Up to 11 million tonnes of plastic pollution are stored on the ocean floor, according to new research by Australia’s National Science Agency CSIRO and the University of Toronto in Canada. Every minute, a garbage truck of plastic enters the ocean. Plastic use is expected to double by 2040; Therefore, understanding how and where it goes is critical to protecting marine ecosystems and wildlife.

Dr D., a senior scientist at CSIRO. Denise Hardesty said this is the first estimate of how much plastic trash accumulates on the ocean floor before breaking down into smaller pieces and mixing with ocean sediment.

“We know that millions of tonnes of plastic waste reaches our oceans every year, but we didn’t know how much of this pollution reaches our ocean floor,” Dr Hardesty said. “We found that the ocean floor has become a resting place or reservoir for most plastic pollution, with an estimated 3 million to 11 million tonnes of plastic settling on the ocean floor. While there have been previous assessments of microplastics on the sea floor, this study covers everything from nets to cups to plastic bags and everything in between.” examines larger objects.”

Deep ocean as final resting place

Ms. Alice Zhu, Ph.D. candidate from the University of Toronto, who led the research, said recent estimates suggest that plastic pollution on the ocean floor may be 100 times greater than the amount of plastic floating on the ocean surface.

“The ocean surface is a temporary resting place for plastic, so if we can stop plastic from entering our oceans, it is expected to decrease,” Ms. Zhu said. “But our study found that plastic will continue to reach the depths of the ocean, becoming a permanent resting place or sink for marine plastic pollution.”

Scientific data was used to create two predictive models to estimate the amount and distribution of plastic on the ocean floor; one was based on remotely operated vehicle (ROV) data and the other was based on bottom trawls. Using ROV data, it is estimated that there are between 3 and 11 million metric tons of plastic pollution on the ocean floor.

ROV results also show that plastic mass is accumulating around continents, with nearly half (46 percent) of the estimated plastic mass found on the world’s ocean floor at depths greater than 200 meters. Ocean depths between 200 and 11,000 m contain the remainder of the plastic mass. estimated plastic mass (54 percent).

Although inland and coastal seas cover a much smaller surface area than the oceans (56 percent compared to 11 percent of the Earth’s total surface area), these areas are predicted to contain as much plastic mass as the rest of the ocean floor.

“These findings help fill the long-standing knowledge gap about the behavior of plastics in the marine environment,” Ms Zhu said. “Understanding the driving forces behind the transport and accumulation of plastic in the ocean depths will help inform source reduction and environmental restoration, thereby reducing the risks that plastic pollution can pose to marine life.”