Plastic Pollution in the Oceans

            Being an environmental science major, I am interested in human impact on the environment and plastic pollution in the ocean is an increasing problem. Most people don’t realize how much plastic is in the ocean or the negative effects it has on animals and ocean systems.

            I want to start by discussing the background of how plastics enter the ocean and how they are further distributed throughout the ocean by currents, gyres, and other means. I also want to discuss how they break down, creating smaller particles and releasing chemicals that cause even more problems for the ocean. Then, I want to discuss how the plastics affect wildlife and provide pictures and examples of wildlife that have been harmed by plastic pollution. I plan to finish my presentation by providing examples of mitigation efforts that can be used to clean up or reduce further plastic pollution in the oceans. 

Eriksen, M., Lebreton, L. M., Carson, H. S., Thiel, M., Moore, C. J., Borerro, J. C., & ... Reisser, J.
(2014). Plastic Pollution in the World's Oceans: More than 5 Trillion Plastic Pieces Weighing over 250,000 Tons Afloat at Sea. Plos ONE, 9(12), 1-15. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0111913. http://proxy.ashland.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=100185765&site=ehost-live

Tibbetts, J. H. (2015). Managing Marine Plastic Pollution. Environmental Health Perspectives, 123(4), A90-A93. doi:10.1289/ehp.123-A90. http://proxy.ashland.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=102123081&site=ehost-live

Kwon, B. G., Koizumi, K., Chung, S., Kodera, Y., Kim, J., & Saido, K. (2015). Global styrene oligomers monitoring as new chemical contamination from polystyrene plastic marine pollution. Journal Of Hazardous Materials, 300359-367. doi:10.1016/j.jhazmat.2015.07.039. http://proxy.ashland.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=111095981&site=ehost-live

http://marinedebris.noaa.gov/info/patch.html 
 http://response.restoration.noaa.gov/about/media/how-big-great-pacific-garbage-patch-science-vs-myth.html

 http://www.theoceancleanup.com/problem.html