2.3 million tons: this is the weight of plastic in the oceans

Plastic pollution in the oceans is so widespread that seabirds are getting sick from it and whales are ingesting millions of pieces. This both objects of several centimeters and microparticles. ” Plastic pollution in the world’s oceans over the past 15 years has reached unprecedented levels “, warn the authors of a new study, published on March 8, 2023. The increase would be exponential, especially since 2005.

Although this pollution is already known and documented, it is the figures provided by this new work that are important. Constructed from readings from 11,000 stations around the world (Mediterranean, North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific, Indian Ocean) over 40 years (1979-2019), they are striking. Two estimates emerge:

• There would be 82 to 358 trillion (trillion) plastic particles in the oceans, an average of 170 trillion;
• Plastic pollution in the oceans would weigh between 1.1 to 4.9 million tonsan average of 2.3 million tonnes.

2.3 million tons, this corresponds to the weight of about 18,000 blue whales, if we consider that they weigh an average of 130 tons.

This observation is all the more worrying if we combine it with other studies that project the future of plastic pollution: in 2020, studies estimated that the quantity of plastic dumped in nature could triple by 2040.

There is a need for ecological policies to protect the oceans

” This observed acceleration of plastic densities in the world’s oceans, also reported on beaches around the world, demands urgent international policy interventions. “, conclude the authors.

It just so happens that a historic agreement was definitively concluded at the United Nations, at the beginning of March 2023, the discussions of which had started in 2018. This is the treaty on the high seas. This agreement aims to protect marine life in areas which had hitherto been subject to a legal vacuum. Concretely, the treaty will establish a legal framework to protect 30% of the world’s oceans.

There is also a draft international treaty against plastic pollution in all its forms.

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