What is the long and short term impact of the ocean?
Long Term: Plastic that pollutes our oceans and waterways has severe impacts on our environment and our economy. Seabirds, whales, sea turtles and other marine life are eating marine plastic pollution and dying from choking, intestinal blockage and starvation. Scientists are investigating the long-term impacts of toxic pollutants absorbed, transported, and consumed by fish and other marine life, including the potential effects on human health. Plastics can contain by weight up to 50% fillers, reinforcements, and additives. Public and media attention have focused on additives like bis-phenol A (BPA) and phosphates among others, which can leach out of plastics at different rates depending on environmental conditions and have been shown to have a variety of health effects on marine organisms in the laboratory setting. Research now focuses on long-term effects of exposure to these pollutants, the synergistic effects of exposures to multiple kinds of common pollutants, the issue of whether these pollutants can be transferred up the food chain and, finally, the question of whether there are detectable population-level effects in marine communities. Scientists are investigating the long-term impacts of toxic pollutants absorbed, transported, and consumed by fish and other marine life, including the potential effects on human health.
Short term: The North Pacific Gyre is a section of the Pacific ocean were ocean currents meet, creating a vortex where a high concentration of debris from land and ships are accumulating. Plastic does not biodegrade, but rather photo-degrade, meaning it just breaks into smaller and smaller pieces that are now diffusing through the ocean, creating a “plastic soup”. Plants and animal life are mistaking the pieces of plastic for plankton or small fish, causing death and the accumulation of plastic and toxic substances through the food chain.The short-term convenience of using and throwing away plastic products carries a very inconvenient long-term truth. These plastic water bottles, cups, utensils, electronics, toys, and gadgets we dispose of daily are rarely recycled in a closed loop. We currently recover only 5% of the plastics we produce. What happens to the rest of it? Roughly 50% is buried in landfills, some is remade into durable goods, and much of it remains “unaccounted for”, lost in the environment where it ultimately washes out to sea. Plastic will float in the ocean environment and this will prove to be very tragic well down the road as this plastic continue to build up to a huge extent. The amount of Plastic in the oceans will continue to increase, causing major problems later on.