Studies confirm plastic is polluting even the deepest parts of our oceans
18/05/2018
Data gathered by the Global Oceanographic Data Centre of the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology has been made public and shows that plastic, metal, rubber and fishing gear have been found by divers even in these remote areas.
UNEP remarked on reporting the publication of the study that single-use plastic pollution has reached the world’s deepest ocean trench: a plastic bag was found in the Mariana Trench, 10,898 metres below the surface.
“Once in the deep-sea, plastic can persist for thousands of years,” UNEP said. “Deep-sea ecosystems are highly endemic and have a very slow growth rate, so the potential threats from plastic pollution are concerning. Reducing the production of plastic waste seems to be the only solution to the problem of deep-sea plastic pollution.”
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