Utah People's Post

The Latest News from the Beehive State

Friday, July 1, 2022
Log in
  • National News
    • Female Caseworker Killed & Doctor Shot in Philadelphia
  • State News
    • Car Chase Leads to Drug Arrest
  • Tech & Science
  • Health
    • How to Prepare For Ticks Season
    • Magical Weight Loss Bean Scam
  • Sports
  • Business
You are here: Home / Tech & Science / A New Global Issue: Plastic Debris Floating On All Oceans

A New Global Issue: Plastic Debris Floating On All Oceans

July 1, 2014 Posted by Editor

Results from a study carried out during an around the world cruise by a research ship, scientists have found that 88 percent of the oceans’ surface contains plastic debris, leading to concerns about the effects on both marine life and the food chain. Plastic debris is floating on the tops of waves across all of Earth’s oceans and it is becoming a serious problem.

Until now, researchers have been unsure as to how widespread it is. Now, however, scientists have found that there are currentlly five large accumulatioins of plastic debris in the open ocean that match up with the five major twists of oceanic surface water circulation, proving that all of the world’s oceans have plastic debris on their surfaces, Auto World News reported.

Andres Cozar, one of the researchers, said, “Ocean currents carry plastic objects which split into smaller and smaller fragments due to solar radiation. Those little pieces of plastic, known as microplastics, can last hundreds of years and were detected in 88 percent of the ocean surface sampled during the Malaspina Expedition 2010.”

The study estimates only floating debris and not plastic that may reside beneath the surface or on the ocean floor and results from bags, food containers, utensils, toys and other discarded plastic garbage which has made its way into the oceans via storm water runoff.

The researchers note that the results obtained by the Malaspina Expedition illustrate that the problem of plastic waste pollution has a global nature. The major residues found are polyethylene and polypropylene, which are polymers used in the production of everyday products such as bags, food and beverage containers, kitchen utensils and toys.

According to Science World Report, “The Malaspina Circumnavigation Expedition 2010 was a project that included more than 400 researchers from around the world. Researchers studied the impact of global change on the ocean ecosystem and explored its biodiversity. Sailing onboard a ship, they took nearly 200,000 water, plankton, atmospheric particles and gases samples in 313 points of the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Unfortunately, they found far more plastic debris than previously expected.”

“These microplastics have an influence on the behavior and the food chain of marine organisms,” said Cozar.

These disturbing findings show that plastic debris and plastic pollution is a far more widespread problem than initially thought. Rather than being isolated in small pockets on the ocean, it is truly a global problem.

Kara Lavender Law, who studies plastic pollution at the Sea Education Association in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, says that this new study gives the first global estimate she knows of for the floating plastic debris.

While Law was not involved in the study, she said that the estimate ‘appears to be in the ballpark’ given the results of prior regional studies.

She said, “We are putting, certainly by any estimate, a large amount of a synthetic material into a natural environment.”

“We’re fundamentally changing the composition of the ocean,” she added.

Results from a study carried out during an around the world cruise by a research ship, scientists have found that 88 percent of the oceans’ surface contains plastic debris, leading to concerns about the effects on both marine life and the food chain. Plastic debris is floating on the tops of waves across all of Earth’s oceans and it is becoming a serious problem.

Until now, researchers have been unsure as to how widespread it is. Now, however, scientists have found that there are currentlly five large accumulatioins of plastic debris in the open ocean that match up with the five major twists of oceanic surface water circulation, proving that all of the world’s oceans have plastic debris on their surfaces, Auto World News reported.

Andres Cozar, one of the researchers, said, “Ocean currents carry plastic objects which split into smaller and smaller fragments due to solar radiation. Those little pieces of plastic, known as microplastics, can last hundreds of years and were detected in 88 percent of the ocean surface sampled during the Malaspina Expedition 2010.”

The study estimates only floating debris and not plastic that may reside beneath the surface or on the ocean floor and results from bags, food containers, utensils, toys and other discarded plastic garbage which has made its way into the oceans via storm water runoff.

The researchers note that the results obtained by the Malaspina Expedition illustrate that the problem of plastic waste pollution has a global nature. The major residues found are polyethylene and polypropylene, which are polymers used in the production of everyday products such as bags, food and beverage containers, kitchen utensils and toys.

According to Science World Report, “The Malaspina Circumnavigation Expedition 2010 was a project that included more than 400 researchers from around the world. Researchers studied the impact of global change on the ocean ecosystem and explored its biodiversity. Sailing onboard a ship, they took nearly 200,000 water, plankton, atmospheric particles and gases samples in 313 points of the Indian, Pacific and Atlantic Oceans. Unfortunately, they found far more plastic debris than previously expected.”

