The shocking extent of the plastic crisis: 4.9 MILLION tonnes of rubbish are floating in our oceans

A new study has shed new light on the shocking magnitude of the global plastic crisis.

Researchers have found that there are as many as 4.9 million tons of plastic waste floating in our oceans – an “unprecedented increase” since 2005.

And without immediate action, they predict that the rate at which plastics enter our waters will increase as much as 2.6 times by 2040.

“This is a clear warning that we need to act now on a global scale,” said Marcus Eriksen, co-founder and researcher of The 5 Gyres Institute.

“We need a strong, legally binding UN global treaty against plastic pollution that tackles the problem at source.”

Researchers have found that there are as many as 4.9 million tons of plastic waste floating in our oceans – an ‘unprecedented increase’ since 2005

In the study, the researchers analyzed a global dataset of ocean plastic pollution from 1979 to 2019.

Data was collected from 11,777 stations in six major marine regions in the North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific, India and the Mediterranean.

An analysis of the data revealed a significant and rapid increase in both the amount and distribution of plastics since 2005.

Their estimates suggest that there are 82-358 trillion plastic particles (average 171 trillion plastic particles), weighing between 1.1-4.9 million tons (average 2.3 million tons), floating in our oceans in 2019.

“Since the millennium, we have detected an alarming trend of exponential growth of microplastics in the world’s oceans, to more than 170 trillion plastic particles,” said Eriksen.

While the reason for the increase from 2005 remains unclear, the researchers have several theories.

“These observations may have been influenced by policy interventions, plastic production, fragmentation of existing floating plastics, and/or waste management and trade,” they wrote in their study, published in PLOS ONE.

Worryingly, they warn that things could get worse if drastic action is not taken immediately.

‘The increasing abundance of plastic in the OSL [ocean surface layer] demands urgent international policy intervention to minimize environmental, social and economic damage,” the team concluded.

In the study, the researchers analyzed a global dataset of ocean plastic pollution from 1979 to 2019

“Since the millennium, we have detected an alarming trend of exponential growth of microplastics in the world’s oceans, to more than 170 trillion plastic particles,” said Eriksen.

“Without substantial widespread policy changes, the rate at which plastics enter aquatic environments will increase by about a factor of 2.6 between 2016 and 2040.”

Last year, nearly 200 countries, including the US and China, agreed on a new United Nations agreement that commits them to reducing plastic production by 2024.

The groundbreaking agreement aims to prevent the ‘ecosystem of the planet from collapsing’ due to the spread of plastic and microplastic particles to all corners of the earth.

It is the biggest green deal since the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement, which required governments to limit greenhouse gas emissions and global warming.

Member states were in talks in Nairobi for more than a week and agreed on an outline pact to curb plastic pollution – but the finer details are still to be negotiated, including the amount of plastic production required.

Government officials cheered and clapped the air after the approval of a resolution of the legally binding treaty, which is due to be finalized by 2024.

Plastic pollution has become an epidemic. With today’s resolution, we are on the road to healing,” said Espen Barth Eide, president of the United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA).