About 8 million tons of plastic flow into the ocean each year, and public and political attention to the problem of plastic pollution in the oceans and seas is rapidly warming, making it an environmental issue as important as climate change.
Last November, when Jennifer Lavers of the University of Tasmania began his speech at the Falling Walls conference in Berlin, the staff of the Berlin refuse contractor put 100 bags Plastic waste, 60 liters per pack, is poured around the podium.
The Australian marine ecologist stood behind the rubbish to tell the audience: 'The rubbish is equivalent to two days' consumption of (750) people in this auditorium. "She then shows her uninhabited in the South Pacific Shocking photos taken by Henderson Island, one of the most remote areas on Earth.
Beaches covered in pristine gravel in the 1990s are now dotted with plastic garbage, washed by waves from countries around the Pacific Ocean and beyond, an estimated 37 million and weighing 18 tonnes.
This is just the tip of the iceberg on the plastic issue we face, and it is estimated that 8 million tons of plastic are flowing into the ocean every year. In recent months, public and political attention to the problem of plastic pollution in the oceans has soared to make it a fast and a climate Change as important as environmental issues.
In the United Kingdom, Sir David Attenborough's television documentary Blue Planet II has had a dramatic impact, prompting attention to the biological hazards of plastic trash, either by plastic products Wrapped around, or swallowed plastic fragments that were mistaken for food, in one shot, Lucy Quinn of the British Antarctic Survey showed a heart-wrenching scene: On South Georgia Island, a weakest albatross nestling tried to spit out the plastic bag it had eaten in. The little bird was still alive, but Quine, who was almost crying, went on to show the decaying corpse of another little albatross .
'Unfortunately, a plastic toothpick penetrates its stomach,' she said, 'so small a thing can kill the bird and I was really sad to see it.'
Many people have only recently realized the global crisis of plastic pollution, but others have been fighting for years. Leeds photographer Mandy Barker is one of them, Took her picture. "I grew up in Hull and spent a lot of time at Spurn Point Nature Reserve," she said. "Every year I go back and I see because there's so much garbage I'm shocked.
After becoming a professional photographer in 2011, Buckle focused his work on plastic pollution. She looked for materials at beaches and harbors around the world and went to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch - a stranded ocean circulatory system A particularly large amount of floating rubbish. Her approach is to show the unexpected beauty of plastic contaminants and she will photograph them carefully as if they were rare marine life. "From the very beginning people were attracted by the beauty of these pictures Later, they realized that these things were causing harm. I hope this kind of contrast will arouse the emotional reaction of the audience. '
Richard Thompson, head of the International Marine Litter Research Unit at the University of Plymouth, a leading marine plastic scientist, was not sure at first what Buck was doing He understands this 'artistic expression of the beauty of marine litter,' but he is not sure what to expect from the global plastic debate, but he is now aware of their positive impact.
Although Thompson expressed his gratification about the recent urgency in various parts of the world, he was also somewhat puzzled and why people are now suddenly in a hurry with interest in this multi-year issue that he devoted to studying for years. 'There is a snowball effect here and numerous media reports Like a snowball, 'he recalls,' people living inland are beginning to realize they are also responsible for marine litter. '
Malcolm David Hudson, a marine ecologist at Southampton University, said: "I think scientists are increasingly aware that the public is also increasingly aware that because of the plastic in the oceans , We are getting closer and closer to the turning points in the natural system. "The so-called turning points are sudden, significant and sometimes irresistible changes - for example, in the key ocean food chain - these major changes may be caused by more Subtle changes are cumulative, and in Keynes' key point is that 'the problem quickly becomes serious, and one can no longer deny its existence, which is why we are talking about it now.'
Of course, much larger pieces of plastic garbage are on the beach and in the ocean, but toxicologists are giving an urgent warning about the smaller plastic pieces called 'micro-plastic', which have micrometers in diameter. Plastic is broken up by plastic rubbish, and some are artificial 'plastic beads' that are added to cosmetic care products, including toothpaste and exfoliating cream, to add a slight amount of friction. 'Plastic Ball' Another source of micro-plastic, these balls are used to make plastic products, they will spill and improper handling into the sea.
Fish and birds eat these micromolds, the size of which appears to be the same size as real food, and the microplastics enter the intestine and become toxic, not only because of their presence, but also because they release water that is absorbed in the ocean Toxic chemicals, including tiny particles formed during plastic manufacturing and external toxins such as DDT and PCBs.
Most of Rivers' studies are conducted on Lord Howe Island, 600 kilometers east of the mainland of Australia, and she is particularly concerned about the fleshiness of the flesh that flies on the Tasman Sea inadvertently exposing the plastic as Take plankton back to feed the chicks.
