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Galaxies caught in cosmic web
Summary
Ocean circulation models combined with 40 years of plankton net data estimated that there are 93,000-236,000 tonnes of microplastic floating in the world's oceans—roughly three times more than earlier estimates. The authors note this represents only about 1% of total ocean plastic, with the rest on the seafloor, shorelines, or inside marine organisms.
Up to 240,000 tonnes of plastic particles are polluting the world's oceans -at least three times more than previous estimates.Each year, 5 million to 13 million tonnes of plastic ends up in the sea, where it slowly degrades into microplastic particles that threaten marine ecosystems.Erik van Sebille at Imperial College London and his colleagues analysed 40 years of data on plastic collected from surface-trawling plankton nets -more information than in previous studies.By combining those data with sophisticated ocean-circulation models, they estimated that the oceans contain 93,000-236,000 tonnes of microplastic particles.This represents just 1% of ocean plastic: the rest lies intact (pictured) on the sea floor or shore, or trapped in marine organisms, the authors suggest.