Hundreds, sometimes thousands, of cargo containers become lost at sea yearly.
, a professor of environmental sciences at the University of Plymouth, says that this is the first study he knows of to use social media to track the whereabouts of lost ship cargo.
While the media picked up reports of people finding these plastic cartridges on UK beaches, researchers went to social media to see if they could develop a more comprehensive dataset of how far the cartridges were able to float around the world. The researchers put out a call in an international Facebook group dedicated to beachcombing for people to send in information about any inkjet cartridges they found washed up onshore.
During the four-year-long survey, 267 respondents found led to the discovery of 1467 plastic cartridges on shores across the UK, Canary Islands, Norway, and even Florida. Turner says the distribution of the cartridges around the world was not surprising, because it fits with what we know about circulation in the Atlantic Ocean. The pieces were carried eastward from where they dropped by major ocean currents, the Azores and Canary currents.
The study authors were also able to find some of the plastic cartridges themselves, and then test them to see how fast the plastic broke down in the water. The cartridges were chalky and brittle, meaning they started to fall apart and release microplastics. There areunless it is filled with hazardous material, but a close examination of these cartridges showed they did break down and likely release microplastic pollution that contains iron, copper, and titanium.
While the study revealed some insights about oceanic current modeling and how electronics break down in the ocean, there is no way to put the genie back in the bottle. Once the cargo is dumped, it is “probably too late” for cleanup, he says, “especially if it is unreported.” As we order more and more stuff from around the world, that may lead to more boats packed to the brim—and more of our orders ending up at the bottom of the sea or on a beach far from our doorsteps.
Norge Siste Nytt, Norge Overskrifter
Similar News:Du kan også lese nyheter som ligner på denne som vi har samlet inn fra andre nyhetskilder.
Cole Irvin sharp in his return, but Angels’ Ohtani, Trout too much for A’sA’s lose two of three in Anaheim despite some impressive work from Irvin and center fielder Cristian Pache.
Les mer »
Kim Kardashian bares her butt in barely-there thong bikini“Sun bum,” the “Kardashians” star captioned the cheeky display, which showed her walking toward the beautiful beach and away from the lucky photographer.
Les mer »
HPD looking for connection after man's body was found 6 miles away from shooting callPolice were investigating a shooting scene where blood and 50 shell casings were found when they got a call about a man found dead six miles away.
Les mer »
NASA's Lucy spacecraft captured lunar eclipse from space | Digital TrendsThis week's lunareclipse wasn't only observed from the ground - it was also observed from 64 million miles away from Earth by the Lucy spacecraft.
Les mer »