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What types of habitats are being destroyed by plastic in the ocean
Affect of plastic on marine eco systems
Affect of plastic on marine eco systems
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Plastic Pollution on Marine Ecosystem
Human activities are responsible for the increasing decline of the world 's biological diversity. In the oceans, activities such as over-harvesting, pollution, introduced species, habitat fragmentation, and habitat destruction can be a major threat. One particular threat by human impact that continues to harm marine life is plastic debris pollution. Plastic pollution contributes to around 60-80% of marine debris. These debris can reach the ocean in various ways such as disposing by merchant ships, left behind by beach-goers, or river and municipal drainage systems. As soon as it reaches the ocean, it can affect the marine life because the debris might sink to the seabed and later be consumed by living
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The plastic materials tested included two oxo-biodegradable formulations (TDPA), bag using GM-free corn starch, vegetable oils, and compostable polyesters, and a standard polyethylene bag made of 33% recycled material (O 'Brine 2010). This study was to compare the rate of degradation of these bags in the ocean over a 40 week period. Each bag was cut into 7 cm by 1 cm strips and 25 strips of each of the bags were stapled together onto a wooden sample holder attached to a floating pontoon. These samples were present near the water surface while also at great depths and degradation was examined at 4, 8, 16, 24, and 40 weeks. When removed from the sample holder, degradation was determined by reduction in tensile strength and surface area loss. Tensile strength was measured using the Universal Testing Machine to indicate the maximum extension until breakage of the plastic. Surface area was measured using ImageJ analysis by looking through a light microscope. The amount of UV transmitted through the plastic was also determined to test whether fouling by marine organisms will reduce the amount of UV light reaching the plastic because UV light can initiate oxidative process by producing a chemical that can deteriorate plastics. The plastic samples made of TDPA 1, 2 and standard polyethylene showed an increase …show more content…
"The pollution of the marine environment by plastic debris: a review." Marine pollution bulletin 44.9 (2002): 842-852.
Eich Andreas, Tobias Mildenberger, Christian Laforsch, and Miriam Weber. "Biofilm and Diatom Succession on Polyethylene (PE) and Biodegradable Plastic Bags in Two Marine Habitats: Early Signs of Degradation in the Pelagic and Benthic Zone?: E0137201." PLoS One, 10.9 (2015).
Gouin, T, A.A Koelmans, N Wallace, R Thompson, and C Arthur. "Plastics in the Marine Environment." Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry, 33.1 (2014): 5-10.
O’Brine, Tim, and Richard C Thompson. "Degradation of Plastic Carrier Bags in the Marine Environment." Marine Pollution Bulletin, 60.12 (2010):
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the largest garbage dump in the world. According to estimates made by experts, the patch holds approximately three and a half million tons of garbage. Majority of this garbage is made of plastic. This waste is a threatening problem to the patch’s surrounding wildlife. Many animals are caught in the floating pieces of trash and it is the cause of the deaths of about one million birds and about one hundred thousand other sea animals. Due to the oceans nature and constant moving currents, the trash is also constantly moving. Therefore the size of the patch never stays the exact same. However, scientists believe it be approximately two times the size of Texas. The plastic is mostly broken down from larger materials into small pieces. The patch has been referred to as one scientist as a, “plastic soup”. This garbage poses such a threat mainly because it does not biodegrade. These plastics will be in the ocean essentially forever. Many plastics also contain chemicals, and absorb other chemicals and pollutants they become exposed to. These newly absorbed toxins are then leaked and distributed back into the ocean over time. The chemicals can directly enter the bodies of the animals which consume them. A study was being conducted by scientists of the fish that inhabit the area around the patch. What the researchers found inside the belly of one fish (that was no larger in size than that of a finger), was eighty four small fragments of plastic. It does not take scientists to recognize the impact of this problem, Zach Gold, who is sixteen, is from Santa Monica California. Zach enjoys s...
