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Impacts Of Plastic Pollution In The Oceans On Marine Species, Biodiversity And Ecosystems

Year of Publication

2022

The review reveals that projected growth of plastic pollution is likely to result in many areas suffering significant ecological risks harming current efforts at protecting and increasing biodiversity if action is not taken now to cut global production and use of plastic.

Source:

World Wildlife Fund (WWF)

Author(s):

Mine B. Tekman, Bruno Andreas Walther, Corina Peter, Lars Gutow, Melanie Bergmann

Geography:

Global

Type:

Primary Data, Strategy

Purpose of Measurement:

Understanding the Problem

Impact theme(s):

Climate, Oceans

The review reveals that projected growth of plastic pollution is likely to result in many areas suffering significant ecological risks harming current efforts at protecting and increasing biodiversity if action is not taken now to cut global production and use of plastic. The review warns that by the end of the century, marine areas more than two and a half times the size of Greenland could exceed ecologically dangerous thresholds of microplastic concentration, as the amount of marine microplastic could increase 50-fold by then. This is based on projections that plastic production is expected to more than double by 2040 resulting in plastic debris in the ocean quadrupling by 2050.

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