Great Pacific Garbage Patch, 1.8 Trillion Pieces Weighing 80.000 Tons, Growing Faster
New analysis reveals the region contains as much as sixteen times more plastic than previously estimated, with pollution levels increasing exponentially.
* 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic weighing 80,000 metric tons are currently afloat in an area known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch – and it is rapidly getting worse. These are the main conclusions of a three year mapping effort conducted by an international team of scientists affiliated with The Ocean Cleanup Foundation, six universities and an aerial sensor company. Their findings were published today in the journal Scientific Reports.
In order to analyze the full extent of the GPGP, the team conducted the most comprehensive sampling effort of the GPGP to date by crossing the debris field with 30 vessels simultaneously, supplemented by two aircraft surveys. Although most vessels were equipped with standard surface sampling nets, the fleet’s mothership RV Ocean Starr also trawled two six-meter-wide devices, which allowed the team to sample medium to large-sized objects.
Credit The Ocean Cleanup
“We were surprised by the amount of large plastic objects we encountered”, said Dr. Julia Reisser, Chief Scientist of the expeditions. “We used to think most of the debris consists of small fragments, but this new analysis shines a new light on the scope of the debris.”
Credit: The Ocean Cleanup
Contacts and sources:
Alan Dunton
The Ocean Cleanup
Citation: Evidence that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is rapidly accumulating plastic.
L. Lebreton, B. Slat, F. Ferrari, B. Sainte-Rose, J. Aitken, R. Marthouse, S. Hajbane, S. Cunsolo, A. Schwarz, A. Levivier, K. Noble, P. Debeljak, H. Maral, R. Schoeneich-Argent, R. Brambini, J. Reisser.Scientific Reports, 2018; 8 (1) DOI: 10.1038/s41598-018-22939-w
Source: http://www.ineffableisland.com/2018/03/great-pacific-garbage-patch-18-trillion.html
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Cleaning it up is great – but how do you stop
the countries that dump their garbage in the ocean?
They dont, in the UK they will apply a 10% sin tax on plastic products because asia litters without any attempt to dispose of rubbish, any excuse will do. Shame the behavior is entirely natural, for animals that is.
If that is what’s floating on the surface, then how much has sunk to the bottom, or is suspended in the water?