Which means their obviously bad for the aquatic marine life environment & are cause many different forms of damage for them & us as one. On p.g. 23 of The New York Times upfront magazine “Birds,fish, sea turtles, & others are getting tangled in plastic bags or mistake them for food & choke”. Someone else might argue that they could the plastic bags in landfills instead of oceans. But that counter- argument is flawed because you’re just polluting by burning plastic which is bad on our part we’re not doing our part to support & taking care of the earth. Plastic in the ocean isn't just bad for plants & animals but for humans too because of the food chain some of us eat animals as a meat source such as aqua marine life like fish. If the fishermen catch fish that have been eating plastic then it's in our food supply if we eat that fish it's gonna be bad for us so many will end up getting sick from the plastic inside of the fish then what will we do our aqua marine food supply will go down the drain we couldn’t eat the fish since it's basically contaminated with plastic that we’re dumping there instead of trying to fix it & getting rid of plastic bags for good for the good of the earth. We’re causing damage towards the earth by dumping all that plastic into the ocean which damages our water supply it’ll poison us although we clean the water it depends on how big the plastic particles are, it’ll make us sick & sense it’s been lying in the oceans could bring in new pathogens &
People are hurting the animals, and they don’t realize it. That’s one of the issues that the people don’t realize what they are doing. All of the sea creatures about 100,000 marine animals and countless fish are being harmed by the floating plastics. Those animals die in the North Pacific every year from either eating the plastic junk or becoming ensnared, and even drowning in it. Since there is plastic in the ocean and it’s killing fish over time and from the over time it could actually make the fishes go extinct because we are throwing our garbage in the ocean, which is killing the species and affects the food chain in the ocean. Also, every people are eating plasticizing additives, drinking them, breathing them, and absorbing them through their skin every single day. Only 3 to 5 percent of plastics are recycled in any way. Which means each person tosses about 185 pounds of plastic every year. So, the plastic never really goes
Every year, an estimated 8 million tons of plastic waste enters our environment, severely polluting oceans, beaches, forests, and even the towns and cities we live in. In the ocean alone, it is believed that 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic pollutes the waters (“Plastic Statistics”, Ocean Crusaders).The majority of plastic pollution can be traced back to single-use items, such as grocery bags, bottles, and plastic packaging. According to United Nations Environment, “At the rate we are dumping items such as plastic bottles, bags and cups after a single use, by 2050 oceans will carry more plastic than fish…” (“UN Declares War on Ocean Plastic”, UN Environment). This pollution is a major problem and endangers not only the environment, but human
This pollution problem is so ubiquitous plastic can be found throughout the marine environment from coastlines to near shore lagoons to remote ocean hotspots where plastics caught up in marine currents. And gathered up into huge garbage patches that swirl
According to a study conducted by the University of British Columbia, approximately “93 percent of beach fulmars (migratory seabirds related to the albatross) had bellies full of plastic, with one even having upwards of “454 pieces of plastic in its stomach” alone. (Source B) Similarly, in a 2011 International Coastal Clean-up, there were 964244 plastic bags found in the ocean, each having the potential to kill wildlife (Source C). A major reason as to why plastic bags are so hazardous to animal health is the fact that they have no biodegradable capabilities, meaning that instead breaking down into organic materials, plastic takes 500 to 1000 years to simply photodegrade, fragmenting into smaller pieces but not presenting any less danger (Source F). As these pieces become smaller, making it easier for any animal life, marine or not, to ingest it and suffocate as a result of the blockage. This is when the implementation of a tax on plastic bags could become extremely useful as a method of regulation and
The ocean is an abundant source of life. It is home to thousand of different creatures, provides a great source of food, and provides the earth with about one half of the oxygen needed to sustain life. (National Geographic) Pollution especially plastic, is a catastrophic problem. Ironically plastic, which is a material designed to last forever is generally used for things we tend to throw away. Every year about one hundred to two hundred billion pounds of plastic are manufactured. Only 31% of that plastic is actually recycled. Biomass packaging estimates 10% of that plastic ends up in the ocean annually. About 20% of it coming from ships and other platforms, and the other 80% coming from land derived sources, such as international garbage dumping, winds or tides either way it finds its way to the ocean.(Biomass Packaging Co., et al)
One of the main challenges that face the environment today is the threat of plastic materials in the environment. All forms and sizes of plastic are harmful to the environment; this paper looks at the effects of microplastics which are small forms of plastic that are at least 5mm in size. Due to their small size, the microplastics end up being ingested into the bodies of aquatic animals causing health consequences that are uncertain to the organisms. This review focuses on the susceptibility of marine organisms to the physical, chemical and biological uptake of microplastics.
