December 11, 2014 — More than 5 trillion pieces of plastic, weighing nearly 269,000 tons, are littering the world's oceans, according to a study published Wednesday by the scientific journal PLOS One. The study is the first of its kind to gather data from around the world on floating plastic.
For the study, researchers traveled the world's seas on 24 expeditions between 2007 and 2013, collecting small pieces of plastic from all five subtropical gyres, or spots in the ocean where currents converge. From there, using computer models, they extrapolated to estimate global numbers.
The researchers gathered data in areas where scientists haven't had measurements for floating plastic debris, including the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean near Antarctica, and the South Atlantic, according to Kara Lavender Law of the Sea Education Association in Falmouth, Mass., who wasn't involved in the study.
The study's estimate for plastic bits less than one-fifth of an inch – about 35,540 tons – is comparable to an earlier study by researchers in Spain who used different methodology, Ms. Law said. That study estimated there were 7,000 to 35,000 tons of plastics this size floating in the ocean.
It's encouraging that two different approaches came up with similar answers, given how difficult it is to measure plastic in the ocean, she said.
The largest source of plastic pollutants was found to be discarded fishing nets and buoys. As a possible remedy, lead researcher Marcus Eriksen, co-founder of the nonprofit 5 Gyres Institute, advises creating an international program to pay fishing ships to reclaim nets, according to The New York Times.
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