What are the problems with large quantities of plastic within the ocean?Question 19Select one or more:it remains in the ocean and doesn't go awaythere is no way to solve the problemit floats and is mistaken for food by birdsit breaks down into smaller particles called microplastics

Plastic pollution is a consistent problem in the world's oceans. We can do our part to help by ___________ down the use of plastic bags and bottles, straws, and avoiding items with plastic packaging.

The world population is living, working, vacationing, increasingly conglomerating along the coasts, and standing on the front row of the greatest, most unprecedented, plastic waste tide ever faced. Washed out on our coasts in obvious and clearly visible form, the plastic pollution spectacle blatantly unveiling on our beaches is only the prelude of the greater story that unfolded further away in the world’s oceans, yet mostly originating from where we stand: the land. For more than 50 years, global production and consumption of plastics have continued to rise. An estimated 299 million tons of plastics were produced in 2013, representing a 4 percent increase over 2012, and confirming an upward trend over the past years. In 2008, our global plastic consumption worldwide has been estimated at 260 million tons, and, according to a 2012 report by Global Industry Analysts, plastic consumption is to reach 297.5 million tons by the end of 2015. Plastic is versatile, lightweight, flexible, moisture resistant, strong, and relatively inexpensive. Those are the attractive qualities that lead us, around the world, to such a voracious appetite and over-consumption of plastic goods. However, durable and very slow to degrade, plastic materials that are used in the production of so many products all, ultimately, become waste with staying power. Our tremendous attraction to plastic, coupled with an undeniable behavioural propensity of increasingly over-consuming, discarding, littering and thus polluting, has become a combination of lethal nature. A simple walk on any beach, anywhere, and the plastic waste spectacle is present. All over the world, the statistics are ever growing, staggeringly. Tons of plastic debris (which by definition are waste that can vary in size from large containers, fishing nets to microscopic plastic pellets or even particles) is discarded every year, everywhere, polluting lands, rivers, coasts, beaches, and oceans. Published in the journal Science in February 2015, a study conducted by a scientific working group at UC Santa Barbara’s National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS), quantified the input of plastic waste from land into the ocean. The results: every year, 8 million metric tons of plastic end up in our oceans. It’s equivalent to five grocery bags filled with plastic for every foot of coastline in the world. In 2025, the annual input is estimated to be about twice greater, or 10 bags full of plastic per foot of coastline. So the cumulative input for 2025 would be nearly 20 times the 8 million metric tons estimate – 100 bags of plastic per foot of coastline in the world!Q.17 :-As per the passage, which of the following statements are true? Most of the plastic present in the ocean today has originated from the land and plastic pollution is present on almost every beach.Most of the plastic present in the ocean today has originated from the land. In recent years, the production of plastics has declined and plastic pollution is present on almost every beach.Plastic is cheaply available and that lead to the overconsumption and it  does not degrade easily thus it ended up being a pollutant. Most of the plastic present in the ocean today has originated from the land.In recent years, the production of plastics has declined. PreviousNext

Fishes are especially vulnerable to tiny bits of plastics floating in the ocean, called microplastics, because:The microplastic bits look like food for fish that feed on marine microbes.Microplastics accumulate in predatory fish, asthey cannot be broken down and metabolized by the fish.They breathe water through their gillsAll the statements are the reasons why fishes are vulnerable to microplastics

Plastic waste that accumulates on land eventually ends up in the ocean as microplastics. However, it is now speculated that microplastics are also present in the atmosphere, contained in clouds. In a new study, researchers analyzed cloud water samples from high-altitude mountains in Japan to ascertain the amount of microplastics in them. They also shed light on how these airborne particles influence cloud formation and their negative impact on the climate.Plastic particles less than 5 mm in size are called "microplastics." These tiny bits of plastic are often found in industrial effluents, or form from the degradation of bulkier plastic waste. Research shows that large amounts of microplastics are ingested or inhaled by humans and animals alike and have been detected in multiple organs such as lung, heart, blood, placenta, and feces. Ten million tons of these plastic bits end up in the ocean, released with the ocean spray, and find their way into the atmosphere. This implies that microplastics may have become an essential component of clouds, contaminating nearly everything we eat and drink via "plastic rainfall." While most studies on microplastics have focused on aquatic ecosystems, few have looked into their impact on cloud formation and climate change as "airborne particles."In a new study led by Hiroshi Okochi, Professor at Waseda University, a group of Japanese researchers has explored the path of airborne microplastics (AMPs) as they circulate in the biosphere, adversely impacting human health, and the climate. Their study was recently published in the journal Environmental Chemistry Letters with contributions from co-authors Yize Wang from Waseda University and Yasuhiro Niida from PerkinElmer Japan Co. Ltd. "Microplastics in the free troposphere are transported and contribute to global pollution. If the issue of 'plastic air pollution' is not addressed proactively, climate change and ecological risks may become a reality, causing irreversible and serious environmental damage in the future," explains Okochi.To investigate the role of these tiny plastic particles in the troposphere and the atmospheric boundary layer, the team collected cloud water from the summit of Mount (Mt.) Fuji, south-eastern foothills of Mt. Fuji (Tarobo), and the summit of Mt. Oyama -- regions at altitudes ranging between 1300-3776 meters. Using advanced imaging techniques like attenuated total reflection imaging and micro-Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (µFTIR ATR imaging), the researchers determined the presence of microplastics in the cloud water, and examined their physical and chemical properties.They identified nine different types of polymers and one type of rubber in the AMPs detected. Notably, most of the polypropylene that was detected in the samples was degraded and had carbonyl (C=O) and/or hydroxyl (OH) groups. The Feret diameters of these AMPs ranged between 7.1 -- 94.6 µm, the smallest seen in the free troposphere. Moreover, the presence of hydrophilic (water loving) polymers in the cloud water was abundant, suggesting that they were removed as "cloud condensation nuclei." These findings confirm that AMPs play a key role in rapid cloud formation, which may eventually affect the overall climate.Accumulation of AMPs in the atmosphere, especially in the polar regions, could lead to significant changes in the ecological balance of the planet, leading to severe loss of biodiversity. Okochi concludes by saying "AMPs are degraded much faster in the upper atmosphere than on the ground due to strong ultraviolet radiation, and this degradation releases greenhouse gases and contributes to global warming. As a result, the findings of this study can be used to account for the effects of AMPs in future global warming projections."

Which of these options are correct about NOT PROPERLY DISPOSED plastics.*1 pointIt has water-soluble compounds which are highly toxic which create Leachate that can move into ground water soil and streams, poisoning the ecosystems and harming wildlife.Plastic turns water CloudySome animals get entangled in plastic filled gyres in the world seas because they mistake the brightly coloured plastic bits as food..The plastic makes the animals feel full when they are not, so they starve to death.The plastic from the food chain can end up in our foodAll of the above