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8 Million Tons of plastic is dumped at sea each year. Becoming 5 massive gyres that pollute the oceans for decades !

We're treating the oceans like a trash bin. Around 80 percent of marine litter originates on land, and most of that is plastic. In 2010, 8 Million Tons of plastic trash ended up in the ocean from coastal countries: far more than the total that has been measured floating on the surface in the Ocean's. Plastic that pollutes our oceans and waterways has severe impacts on our environment and our economy. Seabirds, whales, sea turtles and other marine life are eating marine plastic pollution and dying from choking, intestinal blockage and starvation.
There are 5.25 Trillion pieces of plastic trash in the world's oceans, and each year, 8 Million Tons of plastic are added to the count. That's equivalent to one municipal garbage truck pulling up to the beach and dumping its contents every minute !
Because of the difficulties in working out the exact amount (much of it may have sunk), the scientists said the true figure could be as much as 12.7 Million Tons polluting the oceans each year. The figure is expected to rise each year. Between 2010 and 2025, some 155 Million Tons of plastic could be dumped into the ocean, enough to fill 100 bags per foot of coastline.

Dr. Jambeck - Associate Professor in the College of Engineering at the University of Georgia - said: " a global action is needed to tackle the problem ! "

Ellen MacArthur Foundation - Davos 2016 :
"Decades of plastic production have already caused environmental problems. The report says that every year "at least 8 Million Tons of plastics leak into the ocean - which is equivalent to dumping the contents of one garbage truck into the ocean every minute. If no action is taken, this is expected to increase to two per minute by 2030 and four per minute by 2050. In a business-as-usual scenario, the ocean is expected to contain one Ton of plastic for every three Tons of fish by 2025, and by 2050, more plastics than fish (by weight)."

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We're treating the oceans like a trash bin. Around 80 percent of marine litter originates on land, and most of that is plastic. In 2010, 8 Million Tons of plastic trash ended up in the ocean from coastal countries: far more than the total that has been measured floating on the surface in the Ocean's.

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https://www.conserve-energy-future.com/causes-and-effects-of-ocean-pollution.php

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https://padlet.com/krhoades2/wqt1mfr28b6z

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https://www.noaa.gov/education/resource-collections/ocean-coasts-education-resources/ocean-pollution

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Each year, billions of pounds of trash and other pollutants enter the ocean.

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Plastic Whale

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OCEAN POLLUTION: This Whale Had A Message From The Deep

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https://youtu.be/6HBtl4sHTqU

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The Great Pacific Garbage Patch Is Not What You Think It Is | The Swim

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https://www.nrdc.org/stories/ocean-pollution-dirty-facts

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Causes, Effects and Solutions to Ocean Pollution That Could Save Our Planet - Conserve Energy Future

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Ocean pollution, also known as marine pollution, is the spreading of harmful substances such as oil, plastic, industrial waste and chemical particles into the ocean. Here are various causes, effects and solutions to ocean pollution.

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Causes, Effects and Solutions to Ocean Pollution That Could Save Our Planet - Conserve Energy Future

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Ocean pollution, also known as marine pollution, is the spreading of harmful substances such as oil, plastic, industrial waste and chemical particles into the ocean. Here are various causes, effects and solutions to ocean pollution.

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https://www.noaa.gov/media-release/gulf-of-mexico-dead-zone-is-largest-ever-measured

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https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.azula.com/countries-polluting-ocean-2596059406.amp.html

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https://www.bbc.com/news/av/science-environment-47666059/dead-whale-had-40kg-of-plastic-in-its-stomach

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Plastic Pollution Affects Sea Life Throughout the Ocean

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Our ocean and the array of species that call it home are succumbing to the poison of plastic. Examples abound, from the gray whale that died after stranding near Seattle in 2010 with more than 20 plastic bags, a golf ball, and other rubbish in its stomach to the harbor seal pup found dead on the Scottish island of Skye, its intestines fouled by a small piece of plastic wrapper.

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Each year, billions of pounds of trash and other pollutants enter the ocean.

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https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/campaigns/ocean_plastics/

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Covering more than 70 percent of our planet, oceans are among the earth's most valuable natural resources. They govern the weather, clean the air, help feed the world, and provide a living for millions. They also are home to most of the life on earth, from microscopic algae to the blue whale, the largest animal on the planet. Yet we're bombarding them with pollution. By their very nature-with all streams flowing to rivers, and all rivers leading to the sea-the oceans are the end point for so much of the pollution we produce on land, however far from the coasts we may be. And from dangerous carbon emissions and choking plastic to leaking oil and constant noise, the types of ocean pollution that humans generate are vast. As a result, collectively, our impact on the seas is degrading their health at an alarming rate. Here are some ocean pollution facts that everyone on our blue planet ought to know.

