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One of the most sickening images is of the giant plastic islands swirling in five ocean vortexes. One in the North Pacific is estimated to be larger than Quebec. Now a group of scientists and conservationists is planning to
visit the vortex in an effort to figure out how to clean it up.
According to the United Nations Environment Programme, 13,000 pieces of plastic are floating in each square kilometre of ocean, and much of it accumulates in the five large swirling ocean gyres.
Marine animals eat the plastic as it breaks down, and contaminants work their way up the food chain, all the way to humans.
It offers hope to see the scientists looking for answers to this problem, and it’s good to see nations coming together in an attempt to address ocean acidification. But we must all do more to prevent these kinds of problems from occurring in the first place. We can do this by reducing our waste and emissions and by encouraging governments to show more leadership in protecting the Earth and oceans that cover most of its surface.
The oceans are where life is thought to have originated, as is indicated by the saltiness of our blood. The oceans flow through our veins and continue to give us life. Half of the oxygen we breathe comes from the oceans. What we do to the oceans we do to ourselves. It’s something to keep in mind as we celebrate
World Oceans Day on June 8. The theme this year is "
one ocean, one climate, one future."
Science Matters has been running weekly since 1999. To read past columns, please visit
www.davidsuzuki.org/science_matters/.