The global level of ocean plastic pollution began to rise sharply after 2005. article about it published at PLOS ONE.
In this study, Markus Eriksen of the 5 Gyres Institute and colleagues examined ocean surface plastic pollution data collected at 11,777 stations in six marine regions (North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific Ocean, Indian and Mediterranean regions) between 1979 and 2019. .
After accounting for wind, site selection, and under-sampling errors, the authors’ model showed a significant and rapid increase in the abundance of plastic waste in the near-surface ocean since 2005. In 2019, it is estimated that 82 to 358 trillion plastic particles weighing between 1.1 million and 4.9 million tons float on water. The paucity of data from 1979-1990 showed no trend during this period, and plastic abundance levels fluctuated between 1990 and 2004 with no clear trend.
While these results are mostly based on data from the North Pacific and North Atlantic, Eriksen et al. suggest that the rapid increase in plastic waste since 2005 reflects global increases in plastic production or changes in waste management. Researchers predict that without far-reaching policy changes, the proportion of plastic entering waters will increase by about 2.6 times by 2040.
Formerly paleontologists known fossilized sea anemone thought to be jellyfish.