Ocean acidification

When we burn fossil fuels, we don't pollute just the air but the oceans too. Indeed, today's seas absorb as much as a quarter of all man-made carbon emissions, which changes the pH of surface waters and leads to acidification (pH is a measure of how acidic or basic water is). This problem is rapidly worsening-oceans are now acidifying faster than they have in some 300 million years. In absorbing so much of the carbon emissions from the atmosphere, the pH level of the ocean surface has increased an estimated 30 percent since the start of the industrial revolution 200 years ago. If greenhouse gas emissions continue to increase, the surface waters of the ocean could be nearly 150 percent more acidic by the end of the century.

So what happens when the ocean's chemistry is knocked out of whack? Marine ecosystems-and the coastal economies that depend on them-go out of whack too. Take reefs and shellfish, for starters. To build their shells and skeletons, creatures like mussels, clams, coral, and oysters require calcium carbonate (the same compound found in chalk and limestone). But the ocean's carbonate levels go down when acidity levels rise, threatening the survival of these animals. Bivalves are at the bottom of the food chain, so these effects ripple up to many fish, seabirds, and marine mammals. More-acidic waters also contribute to the bleaching of coral reefs and make it harder for some types of fish to sense predators and for others to hunt prey.

Meanwhile, ocean acidification threatens us land dwellers too. The billion-dollar American shellfish industry is the economic backbone of myriad coastal communities, from Louisiana to Maryland to Maine. In the Pacific Northwest, the shellfish that are vulnerable to ocean acidification make up more than 60 percent of the fishery revenue. In total, the U.S. shellfish industry could lose more than $400 million annually by 2100 due to impacts of ocean acidification.

Trash in the ocean

The majority of the garbage that enters the ocean each year is plastic-and here to stay. That's because unlike other trash, the single-use plastic bags, water bottles, drinking straws, and yogurt containers, totalling some eight million metric tons of the plastic waste we toss (instead of recycling), won't biodegrade. Instead, they can persist in the environment for a millennium, polluting our beaches, entangling marine life, and getting ingested by fish, whales, turtles, and seabirds.

The most infamous example of marine debris is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. But these patches (which are more like " soups") represent only a fraction of the trash in our oceans. In fact, plastic debris has been found at the bottom of the deepest ocean trench.

Where does all this debris originate? While some is dumped directly into the seas, 80 percent of marine litter makes its way there gradually from land-based sources―including those far inland―via storm drains, sewers, and other routes, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). Oil from boats, airplanes, cars, trucks, and even lawn mowers is contributing to water pollution circulating in ocean waters. (An excellent reason for why we should all reduce plastic pollution, no matter where we live.) Chemical discharges from factories, raw sewage overflow from water treatment systems, and stormwater and agricultural runoff add other forms of marine-poisoning pollutants to the toxic brew, contributing to algal blooms and aquatic dead zones.

Ocean noise

The ocean is far from being a " silent world." Sound waves travel farther and faster in the sea's dark depths than they do in the air, and many marine mammals like whales and dolphins, in addition to fish and other sea creatures, rely on communication by sound to find food, mate, and navigate. But an increasing barrage of human-generated ocean noise pollution is altering the underwater acoustic landscape, harming-and even killing-marine species worldwide.

Consider the incessant din of the roughly 60,000 commercial tanker and container ships that ply the seas at any given time. The underwater racket that results creates a kind of "smog" that reaches nearly every corner of the ocean and shrinks the sensory range of marine wildlife. High-intensity sonar used by the U.S. Navy for testing and training causes some of the same effects-and has been linked to mass whale strandings.

Meanwhile, in the hunt for offshore oil and gas, ships equipped with high-powered airguns fire compressed air into the water every 10 to 12 seconds for weeks to months on end. Traveling as far as 2,500 miles, these deafening seismic blasts disrupt foraging, mating, and other vital behaviors of endangered whales (and may ultimately push some, such as the North Atlantic right whale, to extinction). The blasts lead some commercial fish species to abandon their habitat-a direct hit on coastal economies dependent on catch rates; they also injure and kill marine invertebrates, including scallops, crabs, and squid.

