Much less plastic in the oceans

Alarmism and hysteria based on severely inflated data (or a very crude estimate)! No surprise!

Plastophobia is a serious disease, please seek immediate medical help!

"... To date, the total amount of plastic in the ocean has been estimated at more than 25 million tons. This figure is derived from the assumption that 1 percent of the total amount of plastic in the ocean floats on the ocean surface, which is estimated to be a quarter of a million tons. The new study shows that the amount of plastic on the ocean surface is much higher, at about 2 million tons, but only one million tons is present in the deeper ocean (this excludes the amount of plastic on the bottom of the ocean). Thus, the total amount of plastic in the ocean is much lower, and the proportion floating on the surface relatively large.

Moreover, much less new plastic ends up in the ocean per year than previously believed: half a million tons instead of 4 to 12 million. The numbers show enormous differences. According to lead author ... this shows that research on plastic in the ocean is in its infancy. "We are really still looking for order of magnitude," ..."

From the abstract:

"The fate of plastics that enter the ocean is a longstanding puzzle. Recent estimates of the oceanic input of plastic are one to two orders of magnitude larger than the amount measured floating at the surface. This discrepancy could be due to overestimation of input estimates, processes removing plastic from the surface ocean or fragmentation and degradation. Here we present a 3D global marine mass budget of buoyant plastics that resolves this discrepancy. We assimilate observational data from different marine reservoirs, including coastlines, the ocean surface, and the deep ocean, into a numerical model, considering particle sizes of 0.1–1,600.0 mm. We find that larger plastics (>25 mm) contribute to more than 95% of the initially buoyant marine plastic mass: 3,100 out of 3,200 kilotonnes for the year 2020. Our model estimates an ocean plastic input of about 500 kilotonnes per year, less than previous estimates. Together, our estimated total amount and annual input of buoyant marine plastic litter suggest there is no missing sink of marine plastic pollution. The results support higher residence times of plastics in the marine environment compared with previous model studies, in line with observational evidence. Long-lived plastic pollution in the world’s oceans, which our model suggests is continuing to increase, could negatively impact ecosystems without countermeasures and prevention strategies."

Less plastic in the ocean and easier to clean up Significantly less plastic is estimated to be present in the global ocean than scientists previously thought. This new insight results from calculations with a computer model that includes a record number of measurements and observations of plastic in the ocean. Also, a relatively large proportion of the plastic in the ocean consists of large pieces that are easier to clean up.  The study external link is part of Mikael Kaandorp's doctoral research at Utrecht University and appeared in the scientific journal Nature Geoscience today. 

Closing the marine plastic mass budget: Using observational data to inform numerical models (dissertation)

Global mass of buoyant marine plastics dominated by large long-lived debris (open access)