Ocean Plastic Clean-Up - On Thursday, a new study was released that a whopping 8 million metric tons (17.6 billion pounds) of plastic have polluted the world's ocean. According to the researchers, an estimated of more than 9 million metric tons would end up in the oceans in 2015.
The new study published this week in the journal Science seemed to urge people all over the world to start an ocean plastic clean-up campaign to help ease the significant dangers these trashes posed to marine life. According to Herald Scotland, the research was the first of its kind to quantify the amount going in from 192 nations with a coastline in 2010 rather than the amount currently in the ocean, which previous studies have determined.
It was also revealed the method for defining the amount was a mathematical model that was based on the per-person waste generation for 192 countries with a coastline. AFP reported one percent of the waste was apparently plastic, and another one percent was presumed to be mismanaged, which means litter or dumped garbage on land that was not properly contained.
"It can get worse. If we assume a business as usual projection -- with growing populations, increasing plastic consumption and increased waste generation -- by 2025 this number doubles," University of Georgia researcher and lead study author, Jenna Jambeck said during the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in San Jose, California.
The research also sought out major sources of the plastic debris and found the top 20 offenders when it comes to consumption and pollution of ocean-bound trash, Science Times revealed. The study showed the worst polluters are the developing nations in Asia with China on the top of the list with 2.4 million tons or about 30 percent of the total estimated waste. It seems that China should start their ocean plastic clean-up drive now.
Following China by rank are Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam and Sri Lanka. These nations should also be thinking of starting their ocean plastic clean-up campaigns. While US ranks at 20th, the 23 EU nations were collectively rank at 18th. As reported by International Business Times, if nothing changes, as much as 155 million tons or 10 bags of trash for every mile of coastline could be found in the oceans in 2025. Most of the increase will come from China and Vietnam.
Meanwhile, researchers also explained that ocean plastic clean-ups, though useful, will not suffice as a solution for the world's plastic problem. They said efforts should be concentrated on keeping plastic out of the oceans. Improving waste management and minimizing plastic consumption are also helpful.
"We need to prevent plastic from entering oceans in the first place," University of California Santa Barbara's Bren School of Environmental Science and Management associate professor and co-author of the study, Roland Geyer stated. "Helping every nation develop a sound solid waste management infrastructure is a top priority."
Ocean plastic clean-ups are deemed impractical since only a portion of the waste floats, while most disappears, and presumably what does not wash ashore settles to the bottom.
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