Microplastics - National Geographic Society
2023年10月31日 · Microplastics are tiny plastic particles that result from both commercial product development and the breakdown of larger plastics. As a pollutant, microplastics can be harmful to the environment and animal health.
Oh no! This page was snatched by this mandrill. - Education
This endangered mandrill (Mandrillus sphinx) was photographed by National Geographic Photographer Joel Sartore on Bioko Island, Equatorial Guinea, in his ambitious project to document every species in captivity—inspiring people not just to care, but also to help protect these animals for future generations. Before drills disappear, like this webpage has, learn how …
Microplastics present a serious threat to the world’s ecosystems because the chemicals in plastic have detrimental effects on human and animal health. Those impacts are cumulative in nature; that is, the effects of microplastic pollution will continue to grow over time as water and organisms become increasingly polluted.
Ocean Trash: 5.25 Trillion Pieces and Counting, but Big ... - Education
But gains on that front have given way to losses in others, as microplastics have become more prevalent. Emily Penn skippers the 72-foot, steel-hulled Sea Dragon, which carries scientists, including Eriksen and Jambeck, on sea trash sampling surveys.
The World's Plastic Pollution Crisis Explained - Education
2023年10月19日 · Microplastics have been found in more than 100 aquatic species, including fish, shrimp, and mussels destined for our dinner plates. In many cases, these tiny bits pass through the digestive system and are expelled without consequence.
Plastic Bag Found at the Bottom of World’s Deepest Ocean Trench
2023年11月27日 · The Mariana Trench —the deepest point in the ocean—extends nearly 10,975 meters (36,000 feet) down in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean. But if you thought the trench could escape the global onslaught of plastics pollution, you would be wrong.. A recent study revealed that a plastic bag, like the kind given away at grocery stores, is now the deepest …
Great Pacific Garbage Patch - Education
2024年10月31日 · In reality, these patches are almost entirely made up of tiny bits of plastic, called microplastics. Micro plastics can’t always be seen by the naked eye. Even satellite imagery doesn’t show a giant patch of garbage.
Marine Pollution - Education
2024年9月18日 · Microplastics are less than five millimeters (0.2 inches) in diameter and have been detected in a range of marine species, including plankton and whales. When small organisms that consume micro plastics are eaten by larger animals, the toxic chemicals then become part of their tissues.
Seal Scat, Plastic Pollution - National Geographic Education Blog
2018年3月12日 · The microplastics discovered in the seal poop were fibers and fragments about 1.5 millimeters (.6 inch) in diameter. Some microplastics have broken off from larger pieces of plastic debris, such as fishing gear and packaging. Other microplastics, so-called “nurdles” are pellets used to make plastic products.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch Isn’t What You Think It Is
Microplastics make up 94 percent of an estimated 1.8 trillion pieces of . plastic in the patch. But that only amounts to eight percent of the total tonnage. As it turns out, of the 79,000 metric tons of plastic in the patch, most of it is abandoned fishing gear—not plastic bottles or packaging drawing headlines today.