MICROPLASTICS: MORE HARMFUL EVERY DAY
While it is undoubtedly essential to eliminate plastic emissions to the environment, this will not be sufficient to address the impacts of so-called legacy plastics that are already in the ocean today (an estimated 100 million kilograms in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, or GPGP, alone) and for which any preventive actions are already too late. Most plastic pollution arrived into the ocean as larger objects, but each larger object constantly degrades and leaks microplastics into the ocean.
It is critical to understand that the longer a plastic object is in the water, the more harm it will do. There will be more microplastics in the ocean tomorrow than there are today – even if emissions stopped completely and no new plastic pollution arrived into the ocean. The mass of microplastics, and the urgency of the problem, grows every day.
Although microplastics make up only a small portion of the total plastic mass in the ocean, they are disproportionately harmful. Microplastics can spread widely throughout the oceans in a way that larger plastic objects cannot. They can also be ingested by zooplankton, the very base of the marine food web, introducing plastic (and its potentially harmful chemicals) into a global food chain that eventually ends with us.
Of course, plastic does not have to be microscopic to cause harm. Larger plastic objects can impact wildlife through entanglement and the potential release of harmful chemicals into the water. Larger objects can even interfere with human activity, damaging vessels and disrupting commercial shipping. Plastic is harmful at all stages of its lifecycle at sea.
"lasting" - Google News
November 14, 2023 at 09:54PM
https://ift.tt/fMsv72R
Lasting Damage: Why Cleanup Is Essential To Tackle Microplastics • Updates - The Ocean Cleanup
"lasting" - Google News
https://ift.tt/mZL06I5
Shoes Man Tutorial
Pos News Update
Meme Update
Korean Entertainment News
Japan News Update
Bagikan Berita Ini
0 Response to "Lasting Damage: Why Cleanup Is Essential To Tackle Microplastics • Updates - The Ocean Cleanup"
Post a Comment