WANTED SEAS & OCEANS DEAD OR ALIVE?
Plastics are non-biodegradable. Unless removed, they remain in the sea for hundreds of years breaking up into even smaller particles. It was found that about 250 billion pounds of raw plastic pellets are produced annually worldwide and the amount of plastic in the ocean has tripled since 1960’s. About 20% of the plastic in the ocean comes from ships or offshore platforms; the rest is blown or washed off the land.
Plastic accumulation along with toxic chemicals like DDT & PCB’s are becoming in effect, poison pills. Research has revealed the following facts:
Microscopic pieces of plastic are found anywhere in the oceans even inside plankton, the keystone of the marine food chain. In the North Sea it’s found that fulmars, a type of seagull had an average of 30 pieces in their stomach. In the middle of North Pacific, 6 pounds of plastic is found for every pound of algae. Plastic apart from killing marine animals that eat it or get entangled in it and drown. It also damages and degrades their habitat. Plastic bags, bottle tops and polystyrene foam coffee cups are often found in the stomachs of dead sea lions, dolphins, sea turtles and others. Plastic is killing more than a million sea birds and 100000 mammals and sea turtles each year.
Our understanding of Marine Ecosystem is insufficient to account for the consequences of these damages, but it’s no excuse. Let’s not wait for a catastrophe, to take preventive measures.
Source: Environmental Science and Engineering Journal.
By,
R.Prasanna Venkatesh,
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