科学家们警告说，海洋微塑料污染的增加令人震惊

概要

 

关于海洋表面污染的全球数据表明，现在有230万吨微塑料污染漂浮在世界海洋中，其浓度自2005年以来激增。

微塑料是长度小于5毫米的塑料颗粒，通常在海龟、鲸鱼和鱼类体内发现。自20世纪70年代以来，研究人员一直在跟踪海洋中的微塑料污染，但直到2005年，塑料的浓度才开始迅速和持续增加。加利福尼亚州圣莫尼卡5Gyres研究所的研究人员查看了1979年至2019年间收集的海洋表面塑料污染数据。这些数据来自11000多个收集站，覆盖了大多数主要海洋区域。研究人员发现，在过去18年中，海洋塑料浓度急剧上升，是2005年水平的10倍以上。

他们认为，自2005年以来塑料浓度的急剧上升可能是由于这一时期塑料生产的蓬勃发展。2005年至2019年，全球塑料产量几乎翻了一番，从2.63亿吨增至4.6亿吨；也可能是因为政府未能引入强制性措施以减少微塑料污染，甚至随着新的塑料进入海洋和旧的碎片分解成微塑料，废物也在不断积累。

该研究警告说，如果塑料政策没有广泛的转变，到2040年，塑料流入世界海洋的速度可能比2016年高出2.6倍。

 

Scientists warn of 'alarming' rise in ocean microplastic pollution

 

Global data on ocean surface level pollution suggests there are now 2.3 million tonnes of microplastic pollution floating in the world’s seas, with concentrations surging since 2005

 

A handful of plastic washed ashore at Kamilo Beach, Hawaii

The 5 Gyres Institute, CC-BY 4.0 (https://creativecommons​.org/licenses/by/4.0/)

 

Concentrations of microplastics in the oceans have surged in the past 18 years, with researchers now estimating there are 2.3 million tonnes floating in the sea worldwide.

 

Microplastics – defined as plastic particles less than 5 millimetres long – are commonly found in the bodies of sea turtles, whales and fish. Studies have tracked microplastic pollution in oceans since the 1970s, but it wasn’t until 2005 that plastic concentrations started to rapidly and consistently increase.

 

Marcus Eriksen and Lisa Erdle at the the 5 Gyres Institute in Santa Monica, California, and their colleagues looked at data on plastic pollution at the ocean surface that had been collected between 1979 and 2019. That data came from more than 11,000 collection stations covering most major ocean regions.

 

Patchy data made it impossible to identify any clear trends on plastic concentrations between 1979 and 1990, while between 1990 and 2004 plastic concentrations showed fluctuations with no clear trend.

 

But the team found that in the past 18 years, ocean plastic concentrations have risen sharply, to more than 10 times their 2005 levels.

 

“We've found an alarming trend of exponential growth of microplastics in the global ocean since the millennium, reaching over 170 trillion plastic particles,” Eriksen said in a press release.

 

The sharp uptick in concentrations since 2005 may be due to a boom in plastic production around this time, says Erdle. Global plastic production almost doubled between 2005 and 2019, from 263 million tonnes to 460 million tonnes, according to the OECD and Our World in Data.

 

It could also be the result of a failure to introduce mandatory measures to reduce pollution, Erdle says, even as waste accumulates as new plastic enters the oceans and older pieces break down into microplastics. “In recent years, there have been no binding international policies, and we see a rapid increase in plastic pollution in the world’s oceans,” she says.

 

The study, which Erdle says is unique in its geographical breadth and four-decade time span, only looked at data up to 2019. This was in part because the researchers needed to set a “clear cut-off point” for analysis, Erdle says.

 

Since then, some countries, including the UK, have introduced laws to tackle microplastic pollution, such as banning the use of plastic straws and curtailing demand for single-use carrier bags.

 

But Erdle believes more radical action targeting the entire global plastic industry will be necessary to make a real dent in marine pollution levels.

 

In 2022, countries agreed to draw up a global treaty to tackle plastic pollution, with a draft text expected by 2024. Erdle says the treaty must be binding and enforceable, and address the full life cycle of plastics.

 

The agreement should include a cap on overall plastic production, she says, describing the measure as an “effective tool” to reduce ocean microplastic concentrations.

 

Without a widespread shift in plastic policy, the rate at which plastic flows into the world’s oceans could be 2.6 times higher by 2040 compared with 2016, the study warns.

 

Other scientists have also backed calls for a global cap on plastic production, but such a move would prove hugely controversial and is likely to be heavily resisted by petrochemical industries.

 

Source:

New Scientist

Published on 8 March 2023

 

 

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