The ocean’s alarm bells are ringing. Sea surface temperatures are at record highs due to climate change, marine pollution is pervasive, and ecosystem decline, and biodiversity loss are rife. The amount of plastic in the ocean could triple by the year 2025, according to a new report from Britain, seriously bad news considering there is already over 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic trash in the world's oceans.
2025 is a bellwether year for the ocean. It turns out from the studies conducted over the last few decades, this magnificent environment is under serious threat from human intervention, with plastics set to outnumber fish by 2050.
Plastic bags, cups, and other litter found at deepest point of Mediterranean Sea. The seabed marine litter pollution in the deep Mediterranean is among the worst in the world. Marine litter items likely originate from human activities on land and at sea, including littering, sewage, and discarded fishing gear.
The Mediterranean Sea is one of the most plastic polluted areas in the world. The leakage of plastics into the sea is likely to double by 2040 if waste management is not radically improved. Studies also suggest that if current trends continue, there could be more plastic than fish in the sea in 25 years’ time. Approximately 730 tonnes of plastic waste are released into the Mediterranean daily. This is not only a pressing environmental issue, but a socioeconomic and public health challenge as well since plastic pollution is a vector for invasive species, it accumulates in the form of microplastics in the fish humans consume and negatively impacts key industries in the region like tourism.
Picture a sea turtle choking on a plastic bag, or beaches buried under a blanket of bottles. Not so long ago, the idea that plastic could take over our oceans was laughable. Now, it feels way too close for comfort. The world dumps around 8 million tons of plastic into the ocean every single year—enough to fill a garbage truck every single minute. Here’s the kicker: most of this mess comes from a handful of countries.
China is at the top of the list!
China is the biggest source of plastic waste entering the ocean. According to the most cited study in recent years, China alone was responsible for 2.4 million tons of plastic waste entering our oceans every year. That’s almost a quarter of the global total. Some of the countries that follow on the list after China are Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Thailand, and Egypt.