A newly discovered expanse of territory in the North Atlantic ocean has been highlighted as containing high concentrations of plastic waste, similar to those existing in the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch”.
The research, carried out over 22 years at the Sea Education Association in Massachusetts and the University of Hawaii, has been published in a new study detailing the Atlantic plastic debris issue. The study is published in the most recent addition of the journal Science.
According to the article, over 64,000 items of plastic located at 6100 various hot spots have been sampled annually. Surface plankton nets were utilised to collect other biological organisms in conjunction with the plastic waste floating in the ocean.
At around 32°N, roughly the latitude of the US state of Georgia, and encompassing the latitudes of 22-38°N, the rubbish pile is mostly PE or PP plastic floating within the seawater. Certain biological factors eventually cause the plastic to sink over time. University of Hawaii conducted numerical model simulations that indicate the plastic is accumulating in this region because of surface currents keeping it there.
SEA scientist Kara Lavender Law, the lead author the article, said that the data set is important because it indicates the extent and amount of plastic floating in the ocean basin. She also added that it was surprising to find that despite large accumulations of the plastic, the debris has not increased in a 22-year period.
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