Author: Claire Asher
Heart-wrenching images of sea turtles entangled in fishing nets, or dead seabirds with stomachs clogged by plastic trash, justifiably attract media and public attention. But zoom down to the microscopic scale and plastics are having far more pervasive, insidious effects on ocean life — even potentially impacting key Earth operating systems that keep the planet habitable. An estimated 12 million metric tons of plastic currently enters the ocean each year. This plastic debris gradually breaks down into smaller and smaller fragments — micro- and nanoplastics — which, while less visually striking, can have serious effects on marine ecosystems and may even pose a threat to the stability of Earth’s climate.