A new study stresses urgent action is required to tackle a 'growing plastic smog' of over 170 trillion particles in the world's oceans.
According to Eriksen, "We need a strong, legally binding U.N. global treaty on plastic pollution that stops the problem at the source.", study co-author Edward J. Carpenter, of the Estuary & Ocean Science Center at San Francisco State University, also"We know the ocean is a vital ecosystem and we have solutions to prevent plastic pollution.
," he said. "There must be legislation to limit the production and sale of single-use plastics or marine life will be further degraded. Humans need healthy oceans for a livable planet."Judith Enck, a former U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regional administrator who is now president of the organzation Beyond Plastics, echoed the study authors' demand for dramatically cutting down on production.
"The plastics and petrochemical industries are making it impossible to curb the amount of plastic contaminating our oceans," she. "New research is always helpful, but we don't need to wait for new research to take action—the problem is already painfully clear, in the plastic accumulating in our oceans, air, soil, food, and bodies."
As Richard Thompson, a professor at the U.K.'s Plymouth University who was not involved in the study,: "We are all agreed there is too much plastic in the ocean. We urgently need to move to solutions-focused research."
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