As the world’s population rises, our negative impact on the world does as well, specifically on our oceans. Intended to make our lives easier day to day, we have engineered and produced a durable, lightweight material known as plastic; plastic materials include plastic bags and bottles, fishing nets, and six pack rings. In 1972, the Hartford Courant newspaper published an article, in which two scientists, Edward J. Carpenter and K.S. Smith Jr. expressed their genuine concerns, “floating pieces of plastic, a new form of pollution, are turning up in mid-ocean in substantial concentrations that might eventually disturb the marine ecology” (“Plastic Pollution Newest Threat to Ocean Ecology”). 40 years later, the devastating effect of plastic debris
Plastic Pollutions Effect on Ocean life “Every year, about 8 million tons of plastic gets into the ocean, and scientists estimate that there may be as much as 110 million tons of plastic trash in the ocean” (Schlossberg, A9). When people go to the store, they’d buy things that include plastics, such as water bottles, straws, items with plastic bags, and even toys; and along with that, when they’d check-out they’d get their items put into plastic bags. All of these plastics have a chance of getting into the ocean, even if you were to throw it away.
Every day we hear about our friends dying. “The ocean is like a soup of plastic mostly composed of fragments invisible to the human eyes, killing life and affecting dangerously our health." (Fidenci, 2011). Marine animals are eating plastic instead of their actual food. A decline of many species is occurring and this is affecting the food chain.
Research from the University of California San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography said that species in the ocean consume a projected 12,000 to 24,000 tons of plastic every year in the Pacific Ocean (Nall, 2014). Pollution of recyclable materials in the oceans is one of the leading causes of why some marine species are nearing extinction. Many authors of articles and books analyzing this topic tend to agree that pollution of our oceans is a problem. The future of this problem is where their ideas tend to differ. The following four literature reviews attempt to demonstrate and support my belief that pollution is getting worse in the ocean and more marine life ecosystems are being affected, but there are things that we as humans can do to change this. Imagine a world where we didn’t have to constantly worry about the vicious cycle of humans affecting animals and then animals in turn affecting us through consumption.
The great big ocean also produces 70 percent of the oxygen that we breathe everyday. There are many more ways that the earth provides water for the world and everything living on it. In this paper, I will discuss what factors contribute to the pollution of the ocean, how the pollution is affecting humans and living resources, and how society can work together to prevent extreme pollution in the ocean. The most common form of pollution in the ocean is littering, over the last ten years society has produced more plastic waste than they have in the last 100 years.
Millions of plastic bags are given out to consumers by supermarkets and stores to carry their goods in. They are also cheap, light, durable, easy to carry and in many cases, free. The most commonly used shopping bag is made of High Density Polyethylene (HDPE). This type is used in the majority of supermarkets and stores. After these bags are used, they often end up in landfills or as litter, roughly only three percent of plastic bags is actually recycled per year (Planet Ark, 2011). The materials used in making plastic bags make them non-biodegradable. According to the science dictionary, 2011 refers to “these materials cannot be decomposed into environmentally safe waste materials by the action of soil bacteria.” These harmful substances are toxic and take approximately four hundred years to break down, or in this case photo-degrade; which is how plastics made from (HDPE) break down. Since they are not biodegradable, they remain in the environment and are absorbed in soil or water (Indian Centre for Plastics in the Environment, 2010). This essay will discuss the various harmful effects of plastic bags, and demonstrate the risks that these bags impose on humans, animals and the environment. It will also discuss a series of suggested solutions that could help reduce plastic bag usage.
...harges of Human-made Debris Comprise the Largest Source of Marine Debris in Oceans World-wide (nearly 80%)." Plastic Debris Rivers to Sea Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.