Plastic Contamination in Earth’s Oceans
If you were to pick one spot anywhere, in or under any ocean, what is the probability that the particular spot would be contaminated by plastics?
89.62%
That’s right, nearly 9 out of 10.
Two independent 2014 scientific studies confirmed that with exhaustive random sampling in oceans all around the world, the chances that any particular sample would contain plastics of any kind is nearly 90%. How can this be? The oceans still seem to be blue, reasonably full of life, and ebb and flow as usual, so where is all this plastic we’re talking about?
Microplastics.
Microplastics account for the majority of plastic contamination by abundance in the oceans, and are definable by being <5mm in length. Anything greater than 5mm is considered to be a macroplastic, which of course count for the majority of the weight, but by count are far less abundant than the microplastics.
In total, the weight of all plastics in the Earth’s oceans at the time of these studies was estimated to be, in the best-case scenario, approximately 270,000 tons of plastics are afloat. However, this is an estimate based on what we know of ocean currents and the mysteries of the depths; experts find it likely that those numbers are likely inaccurate as soon as they are measured, due to the constant influx of plastics into our oceans. It also serves as a good reminder that these estimates are only for the plastic afloat in the oceans. Experts have no idea of the amount of plastics that may have come to rest on the ocean floor, or have been washed up on shore at any given time.
So what does 270,000 tons look like, and what is it made out of? Firstly, that means that all this plastic is about equivalent to approximately 27 Eiffel Towers, 1,200 Statues of Liberty, or 2,160 average-sized blue whales. What is more impressive (in a rather morbid fashion) is that the weight is spread amongst approximately 5,250,000,000,000 individual particles, according to the minimum estimates available. That’s 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic floating in the oceans, and that is the real root of why plastic contamination is such a problematic issue.
With so many detrimental factors effecting the Earth’s oceans, there’s no sure way to investigate the harmful effects of plastics when they may be confounded by rising sea levels, increasing ocean temperatures, greater numbers of storms, and more ocean-based construction than ever before. One thing is for certain, however: plastics are not helping.
We can fight plastic contamination by being careful of what we do with our trash, and making sure that if recycling is an option, we are doing so. We can decry policies that make it easier to further pollute the oceans, whether by methods that shed plastics, or construction and extraction that could threaten ecosystems by way of exposure. We can raise awareness of what is currently happening and help people understand the consequences for if it becomes even worse.
And of course, we can make sure others are doing the same.
Sources:
Plastic Debris in the Open Ocean (PNAS, 2014)
Plastic Pollution in the World’s Oceans: More than 5 Trillion Plastic Pieces Weighing over 250,000 Tons Afloat at Sea (PLOS One, 2014)