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The Marine Debris Nexus
Summary
This chapter reviews the threats posed by marine plastic pollution, connecting the microplastic crisis to climate change, biodiversity loss, and environmental justice concerns. It argues that responding to marine debris requires both collective action and attention to how the burden of plastic pollution falls unequally on different communities.
This chapter describes the threats posed by the abundance of marine plastic pollution and links it to broader concerns about climate change, biodiversity conservation, and human health. While evidence remains inconclusive there are indications that microplastic pollution in the oceans, in particular, poses grave threats, and this presents not only collective action problems but environmental justice concerns as well. Responding to the crisis generated by the nexus of these issues is a form of collective adaptation that the international community cannot ignore, moving toward the Sustainable Development Goals. Will the climate, biodiversity, and health agendas adapt to the presence of the microplastic pollution issue? Some policy suggestions are discussed along with pertinent knowledge gaps and future marine concerns.