Offshore drilling

In addition to noise pollution, the oil and gas industry's routine operations emit toxic by-products, release high levels of greenhouse gases, and lead to thousands of spills in U.S. waters annually. That oil can linger for decades and do irreversible damage to delicate marine ecosystems. Take the 1989 Exxon Valdez tanker spill in Alaska's Prince William Sound, from which oil still remains, or the 2010 BP Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling disaster, which spread millions of gallons of oil throughout the Gulf of Mexico, imposing a heavy toll on coastal communities. But smaller spills also pollute the ocean (and the air) with long-lasting impacts. Even the most advanced cleanup efforts remove only a fraction of the oil, and sometimes they use hazardous technologies. Chemical dispersants used in the largest spill response efforts-1.8 million gallons were released into the Gulf after the BP disaster-are dangerous pollutants themselves.

NRDC works to defend our oceans

From the earliest days of NRDC's founding, we've advocated-and litigated-to protect the world's oceans. As political tides changed in Congress and the White House, NRDC has been steadfast in our defense of policies that protect marine species, as well as coastal communities and their ocean-based economies. In addition to advocating for climate policies that will ensure the health of marine ecosystems, NRDC has played a key role in halting offshore drilling and seismic blasting in the Arctic and Atlantic oceans, in the creation of the Atlantic's first marine national monument, and in the push for more sustainable, ethical seafood. Today, we're part of a growing coalition calling for governments to fully and highly protect at least 30 percent of our oceans by 2030 (part of what's known as " 30x30 ") to help safeguard the marine ecosystems and fisheries that provide food, jobs, and cultural sustenance to billions around the world.

Ocean pollution and you

The fate of our seas is not only up to the government or industry. Our individual, daily actions matter too. You can start by reducing water pollution and runoff at home, being more mindful of your plastic consumption, or organizing a cleanup of your local waterway. You can also support the work of NRDC and other environmental advocacy groups as well as businesses and organizations that work to preserve our coasts and waters.
This story was originally published on January 22, 2018, and has been updated with new information and links.

This NRDC.org story is available for online republication by news media outlets or nonprofits under these conditions: The writer(s) must be credited with a byline; you must note prominently that the story was originally published by NRDC.org and link to the original; the story cannot be edited (beyond simple things such as grammar); you can't resell the story in any form or grant republishing rights to other outlets; you can't republish our material wholesale or automatically-you need to select stories individually; you can't republish the photos or graphics on our site without specific permission; you should to let us know when you've used one of our stories.

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Ocean pollution in the form of fossil fuels, trash, offshore drilling, and noise is harming marine life. Learn what you can do to reduce harm to our oceans.

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Dead whale 'had 40kg of plastic in its stomach'

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The Cuvier's beaked whale was found in the Philippines, filled with 16 rice sacks and multiple shopping bags.

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THE OCEANS ARE so vast and deep that until fairly recently, it was widely assumed that no matter how much trash and chemicals humans dumped into them, the effects would be negligible.

Today, we need look no further than the New Jersey-size dead zone that forms each summer in the Gulf of Mexico, or the thousand-mile-wide belt of plastic trash in the northern Pacific Ocean to see that this early "policy" placed a once flourishing ocean ecosystem on the brink of collapse.

Many "flavors" of marine pollution

Ocean water covers more than 70 percent of the Earth, and only in recent decades have we begun to understand how humans impact this watery habitat. Marine pollution, as distinct from overall water pollution, focuses on human-created products that enter the ocean.

Before 1972, humans around the word spewed trash, sewage sludge, and chemical, industrial, and radioactive wastes into the ocean with impunity. Millions of tons of heavy metals and chemical contaminants, along with thousands of containers of radioactive waste, were purposely thrown into the ocean.

The London Convention, ratified in 1975 by the United States, was the first international agreement to spell out better protection for the marine environment. The agreement implemented regulatory programs and prohibited the disposal of hazardous materials at sea. An updated agreement, the London Protocol, went into effect in 2006, more specifically banning all wastes and materials except for a short list of items, like leftover materials from dredging.

Many of these pollutants sink to the ocean's depths or float far distances from their original source, where they are consumed by small marine organisms and introduced into the global food chain. Marine pollution encompasses many types of pollution that disrupt the marine ecosystem, including chemical, light, noise, and plastic pollution.

