Скачать или смотреть WWF: Ocean microplastic could increase by 50-fold by 2100

On Tuesday, February 8th, a new report commissioned by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) projects that plastic pollution in the world’s oceans could quadruple by 2050.

The research was conducted by the Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Center for Polar and Marine Research, based in Germany. Researchers analyzed over 2,500 studies on plastic pollution to compile all the data available on this topic and generate estimates.

The report also warns that by 2100, “marine areas more than two and a half times the size of Greenland could exceed ecologically dangerous thresholds of microplastic concentration.” It says that the amount of marine microplastic could increase by 50-fold by the end of the century.

So, what exactly is microplastic? Quite literally, it is a small plastic particle produced during the disintegration of larger plastic pieces. We have seen plastic straws stuck in sea turtles’ nostrils, but what really impacts the ocean is the tiniest bits.

“Plastic also fragments into smaller pieces due to the action of sunlight and wave abrasion in the ocean, for instance,” says Dr. Melanie Bergmann, a Marine Biologist from the Alfred Wegener Institute, “And in these smaller sizes, plastic particles can reach far more organisms. Even the smallest zooplankton animals can eat these particles up to big whales.”

“It can really infiltrate our food webs.”

According to the report, 88% of marine species studied were found to be negatively impacted by plastic, and up to 90% of all seabirds and 52% of all sea turtles ingest plastic. It can have serious effects on marine biodiversity.

“It has very different effects on organisms” says Dr. Bergmann, “For some species, it causes inflammation, it reduces the growth rates, it reduces success of reproduction, of fertility.”

The researchers found out that concentrations of microplastics above a dangerous threshold were already measured in the Mediterranean, the East China and Yellow Seas and the Arctic sea ice. All these findings suggest that the current situation is irreversible, as most of the plastic which gets into the ocean is nearly impossible to retrieve.

To attempt to slow down the spread of microplastics, actions need to be taken on multiple levels, starting with the consumer, says Heike Vesper, head of marine protection at the WWF Germany. Vesper suggested that people should avoid single use plastic items in their daily life.

For the governmental level, Dr. Bergmann said a treaty on chemical and plastic pollution is urgently needed, which has specific reduction targets and measurements overseen by a scientific body. “Plastic pollution is a global problem, as we showed in the report,” she commented, “It needs global solutions.”

The WWF wants nations to adopt a legally binding global treaty against plastic pollution at the UN Environment Assembly later this month.


ETB NEWS : Yi Pan, Meixing Ren Contributed to this article.