Plastic Pollution Persists for Centuries, Threatening Oceans
- Plastic is made of durable synthetic polymers that resist degradation, breaking into smaller pieces over time but never fully decomposing.
- This persistence has made it a major threat to marine ecosystems.
Why Does Plastic Pollution Last So Long?
- Durability of Plastics: Synthetic polymers are designed to resist environmental breakdown.
- Slow Degradation: Plastics fragment into smaller particles but take hundreds to thousands of years to decompose.
Every piece of plastic ever produced still exists in some form today.
Macroplastics Harm Marine Animals Through Entanglement and Ingestion
Definition
Macroplastics
Large, visible debris such as fishing nets and ropes, plastic bottles, caps, and grocery bags.
- Entanglement: Marine animals like sea turtles and seals get trapped in fishing nets, leading to injury or death.
- Ingestion: Animals mistake plastic for food.
Microplastics Are Tiny Particles With Massive Impact
Definition
Microplastics
Plastic fragments smaller than 5 mm in size.
- Microplastics arise from the breakdown of larger plastics, microbeads in cosmetics, and synthetic fibers from clothing.
- They've been detected in virtually every marine ecosystem studied, from Arctic ice, deep ocean trenches, and even in marine animals' tissues.
Plastic Pollution Destabilizes Marine Ecosystems
- Loss of Biodiversity:
- Species ingesting or becoming entangled in plastic face population declines.
