Mediterranean is Filling up with Plastic; Here's the Culprits
- 3 years ago
GLAND, SWITZERLAND — Plastic pollution is a global problem that is causing an environmental disaster in the world's oceans.
And scientists have now found that the Mediterranean Sea is also filling up with plastic at a very high rate.
Scientists have previously documented how the Pacific and other oceans are filling up with plastic trash that cover the sea floor or drift on the surface to form floating trash dumps the size of countries.
One of these floating trash dumps is called The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and it's three times the size of France.
According to Reuters, scientists are now studying where all this ocean-destroying trash comes from, and have found that most of it comes from rivers in Indonesia, China, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand.
A recent study published by the International Union for Conservation of Nature has now also raised the alarm in the Mediterranean Sea. The study found that around 230,000 tons of plastic trash is dumped in this sea per year, and this number is expected to double by 2040 if ambitious steps are not taken soon.
The study found that the nations most guilty of dumping plastic in the Mediterranean are Italy, Turkey, and Egypt.
However, on a per capita basis, it is the individuals of Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and North Macedonia who throw the most trash in nature.
The solution for this problem is a very elusive goal, and different people have different ideas of how to solve this problem.
In the end, it seems obvious that nations and individuals need to educate themselves to the point where they can understand how important it is to recycle plastic, and not to simply dump it in nature.
And scientists have now found that the Mediterranean Sea is also filling up with plastic at a very high rate.
Scientists have previously documented how the Pacific and other oceans are filling up with plastic trash that cover the sea floor or drift on the surface to form floating trash dumps the size of countries.
One of these floating trash dumps is called The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, and it's three times the size of France.
According to Reuters, scientists are now studying where all this ocean-destroying trash comes from, and have found that most of it comes from rivers in Indonesia, China, the Philippines, Vietnam and Thailand.
A recent study published by the International Union for Conservation of Nature has now also raised the alarm in the Mediterranean Sea. The study found that around 230,000 tons of plastic trash is dumped in this sea per year, and this number is expected to double by 2040 if ambitious steps are not taken soon.
The study found that the nations most guilty of dumping plastic in the Mediterranean are Italy, Turkey, and Egypt.
However, on a per capita basis, it is the individuals of Montenegro, Albania, Bosnia-Herzegovina, and North Macedonia who throw the most trash in nature.
The solution for this problem is a very elusive goal, and different people have different ideas of how to solve this problem.
In the end, it seems obvious that nations and individuals need to educate themselves to the point where they can understand how important it is to recycle plastic, and not to simply dump it in nature.