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Apr 1, 2020 · Marine debris. Marine debris is a persistent pollution problem that reaches throughout the entire ocean and Great Lakes. Our ocean and waterways are polluted with a wide variety of marine debris, ranging from tiny microplastics, smaller than 5 mm, to derelict fishing gear and abandoned vessels.
- Tides
Ocean pollution and marine debris. Ocean acidification....
- Ocean Acidification
Ocean acidification impacts on fish and seaweeds. Changes in...
- Ecological Forecasting
NOAA's Ecological Forecasting Services Roadmap: National...
- Understanding Noise Pollution
By knowing how much underwater noise humans produce around...
- Algal Bloom
Harmful algal blooms are blooms of species of algae that can...
- Point Source
To control point source discharges, the Clean Water Act...
- Can You Hear Me
Marine mammals, such as whales and dolphins, rely on their...
- What is Ghost Fishing
Derelict fishing gear, sometimes referred to as "ghost...
- Tides
Oct 26, 2024 · Pollution and Marine Debris Sources and Scope of Marine Pollution. Marine pollution is a global crisis, with a staggering 80% of marine debris originating from land-based sources. Plastic waste is one of the most pervasive pollutants, with an estimated 8 million metric tons entering the oceans annually.
- Overview
- By the Numbers
- Sort Out the Rubbish
The numbers add up to trouble for the oceans, wildlife, and us, but scientists are struggling to understand how.
The numbers are staggering: There are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris in the ocean. Of that mass, 269,000 tons float on the surface, while some four billion plastic microfibers per square kilometer litter the deep sea.
Scientists call these statistics the "wow factor" of ocean trash. The tallies, published last year in three separate scientific papers, are useful in red-flagging the scope of the problem for the public. But beyond the shock value, just how does adding up those rice-size fragments of plastic help solve the problem?
Although scientists have known for decades about the accumulating mass of ocean debris and its deadly consequences for seabirds, fish, and marine animals, the science of sea trash is young and full of as-yet unsolved mysteries. Almost nothing was known about the amount of plastic in remote regions of the Southern Hemisphere, for example, until last year because few had ever traveled there to collect samples. (Related: "With Millions of Tons of Plastic in Oceans, More Scientists Studying Impact.")
"The first piece is to understand where it is," says Kara Lavender Law, an oceanographer at the Sea Education Association in Woods Hole, Massachusetts.
Indeed, until scientists learn more about where ocean trash is, how densely plastic accumulates in different ocean ecosystems, and how it degrades, they can't really calculate the damage it's causing. There are still big, basic questions: As it degrades, do plastic toxins seep into the marine environment? If so, how and in what amounts?
Ocean trash is counted in three ways: through beach surveys, computer models based on samples collected at sea, and estimates of the amount of trash entering the oceans.
The most recent counts involved computer modeling based on samples taken at sea. The models may not account for all of the trash, scientists say; nonetheless, the new numbers are helping address some of the questions.
The process of collecting and counting is meticulous, time-consuming work. It took Marcus Eriksen, co-founder of the 5 Gyres Institute, a nonprofit ocean advocacy group, more than four years, using samples gathered from 24 survey trips, to come up with his estimate that 5.25 trillion pieces of debris float on the surface.
In the course of his expeditions, Eriksen collected everything from plastic candy wrappers to giant balls of fish netting. One massive ball of netting, found midway across the Pacific, contained 89 different kinds of net and line, all wrapped around a tiny, two-inch-high teddy bear wearing a sorcerer's cap at the center.
He says his research has helped fill in the outlines of the life cycle of ocean plastic. It tends to collect in the world's five large gyres, which are large systems of spiraling currents. Then, as the plastic degrades into fragments, it falls into deeper water, where currents carry it to remote parts of the globe.
"These fragments are anywhere on the planet at this point," he says. "We're finding them everywhere."
It's not too difficult to surmise why so much plastic ends up in the ocean. The Plastic Disclosure Project, a project run by Hong Kong-based advocacy group Ocean Recovery Alliance, estimates that 33 percent of plastic manufactured worldwide is used once, then discarded. To compound matters, 85 percent of the world's plastic is not recycled.
Despite the magnitude of the numbers, Peter Ryan, a zoologist at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, who is writing a book tracing the evolution of marine debris research, says the problem can be solved.
"Marine debris, unlike global warming, should be an easy thing to deal with," he says. "We have to sort out what to do with our rubbish."
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Climate 101: Oceans
Ryan began tracking debris 30 years ago, after a colleague suggested he should study seabirds that were eating floating plastic pellets, then commonly used in manufacturing and found in harbors and other waterways. Improvements to shipping reduced pellet spillage.
Dec 3, 2021 · One way to address marine plastic waste is to capture it before it enters the ocean. Mr. Trash Wheel, a solar-powered semi-autonomous trash interceptor, removes floating debris from Baltimore’s ...
Oct 23, 2023 · A recent study put that figure at approximately 171 trillion pieces of plastic floating at the ocean’s surface. Future studies may aim to further refine this estimate by including plastics that have sunk below the ocean surface, due either to the plastics’ density or from being colonized by marine life. While current estimates are ballpark ...
May 2, 2024 · Marine debris is made up of many different types of human-made materials, including paper, metals, glass, textiles, and plastic. These materials break down in different ways, making it difficult for us to understand how long they will last once they get into our ocean or Great Lakes. Although you may hear that it takes hundreds of years for ...
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Marine debris may end up nearby or far offshore, carried by oceanic currents and pushed by winds. Conditions, such as El Niño, and seasonal weather also affect how marine debris moves in the ocean. Marine debris can also be trapped by gyres in areas called debris accumulation zones, or “ garbage patches.” The size of these patches ...
