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I recall reading two years ago several reports which claimed that around 90% of all the plastic in the world's oceans flows there through just 10 rivers. > "Th

I recall reading two years ago several reports which claimed that around 90% of all the plastic in the world's oceans flows there through just 10 rivers. > "The shipping and fishing industries also play a part. In 2018 researchers found that, in terms of weight, almost half of the plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch -- a notorious area of floating trash three times the size of France -- was made up of fishing nets. On the other hand, microplastics made up 94% of the estimated 1.8 trillion tiny pieces floating in the area." https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/24/health/plastic-pollution-rivers-oceans-scn-intl/index.html https://www.cnn.com/2019/06/24/health/plastic-pollution-rive... Most of the time all the stats don't add up, but either way, humanity leaves a big mess and plastic is probably one of those materials we will regret inventing.

titzer 7y ago
I have always been skeptical of this claim. I have seen the Pacific ocean trash problem firsthand; did a lot of beach cleanups. I simply do not believe that 8 million tons of plastic entering the oceans every year is flowing out through rivers from land. Given this new theory I actually suspect that some significant fraction of the plastic waste we were shipping to China for "recycling" was instead being dumped directly into the ocean midway. It'd be cheaper, and it'd be hard to get caught. Given today's greed, I have little doubt this happened.
xsmasher 7y ago
That study was WIDELY reported on, and most of the reporting was faulty. For example this article says 'around 90% of all the plastic in the world's oceans flows there through just 10 rivers.' But that isn't what the study says - the study only deals with plastic that comes from rivers, not all plastic in the ocean.