Chemical pollution

Chemical pollution is the introduction of harmful contaminants. Common man-made pollutants that reach the ocean include pesticides, herbicides, fertilizers, detergents, oil, industrial chemicals, and sewage.

Many ocean pollutants are released into the environment far upstream from coastlines. Nutrient-packed fertilizers applied to farmland, for example, often end up in local streams and are eventually deposited into estuaries and bays. These excess nutrients trigger massive blooms of algae that rob the water of oxygen, leaving dead zones where few marine organisms can live. Some chemical pollutants climb high into the food webs-like DDT, the insecticide that placed the bald eagle on the United States Fish and Wildlife's endangered species list.

Scientists are starting to better understand how specific pollutants, leached into the ocean from other materials, affect marine wildlife. PFAS, a chemical incorporated into many household products, accumulates in human and marine mammal blood. Even pharmaceuticals ingested by humans, but not fully processed by our bodies, end up in aquatic food webs.

Light pollution

Since the invention of the lightbulb, light has spread across the globe, reaching almost every ecosystem. Often thought of as a terrestrial problem, scientists are starting to understand how artificial light at night affects many marine organisms.

Light pollution penetrates under the water, creating a vastly different world for fish living in shallow reefs near urban environments. Light disrupts the normal cues associated with circadian rhythms, to which species have evolved timing of migration, reproducing, and feeding. Artificial light at night can make it easier for predators to find smaller fish prey and can affect breeding in reef fish.

Noise pollution

Pollution is not always visible. In large bodies of water, sound waves can carry undiminished for miles. The increased presence of loud or persistent sounds from ships, sonar devices, and oil rigs disrupts natural noises in the marine environment.

For many marine mammals, like whales and dolphins, low visibility and large distances make non-visual underwater communication critical. Toothed whales use echolocation-emitting sounds that reflect off surfaces-to help them "see" in the ocean. Unnatural noises interrupt communication, disrupting migration, communication, hunting, and reproduction patterns for many marine animals.

Plastic pollution

Plastic pollution seeps into the ocean through run-off and even purposeful dumping. The amount of plastic in the Atlantic Ocean has tripled since the 1960s. The garbage patch floating in the Pacific Ocean, almost 620,000 square miles- twice the size of Texas -is a powerful image of our plastic problem.

A huge culprit is single-use plastics, used once before tossed into the trash or directly into the ocean. These single-use items are accidentally consumed by many marine mammals. Plastic bags resemble jellyfish, a common food for sea turtles, while some seabirds eat plastic because it releases a chemical that makes it smell like its natural food. Discarded fishing nets drift for years, ensnaring fish and mammals.

Bits of plastic swirl throughout the water column, even sinking to the deepest depths of the ocean. Scientists found plastic fibers in corals in the Atlantic Ocean-and more concerning, they found that the corals readily ate plastic over food. Dying marine mammals, washing up on shore, also contain plastic inside their stomachs.

Is there a "fix" to marine pollution?

Many national laws, as well as international agreements, now forbid dumping of harmful materials into the ocean, although enforcing these regulations remains a challenge.

Many pollutants still persist in the environment, difficult to fully remove. Chemical pollutants often cannot be broken down for long periods of time, or they increase in concentration as they move up the food web. Because plastic is thought to take hundreds of years to break down, it poses a threat to the marine environment for centuries.

Isolated efforts to restore estuaries and bays have met with some success, but pollution gets trapped in marine sediment and makes complete clean-ups nearly impossible.

Moving forward, encouraging recycling and reuse can minimize plastic pollution. Dampening unnecessary lights at night can limit light pollution. And encouraging responsible chemical-use through consumer and political actions can protect the environment for the future.

National Geographic is committed to reducing plastics pollution. Learn more about our non-profit activities at natgeo.org/plastics. Learn what you can do to reduce your own single-use plastics, and take your pledge.

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A wide range of pollution-from plastic pollution to light pollution-affects marine ecosystems.

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The 4ocean Bracelet - Every purchase pulls a pound of plastic from our

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4ocean offers bracelets made from recycled materials. Every bracelet purchased funds the removal of one pound of trash from the ocean and coastlines. Join the movement.

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The 4ocean Bracelet - Every purchase pulls a pound of plastic from our

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4ocean offers bracelets made from recycled materials. Every bracelet purchased funds the removal of one pound of trash from the ocean and coastlines. Join the movement.