Pacific Trash Vortex: the plastic waste that changes the ecology of the ocean

    Pacific Trash Vortex: the plastic waste that changes the ecology of the ocean

    This was revealed by research conducted by the University of California and published today in Biology Letters. During an expedition, researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography discovered that a marine insect that lives on the surface of the ocean and that until today laid its eggs on natural wrecks such as wood and shells, today lives on plastic debris, becoming very prolific thanks to the large surface available.



    He is about to end up run over, his mother saves him

    It's a real nightmare The Pacific Trash Vortex , Also known as Great Pacific Garbage Patch, (literally Great Pacific Garbage Slick), or that huge one accumulation of floating garbage, mainly composed of plastic which it has floated undisturbed since the 50s, even if its discovery dates back to 1997, by the oceanographer Charles Moore.



    Le in the meantime its dimensions have increased a hundredfold and today it is a huge mass that reaches up to 30 meters of depth, but, above all, that continues to grow steadily, inexorably changing the ecology of the oceans.

    This was revealed by a research conducted byUniversity of California and published today on Biology Letters. During an expedition, researchers from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography discovered that a marine insect that lives on the surface of the ocean and that until today laid its eggs on natural relics such as wood and shells, today lives on plastic debris, becoming very prolific thanks to the extensive surface available.

    Scientists are very concerned about the new role of artificial material in their habitat: "This is something that should not be in the sea and that is changing this small aspect of the ecology of the oceans", explains the researcher Miriam Goldstein . And the damage could soon invest in the whole delicate area ocean food chain.

    Goldstein led a group of researchers who have it off the coast of California documented the effects of garbage on life in the sea. For three weeks, they collected marine specimens and water samples at different depths, distributing meshes and nets to also capture microplastic particles, a deadly cocktail for fish, seabirds and even sperm whales. The team found that almost 10% of the fish analyzed had ingested plastic. And this is but one of the many problems caused by 13 thousand pieces of plastic that in that area there are every square kilometer of sea.



    Roberta Ragni

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