Environment

Plastic Pollution In The Ocean

Plastic accumulating in our oceans and on our coastlines has become a global crisis. Billions of pounds of plastic can be found in roiling convergences that make up about 40 percent of the world's ocean surfaces. At present trends plastic is anticipated to outweigh all the animals in the sea by 2050. Plastics pollution has a direct and fatal effect on fauna. Thousands of seabirds and sea turtles, seals and other marine mammals are killed each year after imbibing plastic or getting entangled in it. Endangered wildlife like Hawaiian monk seals and Pacific loggerhead sea turtles are among nearly 700 species that consume and get trapped in plastic debris. It's time to get at the root of this ocean crisis. The Center has petitioned the Environmental Protection Agency to begin regulating plastics as a pollutant and is working to halt plastic pollution at the source, before it ever has a chance to