Although it may be hard to comprehend, about 8 million tons of plastic enter the ocean annually. In order to understand more, scientists had a special opportunity recently when they partnered with the Volvo round-the-world ocean race to include a research vessel that would collect data on microplastics in the ocean. Some areas were so remote they had never been sampled before and unfortunately, they were less than pristine.
Samples from the middle of the South Indian Ocean, well below South Africa, included a surprising 42 particles per cubic meter. Comparatively, samples from much more populated areas such as the Australian coast (114-115 particles per cubic meter) and Europe’s north Atlantic and Mediterranean coasts (180-307 particles per cubic meter) were understandably higher.
The research highlights the fact that there is no such thing as “away” on our planet and that there is a need to continue to strategize how we are able to actively shift the market away from the continued production of disposable polluting plastic.
[Souce: The Guardian]