The plastic revolution started in the 50s: this material spread around the world and has been used for a myriad of objects. Easy to work, economical and virtually indestructible. The plastic indeed continues to exist for hundreds of years, and thus becomes waste particularly polluting. In August, scientists have made the first real inspection of the Great Pacific Ocean garbage patch.
This is a sea area at least large as Europe where pieces of plastic float from the surface to 30 meters deep. Some big as normal waste, others so small they are invisible to the naked eye. With time plastic breaks down into parts smaller and smaller but remains highly pollutant to marine life, as it enters the food chain of fish, birds and smaller animals, and often obviously kills them. Eventually plastic decomposes completely in salt water, but releases toxic substances into the sea.
The patch of plastic in the Pacific was discovered by oceanographer Charles Moore, by chance, in 1997. It was later discovered that in this sea area plastic is 6 times more common than plankton, the almost invisible living creatures that are at the base of marine life. This huge island of garbage was created by the Pacific oceanic gyre, a rotating current that concentrates all the plastic in that area. 80% of the garbage comes from the mainland, that is from countries like USA, China, Japan and Australia overlooking the Pacific. The remaining 20% comes from the waste discharged from ships and boats.
The patch of plastic in the Pacific was discovered by oceanographer Charles Moore, by chance, in 1997. It was later discovered that in this sea area plastic is 6 times more common than plankton, the almost invisible living creatures that are at the base of marine life. This huge island of garbage was created by the Pacific oceanic gyre, a rotating current that concentrates all the plastic in that area. 80% of the garbage comes from the mainland, that is from countries like USA, China, Japan and Australia overlooking the Pacific. The remaining 20% comes from the waste discharged from ships and boats.
If the patch of the Pacific is the most striking case of marine pollution due to plastic, this material is present in reality in all the oceans of the world. Also in the Pacific off California, the concentration of plastic in the water is 2.5 times more than plankton. But the Mediterranean is not much better: the western part has at least 2000 pieces of plastic per square kilometer, the highest concentration of the world. And the sea brings plastics now ubiquitous, even on the beaches of Kenya. To solve the problem the beaches and the seas should be cleaned and recycling increased, but much more: only 5% of the world plastic is really recycled.
But mostly the world would have to change habits and production, simply because our way of life of consumerism and production of enormous quantities of waste may have only one outcome, to destroy the planet. Thousands of marine animals are killed each year by the garbage dumped in the sea: seals, dolphins, whales, turtles, seabirds, fish, and continuing this way in the future the only marine inhabitants left will be pieces of plastic.
But mostly the world would have to change habits and production, simply because our way of life of consumerism and production of enormous quantities of waste may have only one outcome, to destroy the planet. Thousands of marine animals are killed each year by the garbage dumped in the sea: seals, dolphins, whales, turtles, seabirds, fish, and continuing this way in the future the only marine inhabitants left will be pieces of plastic.
Francesco Defferrari
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