“These microplastics have an influence on the behavior and the food chain of marine organisms,” said Cozar.

These disturbing findings show that plastic debris and plastic pollution is a far more widespread problem than initially thought. Rather than being isolated in small pockets on the ocean, it is truly a global problem.

Kara Lavender Law, who studies plastic pollution at the Sea Education Association in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, says that this new study gives the first global estimate she knows of for the floating plastic debris.

While Law was not involved in the study, she said that the estimate ‘appears to be in the ballpark’ given the results of prior regional studies.

She said, “We are putting, certainly by any estimate, a large amount of a synthetic material into a natural environment.”

“We’re fundamentally changing the composition of the ocean,” she added.

Share this:

  • Tweet
  • Share on Tumblr
  • Email

Filed Under: Tech & Science Tagged With: debris, Earth's oceans, food chain, Malaspina Expedition, marine life, microplastics, Ocean Surface, plastic, Plastic Debris

Woman working out at the gym

Just 23% of Americans Are Working Out Enough in Their Spare Time

June 29, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Poliovirus Therapy Gives Brain Cancer Patients New Hope (Study)

June 29, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

United Airlines airplane

Passenger Mysteriously Dies on United Airlines flight Bound for Boston

June 28, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Breakfast sandwich

Here Are Some Foods No Nutritionist Would Ever Eat

June 27, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Poppy flower

UN Warns of Surge in Opium-based Drugs and Cocaine Supply

June 27, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

U.S.-Canada border

French Jogger Detained 2 Weeks for Accidentally Crossing Border

June 26, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Plus size model

Normalizing Plus Size Could Fuel Obesity Crisis (Study)

June 25, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Giant manta ray

Unique Manta Ray Nursery Spotted off Texas Coast

June 23, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

The rainbow flag

WHO Scraps Transgenderism from List of Mental Illnesses

June 22, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

456 People Dead at U.K. Hospital after Taking too Many Painkillers

June 21, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Kenyan girls dancing

Kenyans Facing Poor Nutrition as Supermarket Shopping Is on the Rise

June 20, 2018 By Amelia Donovan

Pages

  • About
  • Contact
  • Privacy Policy GDPR
  • Staff
  • Terms and Conditions

Recent Posts

  • Just 23% of Americans Are Working Out Enough in Their Spare Time
  • Poliovirus Therapy Gives Brain Cancer Patients New Hope (Study)
  • Passenger Mysteriously Dies on United Airlines flight Bound for Boston
  • Here Are Some Foods No Nutritionist Would Ever Eat
  • UN Warns of Surge in Opium-based Drugs and Cocaine Supply
  • French Jogger Detained 2 Weeks for Accidentally Crossing Border
  • Normalizing Plus Size Could Fuel Obesity Crisis (Study)

Related Articles

  • Crosses on a wall

    Religious People Live Longer, Are Less Stressed than Atheists, Study

    Jun 15, 2018
  • Antineutrino Detector

    Scientists Discover an Even More Elusive Particle than Neutrinos

    Jun 5, 2018
  • Funny Albert Einstein

    Time Travel Is Already Here

    May 30, 2018
  • Planet 2003UB313

    Scientists Found Evidence that Elusive Planet 9 May Be Real

    May 18, 2018
  • Kuiper Belt Object

    This Asteroid in Kuiper Belt Is Nothing Scientists Have Seen Before

    May 11, 2018
  • Elephant raising its trunk

    Elephants Communicate with Their Feet, Scientists Confirm

    May 9, 2018
  • Starbucks store

    Black Men Settle for $1 Each after Racist Arrest at Starbucks

    May 3, 2018
  • Tech addiction

    Facebook Pioneers Forming Coalition to Lobby Against Tech Addiction

    Feb 5, 2018
  • Kaspersky Co-founder Natalia Kasperskaya

    Kaspersky Boss: Bitcoin Was Created by U.S. Govt to Fund CIA’s Black Ops

    Feb 1, 2018
  • Amazon Go shopper

    Amazon Gets Rid of Cashiers at Its Check-Out Free Store

    Jan 30, 2018

Categories

  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Health
  • National News
  • Nature
  • Provo
  • Salt Lake News
  • Science
  • Sports
  • State News
  • Tech & Science
  • Technology
  • Uncategorized
  • West Jordan
  • West Valley City
  • World

Copyright © 2022 utahpeoplespost.com

About · Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Site Map · Contact