'When we began monitoring these seabirds more than 10 years ago, the proportion of plastic-covered seabirds in our body reached 70% and is now 100%,' she said. 'Every seabird in Lord Howe Island has plastic The analysis shows that the more chicks are fed by their parents, the shorter the wings grow and the worse their health condition is.
Raffles found 225 pieces of plastic in the stomach of a 3-month-old nestling, accounting for 10% of his body weight, which translates into about 6 to 10 kilos of plastic carried by an average person. When you first fly to the sea, the stomach has to carry all those rubbish, 'she said.' In the world, the number of seabirds has decreased more rapidly than any other bird species. '
Raphos said that the number of marine species known to be adversely affected by plastic wastes - fish, mammals, birds and invertebrates - was estimated at 260 for the first time in 1995 and rose to 690 in 2015 It is now 1450 species.
A recent study by scientists at Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh shows that micro-plastic contamination of Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands is associated with Clyde and The Firth of Forth is as grave: with about 1,000 tiny particles and fibers per kilogram of sediment, says Mark Hartl, head of the research project: 'A relatively remote island and the United Kingdom The fact that the rivers in some of the most industrialized regions have similar levels of micro-plastic pollution is unexpected - which means that micro-plastics are already ubiquitous in our bodies of water.
Although people have always been concerned about the risk of consuming seafood contaminated with micro-plastics, there is currently no evidence that human consumption levels have reached health-threatening levels, and toxicologists are still more concerned with other harmful chemicals, such as mercury in fish. 'Plastic is a long-term concern,' said Hudson. 'But we have to be careful not to over-render, alarmist.'
The removal of plastic wastes consists of roughly two parts: cleaning the plastic that already exists in the ocean (Rivets says it is estimated that there are currently 5 trillion plastic pieces in the sea) and preventing more plastics from entering the ocean, but marine scientists say it is imperative Prevent plastics from entering the oceans: rapidly block 8 million tons of plastic that flows into the ocean each year - up to half of which is brought by rivers.
While cleaning up plastic trash - from unscrupulous beach cleanup to high-tech ways of harvesting plastic floating around the Pacific Trash - can play a role, plastic contaminants are widespread across oceans, A large portion of plastic waste will not be cleared this way.
The Ellen MacArthur Foundation, a major anti-spam charity, estimates that international liquidation will not exceed 0.5% of marine plastic, Thompson said: 'Yes, there are technical means to clean up Such as large machines that roar in the middle of the oceans, but the risk now is that it is imperative that the plastic get in the ocean and we may be distracted.
This means changing consumer behavior and product design - to prevent unnecessary plastic usage, especially in packaging - and to make it easier to recycle waste plastics, Thompson added: 'Plastics are not enemies and they are good The key is that we choose how to use them, not just using plastic but changing the way.
A growing number of environmental groups are calling for government action, such as London-based OneLess, which includes restricting the use of disposable plastic products such as water bottles and coffee cups and promoting recycling, and politicians have recently proposed some anti-spam initiatives: Theresa May, the British Prime Minister, has put forward a plan to eliminate plastic wastes and promised to tackle "a major environmental disaster of our time" by 2042; the EU plans to ensure that all packaging is reusable or recyclable by 2030. Environmentalists say more pressing action is needed.
According to Thompson, the most effective way to force manufacturers to adopt a recoverable design in their products is to turn the traditional 'linear economy' (manufacturing, use and disposal) into a 'recycling economy.' The packaging is the most critical and it should be simple But also easily identifiable, allowing recycling plants with automatic sorting machines to dispense with a variety of materials that are mixed or bonded together.
While the microbeads are being phased out in the personal care industry, there is growing concern for another almost ubiquitous micro-contaminant, plastic fibers. Analysts have shown that plastic fibers exist in streams, rivers, lakes and seas around the world, as well as for residents In water, their main source seems to be clothes and textiles made from synthetic fibers that are separated in the washing machine and are not filtered out by water treatment plants.
Mandy Barker is very worried about the plastic fibers and uses them as the subject of the next photo project.Hudson also sees plastic fibers as more threatening than microbeads, saying "we've only recently realized that fibers from garments Hudson is optimistic about the prospects for tackling plastic pollution, he said: 'There are other issues that have so far not really been on the agenda, such as not using plastic in road signs and cars.' ' This issue was still out of focus two years ago, but now it is on the global agenda and everyone is talking about what to do.
If Jennifer Riffs makes a few more speeches in a few years, she may find that as the battle to clear out plastic rubbish takes place, there may be fewer bags of plastic rubbish around the podium, however, Re-polluting the pristine beaches and no longer poisoning the sea creatures can take decades, she said: "When I returned to Henderson Island a few years later, I was afraid that beach pollution would be worse than it is today. The same goes for all the remote islands in the world. '