Large quantities of plastic enters our oceans each year, polluting the seas, littering beaches & endangering marine life. Plastic pollution is found even in the most remote regions of earth like Antarctica, the Everest. Relatively little is known about the levels of plastic nestled on sea beds in deep-sea sediments.
Frontiers in Marine Science estimates there’s 14 million metric tons of micro-plastics at our ocean floors. More than 35 times as much plastic believed to be floating on the surface. Deepest oceans are vulnerable to plastic pollution. Plastic litter is one of our generation’s key environmental challenges, a potential health risk to humans & marine life. Around 150 million metric tons of plastic is already floating in our oceans with an additional 8 million tons entering the water each year.
Plastic dumped into our oceans mostly ends up on the coasts. There’s an urgent need to find effective, innovative solutions to stop plastic pollution before it reaches our oceans & seas. Governments, industries, scientists & communities need to work together to significantly reduce the amount of litter along the beaches & in our oceans.