"Every minute, a garbage truck's worth of plastic enters the ocean"
BRETT WILKINS for Common
Dreams
The amount of plastic waste littering the Earth's ocean floors could be up to 100 times the quantity floating on the surface, according to a study published this week.
Researchers at the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial
Research Organization (CSIRO)—an Australian government agency—and the
University of Toronto in Canada found that up to 11 million tons of plastic are
polluting the planet's ocean floors, including microplastics and larger objects
like fishing nets, cups, and bags.
"We know that millions of tons of plastic waste enter our oceans every year but what we didn't know is how much of this pollution ends up on our ocean floor," CSIRO senior research scientist and study co-author Denise Hardesty said in a statement.
"We
discovered that the ocean floor has become a resting place, or reservoir, for
most plastic pollution, with between 3 to 11 million tons of plastic estimated
to be sinking to the ocean floor."
Study leader Alice Zhu, a doctoral candidate at the
University of Toronto, said that "the ocean surface is a temporary resting
place of plastic so it is expected that if we can stop plastic entering our
oceans, the amount would be reduced."
"However, our research found that plastic will
continue to end up in the deep ocean," Zhu stated. "These findings
help to fill a longstanding knowledge gap on the behavior of plastic in the
marine environment."
“Understanding the driving forces behind the transport
and accumulation of plastic in the deep ocean will help to inform source
reduction and environmental remediation efforts, thereby reducing the risks
that plastic pollution may pose to marine life," she added.
The study is part of CSIRO's Ending Plastic Waste program, whose
goal is "an 80% reduction in plastic waste entering the Australian
environment by 2030."
Humans produce approximately
440 million tons of plastics annually, or roughly the combined weight of every
person on the planet. Plastic pollution harms not only the environment and
ecosystems, but also human health and economies.
Plastic use is expected to double by 2040. Negotiations
on a global plastics treaty have made little progress amid lobbying by the
fossil fuel and petrochemical industries.