such facts, follow this website.
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