Welcome to the plastisphere
June 8th is World Oceans Day. Few of us will deliberately celebrate, but all of us should be profoundly concerned about the state of the oceans today. Indeed the threats to ocean health are threats to human health, even to civilization.
Expanding, warmer water is confusing species and bleaching coral. Carbon overload is causing unprecedented acidification, harming anything with a shell. Overfishing is rampant: the Food And Agriculture Organization estimates that over 80% of fish species are depleted or overfished. The only living thing that seems plentiful in our once rich oceans is discarded bycatch.
In the midst of all this lurks an even deeper problem, one that should shame us all. Simply put, we are filling the oceans with plastic. Marine debris has always been an issue, as anyone who has lived on a coast knows. But microplastic is quickly emerging as the most problematic type of marine debris, threatening wildlife, human health, and entire ecosystems.
A recent European Commission report suggests that approximately ten percent of the global plastic manufactured each
year (265 million tonnes) ends up in the oceans or other water systems. Plastic does not biodegrade fully, it photodegrades
into tiny particles that release toxic chemicals used in its production.
Densities have been recorded at 100,000 particles per square meter. And fish and marine mammals mistake it for food, clogging their digestive systems with garbage.
The infamous mammoth plastic garbage “islands” in the oceanic gyres are bad enough, but most of the plastic pollution now threatening oceans and lakes is barely visible to the naked eye.
Scientists have even coined a new term to describe it: the “plastisphere” is here. In some areas the plastic is so thick that organisms have begun evolving there, as if it were a new, toxic, ecosystem.
Scientists are also concerned that plastic acts as a transport system for invasive species (including cholera), and diminishes sunlight and oxygen levels. And plastic debris will be exacerbated as climate change raises sea levels, claiming more debris from beaches, and exposing more Artic seawater to contamination.
And this is not, unfortunately, a problem limited to the oceans: recent evidence suggests we face a similar plague of
plastic in the Great Lakes, much of it derived from microbeads used for largely cosmetic purposes.
And yet, we are as addicted to the use of plastic, a petroleum by-product mixed with many varieties of chemicals, as ever. We love its resilience, its flexibility, its convenience. Billions of orphaned plastic bags float in oceans and lakes; they look like thick schools of jellyfish. Plastic beads are in face wash, shower gels, even some brands of toothpaste. Think about that: we put plastic in our toothpaste.
Thankfully, there is some action on this near-catastrophic situation. The International Maritime Organization, along with other partners, has established GESAMP -- the Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection.
Working Group 40 is devoted specifically to “Sources, fate and effects of micro-plastics in the marine environment .” Its preliminary 2012 report outlined the alarming extent of the problem.
Interestingly, the American Chemistry Council and Plastics Europe, two powerful industry associations, are financial contributors to the Working Group. In fact, the plastics industry has been quite active, with initiatives such as MARLISCO (the Marine Litter in Europe Seas: Social Awareness and Coresponsibility programme), receiving funding.
But it is not nearly enough. Awareness is a first step; but this should be an international policy priority, from local town councils to the UN. Plastic sludge: what a legacy. On World Oceans Day, let’s get serious about this. Don’t buy things with polyethylene in the ingredients if you can avoid it. Don’t just walk by those plastic bags on the street, pick them up and discard them properly.
Push politicians to act to limit plastic debris before, during, and after the production process. We also need to fund technical innovations to remove as much plastic as we can from the oceans and lakes, though we are stuck with most of it for the long haul.
The plastisphere: a new normal?