More plastic debris in the ocean (1)

T HE ocean covers nearly three-quarters of our planet, and hold 97% of the planet’s water. The ocean plays an important role in our lives. They produce more than half of the oxygen in the atmosphere, and absorb the most carbon from it. It regulates Earth’s climate. We take food, minerals (salt, sand, gravel, manganese, copper, nickel, iron, and cobalt can be found in the deep sea) and more in huge quantities, and drill for crude oil. The ocean is an increasingly important source of biomedical organisms with enormous potential for fighting disease. For transportation, there is both travel and shipping, recreation and leisure. These are just a few examples of the importance of the ocean to our life. We need oceans to survive, but still, we are all the while, pouring waste and toxins in it.

Henderson Island is one of the world’s most remote islands. People might imagine a pristine deserted island with beautiful white sand beaches around.

An uninhabited atoll in the South Pacific, Henderson Island, is located half way between New Zealand and Chile, more than 5,

000 kilometers from the nearest major population center. The island is so remote that it’s only visited every five to ten years for research purposes.

In a study published in the scientific journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows that researchers found the island’s beaches are polluted with the highest density of plastic debris reported anywhere on the planet, littered with an estimated 37.7 million pieces of plastic. Its location near the center of the South Pacific Gyre ocean current makes it a focal point for debris carried from South America or deposited by fishing boats.

Dr. Lavers, the study’s lead author, said “What’s happened on Henderson Island shows there’s no escaping plastic pollution even in the most distant parts of our oceans.”

(To be continued)