The oceans cover approximately 71% of the Earth’s surface.
Due to ocean currents that drag garbage from one place to another, many times we are not aware of the amount of waste that accumulates there.
From plastic waste to spills of toxic substances, the blue waters of the world’s seas and oceans are increasingly harmed by the materials that pollute their waters and affect the life that lives there.
To generate awareness and promote change, since 2009 the International Oceans Day, a date that every time it arrives, does so accompanied by a theme. This year the topic was “Let’s clean our oceans.”
Here are some alarming facts.
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Every year, 8 million tons of plastic a year ends up in the oceans.
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As reported by the United Nations Program, by 2050 the oceans will have more plastic than fish and 99 percent of seabirds will have ingested it in their digestive systems.
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Although some of the waste that ends up in the sea comes from ships and other navigational transport, 80% of all pollution comes from activities carried out on land.
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Magazine Science published a study where he claims that if all the garbage were placed along the Earth’s coasts, there would be five shopping bags full of plastic every 30 centimeters.
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Every 8 seconds 1 child dies from causes related to the consumption of contaminated water and, according to statistics, 3.4 billion people worldwide die each year from conditions related to contaminated water.
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Plastic takes between 100 and 1,000 years to break down. A plastic bottle takes 500 years to disintegrate, a period that could be extended if it is buried.
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Some 1.5 million birds, fish, whales and turtles die each year from plastic debris in the sea.
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The amount of garbage is such that, dragged by currents and winds, “islets” of garbage have already formed in some parts of the ocean. According to the Research Institute for Development (IRD) of France, there are five “islands” of this type in three oceans: Pacific, Atlantic and Indian.
Are we aware of the amount of waste that ends up in the ocean and the impact that it has and will have in the future?
The change begins in each one of us, but if we all contribute even a grain of sand, the mountain can be gigantic.
Did you know these figures on pollution in the ocean?
#InternationalOceansDay
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