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| Jomo Beach, South La Estates, La- Accra, Ghana, West Africa |
In my two previous posts, I
focused on the plastic content of the oceans. I discussed the surface content
of plastic on the oceans and the amount of plastic in the oceans in its entirety.
It was said that the total amount
of trash generally, entering the oceans per annum is 2.12 billion tons. I
indicated that 5.25 trillion particles of plastic float on the oceans, weighing
about 269,000 tons.
It was also indicated that based
on a research, it was realized that plastic waste entering the oceans per annum
is between 4.8 million metric tons and 12.7 million metric tons.
As one championing a clean,
balanced and sustainable natural environment, the obvious question is: of what
effect is plastic on the oceans?
Before we find the answer or
answers to the question, let us first find out about the oceans as whole. Ocean
is a big body of salt water. Collectively they form the World Ocean. The oceans
of planet Earth are Pacific Ocean, Atlantic Ocean, Indian Ocean, Southern Ocean
and Arctic Ocean. They are five in number. The World Ocean covers about 71% of
the Earth’s surface area. The surface area of the World Ocean is 139.7 million
square miles (361.9 million square kilometers). The average depth of the World
Ocean is 3700 meters or 12,100 feet. The table that follows gives an analysis
of the World Ocean.
|
NO
|
OCEAN
|
PLACE
|
AREA(KM)
|
% OF
WORLD
OCEAN
|
COASTLINE(KM)
|
|
01
|
Pacific Ocean
|
Between Asia and Oceania and the
Americas(western
side)
|
168,723,000
|
46.6
|
135,663
|
|
02
|
Atlantic Ocean
|
Between Europe and Africa
and the Americas(eastern
side)
|
85,133,000
|
23.5
|
111,866
|
|
03
|
Indian Ocean
|
Between Africa and
Australia
|
70,560,000
|
19.5
|
66,526
|
|
04
|
Southern Ocean
|
Surrounds Antarctica
|
21,960,000
|
6.1
|
17,968
|
|
05
|
Arctic Ocean
|
Covers much of the Artic
|
15,558,000
|
4.3
|
45,389
|
|
|
|
|
361,900,000
|
100
|
377,412
|
Having given you a feel of the
World Ocean, I should proceed to discuss the effect of the plastic in it.
The Centre for Marine
Conservation (CMC), Washington, DC is a coordinating body for cleaning beaches
in the United States. During 1993 cleanup they collected over 3.1 million
pounds of trash; half of it was plastic.
According to CMC the 12 common
debris found are 1) cigarette butts 2) paper pieces 3) plastic pieces 4) Styrofoam
5) glass pieces 6) plastic food bags 7) plastic caps and lids 8) metal beverage
cans 9) plastic straw 10) glass beverage bottles 11) plastic beverage bottles
12) Styrofoam cups.
The conduit for plastic in the
oceans is the gyre. The plastic is gathered, sustained and perhaps shredded by
the oceans gyres. I mentioned them in my last but one post.
When plastic gets into the Ocean it
affects the environment and ecosystem negatively.
Some sea animals get entangled in
plastic materials leading to their death.
Some sea animals like turtle,
mistake floating plastic pellets for food and swallow it, lodging it in their
digestive system. Sea birds mistake plastic pellets for eggs and feed on it.
Crabs feed it to their young ones wrongly taking it for natural food.
Albatrosses inhabit Midway Atoll. Almost all the albatrosses inhabiting the
atoll have plastic in their digestive systems. Roughly a third of their chicks
die, and most of them from their being fed with plastic. Midway Atoll (Island)
is a 2.4 sq. mile or 6.2 sq. kilometer atoll in the North Pacific 28°12’N
117°21’W.
Invasive species attach
themselves to plastic trash as it floats in the ocean, thereby they invade
other ecosystems.
According to research plastic trash
affects a minimum of 267 species globally.
A small sea creature ingests
plastic in the oceans, a big creature eats the small creature, and ultimately,
man eats the big creature.
Man, in the end, eats the plastic
which they carelessly leaked into the World Ocean!
Reference:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_garbage_patch
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