Warning: Use of undefined constant referer - assumed 'referer' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 102

Warning: Use of undefined constant host - assumed 'host' (this will throw an Error in a future version of PHP) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 105

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays:102) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 106

Warning: Cannot modify header information - headers already sent by (output started at /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays:102) in /usr/home/essaywo/public_html/essays on line 109
Plastics Pollute Our Ocean - Papers

Plastics Pollute Our Ocean

Binh Nguyen
Professor Jackson
English 110-81611
5 May 2011

Plastics Pollute Our Ocean

Within the last few decades, plastics have revolutionized our daily lives. The use of plastic has now become very controversial because of the major environmental impact it is having. Plastic is made from petroleum, which the earth cannot digest so it is not biodegradable and is being overused in an unsustainable manner. We use plastic for a lot of things: packaging, transporting, manufacturing, etc, but do we ever stop to think about what happens to the plastic after we are done using it, or where it ends up? The fact is that most of those plastic ended up in our ocean. It is polluting ...

Want to read the rest of this paper?
Join Essayworld today to view this entire essay
and over 50,000 other term papers

accessible to plankton and other marine life. Plastic debris and minute plastic particles, including pre-production plastic pellets, sometimes called nurdles or resin beads, are found floating in the ocean and stranded on beaches. Eighty percent of the plastic comes not from ships but from land, where tossed consumer goods eventually travel from beaches and rivers into the ocean (Elsa Wenzel). According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), over 13,000 pieces of plastic litter the surface of each square kilometer of ocean (Mrubin). According to Genevieve Johnson in the "Sailing on a Sea of Plastic" the Algalita Marine Research Foundation based in Long Beach California led by Captain Charles Moore, conducted a survey thousands of miles out to sea in a remote region of the Pacific Ocean known as the North Pacific subtropical gyre in an effort to assess the extent of the problem of plastic pollution in the ocean:

Gyres areas where oceanographic convergences and eddies ...

Get instant access to over 50,000 essays.
Write better papers. Get better grades.


Already a member? Login

not all plastic floats. In fact around 70 percent of discarded plastic sinks to the bottom. In the North Sea, Dutch scientists have counted around 110 pieces of litter for every square kilometer of the seabed, a staggering 600,000 tonnes in the North Sea alone. These plastics can smother the sea bottom and kill the marine life which is found there (Greenpeace).
Just because you cannot see it does not mean it is not there. Whether it sinks or floats, plastics in the sea spell trouble for all the animals in the ocean. Many animals that live in the ocean come into contact with discarded plastic. Because this plastic is not natural to their environment, the animals do not recognize it or ...

Succeed in your coursework without stepping into a library.
Get access to a growing library of notes, book reports,
and research papers in 2 minutes or less.


CITE THIS PAGE:

Plastics Pollute Our Ocean. (2012, April 11). Retrieved March 29, 2024, from http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Plastics-Pollute-Our-Ocean/100661
"Plastics Pollute Our Ocean." Essayworld.com. Essayworld.com, 11 Apr. 2012. Web. 29 Mar. 2024. <http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Plastics-Pollute-Our-Ocean/100661>
"Plastics Pollute Our Ocean." Essayworld.com. April 11, 2012. Accessed March 29, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Plastics-Pollute-Our-Ocean/100661.
"Plastics Pollute Our Ocean." Essayworld.com. April 11, 2012. Accessed March 29, 2024. http://www.essayworld.com/essays/Plastics-Pollute-Our-Ocean/100661.
JOIN NOW
Join today and get instant access to this and 50,000+ other essays


PAPER DETAILS
Added: 4/11/2012 02:38:49 PM
Submitted By: cambinh
Category: Environment
Type: Premium Paper
Words: 1895
Pages: 7

Save | Report

SHARE THIS PAPER

SAVED ESSAYS
Save and find your favorite essays easier

SIMILAR ESSAYS
» Ocean Pollution
» Endangered Species In Canada
» Endangered Species In Canada
Copyright | Cancel | Contact Us

Copyright © 2024 Essayworld. All rights reserved