Plastic threat to the world’s oceans

The Plastic Threat: The Extent and Consequences of Global Ocean Pollution/

Plastic pollution of the world’s oceans is a serious problem, estimated at 150 million tons of plastic waste.

Different types of plastic take longer than a human lifetime to decompose, from 100 to 700 years.

An average of 8 million tons of plastic is dumped into the oceans every year.

If the situation does not change, by 2050 the mass of plastic in the oceans could exceed the mass of fish.

The situation is so catastrophic that it has led to the formation of garbage islands.

These islands are huge accumulations of plastic waste in the central regions of the oceans.

The most famous of these is the Great Pacific Floating Garbage Patch, which is estimated to be twice the size of France.

The video shows the mouth of the Motagua River, Guatemala.

Earlier, a new, published study reported that food and beverage companies Nestlé, PepsiCo, Danone and The Coca-Cola Co. are the biggest plastic polluters.