The problem is very serious
In this report of the Expert Group's "Marine Future Vision" written by the British government for 12 months, experts predict that from 2015 to 2025, marine plastic waste will triple.
The problem of marine plastic waste is already very serious. In 2015, Science magazine published a paper saying that about 8 million tons of plastic garbage flow from the land into the ocean every year. If not limited, the weight of plastic even exceeds the weight of fish in 2050.
Plastic bags are one of the major plastic wastes flowing into the ocean. The United Nations Environment Programme pointed out that a large number of plastic bags flow into the ocean every year, threatening more than 600 kinds of marine species worldwide. In February of this year, a dead whale was found on Norwegian beaches. There is no food in the stomach, but there are more than 30 plastic bags.
According to research conducted by scientists at Imperial College in the United Kingdom, in the 1960s, debris was found in less than 5% of the dead seabird's stomach. This figure has soared to 90% today, and there are more than 1 million seabirds each year. Wound by plastic or swallowed plastic. By 2050, 99% of seabirds are expected to have eaten plastic.
Eventually going to the table
Do not think that the ocean is the end of plastic waste. Research has found that when micro-plastics in the ocean are swallowed by marine organisms, they come to people's tables again.
In 2004, British researchers presented the concept of microplastics for the first time in the journal Science, which was defined as: plastic fibers, particles or films with a diameter of less than 5 mm.
The chemical properties of microplastics are relatively stable and difficult to degrade. They can exist in the sea for hundreds or even thousands of years and are compared to PM2.5 in the ocean, causing great harm to the marine environment.
These microplastics are easily eaten by plankton and then passed through the food chain into other marine organisms. Not only do they have different degrees of influence on the ability of marine organisms to grow, develop, escape natural enemies, and reproduce, they eventually appear on people's tables. Earlier, British scientists have discovered through research that a seafood enthusiast may eat up to 11,000 micro plastics each year.
The marine economy is very impressive
A British expert who wrote the "Future Outlook for the Ocean" report pointed out that while the marine threat exists, the marine economy is also very impressive. By 2030, it is expected to double to 3 trillion US dollars.
The report pointed out that if the government can protect marine biodiversity, it will receive huge benefits, including the mining of polymetallic nodules and the cure for cancer.
Polymetallic nodules is one of the most important deep-sea solid minerals. It contains more than 60 metallic elements such as copper, cobalt, nickel and manganese. It is estimated that there are 3 trillion tons of polymetallic nodules in the oceanic bottom of the world.
The British experts who wrote the report also called for people to raise their understanding of the ocean further. The government is now investing heavily in space projects. People are more interested in the moon and Mars, but there is not enough for the oceans that are really related to our lives. understanding.
One of the authors of the report, Professor Edward Hill of the National Oceanographic Centre of the United Kingdom, said: 'The ocean is very important for our future economic development. 9 billion people seek food from the ocean. But we know so little about the seabed.'