{"id":13199,"date":"2012-05-26T23:05:56","date_gmt":"2012-05-26T23:05:56","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2012-05-26T23:05:56","modified_gmt":"2012-05-26T23:05:56","slug":"Pacific-plastic-waste-continues-to-grow","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/asiancemagazine.com\/?p=13199","title":{"rendered":"Pacific plastic waste continues to grow"},"content":{"rendered":"

The vast swirl of plastic waste floating in the North Pacific has grown 100-fold over the last 40 years.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And scientists warned the killer soup of microplastic — particles smaller than five millimetres (0.2 of an inch) — threatened to alter the open ocean’s natural environment.<\/p>\n

In the period 1972 to 1987, no microplastic was found in the majority of samples taken for testing, said the paper in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters.<\/p>\n

Today, scientists estimate the swirling mass of waste known as the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (NPSG) or the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, is roughly the size of Texas.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The United Nations Environment Program says around 13,000 pieces of plastic litter are found in every square kilometer of sea, but the problem is worst in the North Pacific.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The plastic particles are being vacuumed up by marine life and birds, and the mix is heavy with toxic chemicals.<\/p>\n

The study said the NPSG is providing a new habitat for ocean insects called “sea-skaters” which prey on plankton and fish eggs and are in turn fed on by seabirds, turtles and fish.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The insect, which spends its entire life at sea, needs a hard surface on which to lay its eggs — previously limited to relatively rare items like floating wood, pumice and sea shells.<\/p>\n

If microplastic density continued to grow, insect numbers would increase as well, the scientists warned, “potentially at the expense of prey such as zooplankton or fish eggs”.<\/p>\n

Source AP<\/em>
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