The British National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOC) conducted a survey that collected samples from the 200-meter-high layer in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean. The results of the research are published in the specialized scientific journal Nature Communications. NOC Dr Katsia Pabortsava, who led the study, said that by measuring the mass of small plastic particles in the top 5% of the ocean, she and her colleagues estimated that "the amount of plastic waste in the Atlantic Ocean" was "much higher" than what has been considered so far. "Previously, we could not balance the amount of plastic found in the ocean with the amount we thought ended up there," she said. "It was because we did not measure the smallest particles." 12 to 21 million tons of tiny plastic particles float in the Atlantic Ocean alone, scientists have found. A quantity of 21 million tons of microplastics is enough to fill 1,000 cargo ships. On an expedition from Britain to the Falkland Islands, Pabortsawa and her colleagues discovered that there were up to 7,000 microplastics in one cubic meter of seawater. They analyzed samples of the three most commonly used polymers that are also commonly discarded: polyethene, polypropylene and polystyrene, which are often used as packaging. The team hopes the findings will help efforts to measure the environmental damage caused by plastic particles by making it more accurate to measure accumulated microplastics in remote parts of the ocean. Professor Jamie Woodward, a plastic pollution expert at the University of Manchester, told the BBC that the findings confirmed previous studies showing that the number of microplastics in the oceans was much higher than previously thought. "The geographical scale of the research is impressive," he said. Some environmental groups warn that since the beginning of the pandemic, medical masks and gloves have made up the bulk of the plastic waste. "We find more disposable masks than nylon bags," said Susanna Blickley of the Cambrian-based charity Morecambe Bay Partnership, which coordinates clean-up operations in the UK. "What we are asking people to do is reduce the use of disposable plastic and dispose of it / select it accordingly." Maybe you want to read about NASA is tracking a mysterious magnetic anomaly above the Earth.
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