It turns out that land or other objects sometimes appear on the surface of the ocean, thus "shrinking" the ocean area. For example, the recent occurrence of the Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan, caused the coastal seabed to be uplifted into land. Researchers from Japan's Institute of Land and Geography analyzed satellite observations and found that the seabed in the area around Minatsuki Bay in Wajima City was raised up to 4 meters high, and the coastline was pushed into the sea about 200 meters. After analyzing aerial photography**, researchers from the Geographical Society of Japan found that the land area had expanded by about 240 hectares within about 50 kilometers of the coast from Suzu City to Wajima City alone.
Such naturally occurring land is unstoppable by humans. However, under human influence, there are also dense, black-pressed objects on the surface of the ocean that should not exist. Earlier, American satellites found an object with an area of nearly 1.4 million square kilometers in the Pacific Ocean between California and Hawaii, almost the size of four Japan. This object, known as the "Eighth Continent", is not stationary in the sea, but is floating in the direction of Japan and China.
This "Eighth Continent" is actually a giant garbage dump floating on the surface of the sea, rather than a naturally occurring landmass. How did a marine garbage dump come about?
Plastic products are ubiquitous in everyday life. Plastic products have been used for more than 150 years since 1869, when humans discovered the method of making plastic products. Plastic products offer many advantages, such as being lightweight, easy to form, corrosion-resistant, and inexpensive to manufacture. As a result, plastic products are rapidly gaining popularity.
However, the widespread use of plastic products also brings a lot of problems, one of which is pollution. According to a report released by the National Academy of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine in December 2021, global plastic production surged to 38.1 billion tons. The United Nations released a report in 2018 that the world uses about 5 trillion plastic bags every year, and the total area of these plastic bags is almost equivalent to 2 France.
Compared with other waste, plastic waste** is more difficult to reuse. The global use rate of plastic waste** is only 9%, and most of the plastic waste is not treated**. This plastic waste ends up being incinerated, buried or dumped into rivers and seas. Because plastic degrades slowly, taking at least a few hundred years, plastic waste is increasing if it is not properly disposed of.
Seawater is not stationary and flows from the edge of the shelf due to factors such as wind. When there is a large amount of plastic waste on the surface of the sea, some of it sinks to the bottom of the sea, and some of it floats on the surface of the sea. Under the action of ocean currents, floating plastic waste collects in a certain area of the ocean, and eventually forms a huge marine garbage dump.
Known as the "Eighth Continent", the marine garbage dump covers an area of 1.4 million square kilometers and consists of 4 million tonnes of plastic waste. This is despite the fact that its area is only 0 percent of the world's ocean surface area5%, but almost more than 50% of the floating plastic in the high seas. After these plastic wastes enter the sea, they not only form a black and oppressive "eighth continent", but also seriously damage the marine ecology. Marine organisms ingest this plastic waste, causing various problems. For example, animals such as seals and turtles can be injured by entangled plastic waste on the surface of the sea or ingested by plastic waste.
In order to reduce the damage of plastic waste to the marine environment, countries and environmental protection organizations have taken measures, such as restricting the use of plastic products and increasing the treatment of plastic waste. In China, we attach great importance to ecological and environmental protection, actively promote green development, and strengthen plastic pollution control. By strengthening the management of the production, consumption, and other links of plastic products, we will strive to reduce the impact of plastic waste on the environment.
However, tackling plastic pollution in the oceans will not happen overnight. Despite the efforts of countries** and environmental groups, plastic waste continues to enter the ocean. According to the International Society for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), more than 8 million tons of plastic waste enter the ocean every year, causing serious damage to the marine ecological environment.
Against this backdrop, researchers are trying to find more effective solutions. One way to do this is to use new technologies to develop biodegradable alternatives to plastics. These alternatives can quickly degrade in the natural environment while meeting the needs of people's daily life, reducing environmental pollution. In addition, scientists are also studying how biodegraders can be used to accelerate the degradation process of plastic waste to reduce its impact on the environment.
Another approach is to strengthen the monitoring and clean-up of marine plastic litter. For example, some non-** organizations and volunteers carry out beach clean-up activities in coastal areas to reduce the chance of plastic waste entering the ocean. In addition, the use of advanced technologies such as marine robots and drones can more effectively monitor and clean up marine plastic litter.
At the same time, raising public awareness of environmental protection is key. Through various publicity activities, more people are aware of the seriousness of plastic pollution, so as to change their living habits and reduce the use of plastic products. In China, many schools and communities have carried out publicity activities on garbage classification and reducing plastic pollution, which has improved residents' awareness of environmental protection.
In addition, international cooperation is of great significance in tackling the problem of marine plastic pollution.