Oceans of pollution

Scientists and experts are alarmed at amount of plastic debris and growing 'dead zones' in the world's oceans.

In America only 34% of the population believe people are effecting the environment

Plastic pollution in the oceans has risen alarmingly over the past four decades [EPA]

 

 

 The amount of plastic floating in the Pacific Gyre - a massive swirling vortex of rubbish - has increased 100-fold in the past four decades, phytoplankton counts are dropping, over-fishing is causing dramatic decreases in fish populations, decreasing ocean salinity is intensifying weather extremes, and warming oceans are speeding up Antarctic melting.

One warning of humanity's increasingly deleterious impact on the oceans came from prominent marine biologist Jeremy Jackson of the Scripps Institute of Oceanography.

 

 Plastic, plastic everywhere…

The most obvious impact humans are having on the world's oceans is pollution. Though it can take myriad forms, pollution is now most shockingly evident in the seas in the form of giant, swirling gyres of plastic.

Scientists recently investigated the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, known as the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch", and found an "alarming amount" of refuse, much of it comprising individual pieces of very small size. The eastern section of the spiralling mass, between Hawaii and California, is estimated to be around twice the size of Texas, and is having ecosystem-wide impacts, according to their study released May 8.

 

  According to the Association Terranostra, Costa Rica alone produces 4,500 metric tonnes of garbage every day that ends up on beaches and in the ocean [Reuters]