According to a new scientific estimate, nearly 80,000 metric tons of plastic exists between California and Hawaii in the 'Transatlantic Garbage Belt'. International researchers pointed out that this figure is 16 times that previously reported.
People placed a trawl in the center of the garbage belt and found that the concentration of plastic on the trawl net hit a record high. Plastic waste is mainly concentrated in five marine areas, of which the 'pan-Atlantic waste belt' is the largest one in the area.
Plastic garbage in the ocean
The three-year mapping work showed that plastic pollution 'exponentially increases at a faster rate than the surrounding water flow'. In the 1.6 million square kilometers of water, microplastics (which can seriously affect the growth and development of fish larvae, diameter Plastic particles smaller than 5 mm) account for 8 % of the total amount of floating plastics. It is estimated that there are 1.8 trillion plastics in this area, some of them larger than micro plastics, including fishing nets, toys and even toilet seats.
Erik van Sebille from the University of Utrecht in the Netherlands was irrelevant to this study, but when she learned of these figures, she used the word 'unbelievable' to describe it. This project also proved that: The transatlantic garbage belt moves around Speed is beyond everyone's imagination.
Aviation surveys and the use of ships are part of the reason why the predicted value is higher than in the past. In addition, these differences may also be attributed to the rise in the level of plastic pollution since the previous research was conducted.
The report published in the scientific report found the following:
1. In this part of the ocean, plastic accounts for 99.9% of all debris.
2. At least 46% of the plastic is made up of fishing nets, and more than three-quarters of the plastic is more than 5cm in size, including hard plastics, plastic sheets, and films.
3. Although most large items have been broken into pieces, the researchers were able to identify a few items, including containers, bottles, lids, packaging tapes, ropes and fishing nets.
4, 50 items in the sample have readable production dates: one in 1977, seven in the 1980s, 17 in the 1990s, 24 in the 2000s, and one in 2010.
5, only some debris of sufficient thickness to float and will accumulate in this area, such as for the packaging of ordinary plastic polyethylene and polypropylene.
Every year, millions of tons of plastics enter the ocean. Some drift into a large system of circulating currents called 'circulation'. Once trapped in a circulatory loop, plastic breaks down into microplastics, possibly by marine life. Ingestion.
The information shown by the Institute is clear. Marine environment expert Laurent Lebreton said: 'It has brought us back to how we use plastic. We can't live without plastic - I think it's very useful in medicine, transportation and construction, but I think we have to Change the way we use plastics, especially on disposable plastics and plastics that have a very short life.