In the North Pacific Ocean, there is a garbage "island" the size of Texas rotating and floating. The garbage also is under the water, not just floating on top, which is part of the reason it's so hard to clean up. One of the reasons it is so dangerous is because most of it is plastic- which photo degrades into smaller pieces, making it harder for fish and other marine mammals to tell it apart from it's usual food. Other problems like entanglement and small surface debris also pose a threat to animals. Although we can't clean it up because of the economic effects it would have, environmentalists everywhere are encouraging people to recycle and alerting the public about this trash vortex.
2)Microbial Answer to Plastic Pollution?
Cases where plastic is in the ocean in small pieces due to photodegration, researches think that marine microbes might be able to help clean up the plastic contamination in the ocean. Because plastics are a huge part of pollution in the ocean, having a bacterial source for cleaning up the ocean in groundbreaking. Although scientists are just beginning the research process for this, the microbes look promising because of how they succeeded in earlier tests. Scientists found that the bacteria stuck to polyethylene, a chemical used in the production of plastic bags, and colonized rapidly on it. The breakdown of these plastics would greatly help contribute to the cleansing of the ocean.
3)Plastics in Oceans Decompose, Release Hazardous Chemicals, Surprising New Study Says
Besides just decomposing, plastics in the ocean release harmful chemicals that can be absorbed by animals. Although many assume that plastics are on standby in the ocean and don't do anything because they take so long to decompose, new studies say plastics decompose rapidly when exposed to sun and rain. Another hurtful chemical in the ocean is styrofoam. Styrofoam also breaks down quickly and washes up on beaches in many places. Styrofoam is especially a problem because it breaks down in to little pieces and balls and is absorbed by animals.
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