Sea of Plastic Dooms Oceans, Expert Says

Study takes a look at the 'Great Pacific Garbage Patch'

(NEWSER) - Humanity has tossed a lot of plastic into the Pacific Ocean in the last 40 years. The level of small plastic pieces in the so-called "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" has increased 100-fold over that span, the Scripps Institution of Oceanography found in a new study. "We did not expect to find this," one researcher tells the BBC . "To find such a clear pattern and such a large increase was very surprising." More»

Think 1% the size of Texas, not twice as big

(NEWSER) - The "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" is often said to be twice the size of Texas—but that and other scary-sounding claims are “grossly exaggerated,” some scientists are now insisting. A new study shows the plastic waste patch is actually 200 times smaller than previously claimed when comparing its mass to the amount of water; if you need a Texas-sized visual, it’s actually closer to 1% of the state's area, says researcher Angelicque White. More»

Covers thousands of square miles, endangers fish

(NEWSER) - If you’re planning on taking a cruise, hopefully your ship won’t travel through the “great Atlantic garbage patch” that covers thousands of square miles between Bermuda and the Azores islands. The plastic debris is so small that some pieces are almost invisible, and the floating trash heap—pushed together by currents—is difficult to see from the surface, the AP reports…but it’s still enough to make you queasy. More»

Atlantic plastic patch threatening food chain

(NEWSER) - Researchers trying to determine just how much plastic trash is building up in the world's oceans have found a large concentration just north of the Caribbean. The study—based on more than 22,000 plastic fragments collected over the years—found that a huge area between 22 and 38 degrees north latitude is accumulating trash delivered by ocean currents in the same way as the huge plastic patch in the Pacific, the AP reports. More»

(NEWSER) - Snorkelers and scuba divers aren’t the worst threat to the embattled coral reefs of the world—climate change, commercial fishing, and pollution take top honors—but the casual tourist can lessen, and even mitigate, the damage he or she causes, Slate reports. Of course, snorkelers shouldn’t purposefully snap off pieces of the majestic underwater life forms. But carelessly dragging equipment across coral, or walking on it, while looking for a better view is equally destructive. More»