Since 2005, unprecedented rise in oceans plastic pollution

Rise in oceans plastic pollution unprecedented since 2005

Paris: In the past 15 years, plastic pollution in the world’s oceans has reached “unprecedented levels,” according to a new study, which calls for a legally binding international agreement to halt the harmful refuse.
Ocean plastic pollution is a pervasive problem worldwide; animals can become entangled in larger pieces of plastic, such as fishing nets, or ingest microplastics that infiltrate the food chain and are eventually ingested by humans.

There are approximately 170 trillion fragments of plastic, primarily microplastics, on the surface of the world’s oceans today, according to research published on Wednesday.

Plastic contamination in the world’s oceans has reached unprecedented levels over the past 15 years, according to a study published in the open-access journal PLOS One.

The quantities were greater than previous estimates, and the study found that, if left unchecked, the rate of plastic entering the oceans could multiply in the coming decades.

Between 1979 and 2019, scientists collected plastic samples from over 11,000 stations around the world, concentrating on a 40-year period.

They discovered no trends until 1990, followed by a fluctuation between 1990 and 2005. After that, the sample sizes explode.

“Since 2005, we’ve seen a rapid increase in the amount of plastic in the ocean due to the rapid increase in plastic production and the limited number of policies that control the discharge of plastic into the ocean,” contributor Lisa Erdle told AFP.

There are numerous sources of plastic pollution in the ocean.

Fishing apparatus such as nets and buoys are frequently discarded or dropped in the middle of the ocean, whereas clothing, automobile tyres, and single-use plastics frequently pollute near the coast.

They eventually degrade into microplastics, which Erdle compared to “confetti on the ocean surface.”

– “Inundation of toxic products” –

According to the report produced jointly by Economist Impact and The Nippon Foundation, plastic consumption will nearly double from 2019 to 2050 in G20 countries, reaching 451 million tonnes per year.

In 1950, only 2 million tonnes of plastic were manufactured globally.

Even in countries with sophisticated waste management systems, recycling has had little effect on the pollution problem because only a small percentage of plastics are effectively recycled, with the majority ending up in landfills.

If landfills are not managed properly, plastic debris can seep into the environment and eventually reach the oceans.

Erdle stated, “We truly observe a dearth of recycling and an influx of toxic products and packaging.”

Between 1990 and 2005, plastic waste rates were observed to decline at times, in part due to the existence of effective pollution control policies.

This includes the MARPOL treaty of 1988, a legally binding pact between 154 nations to halt the discharge of plastics from naval, fishery, and shipping fleets.

The authors of the study argue that a new, comprehensive treaty is required to not only reduce plastic production and use, but also to better manage its disposal in light of the current increase in plastic production.

“Environmental recovery of plastic has limited merit, so solution strategies must target those systems that restrict emissions of plastic contamination in the first place,” according to the study.

In a legally binding United Nations agreement that could be finalised as early as next year, 175 nations agreed last year to end plastic pollution.