Decaying plastic and nutrients from cities and farms pollute the ocean as much as oil spills.
The number of Dead Zones in the oceans, deprived of oxygen and marine life, has exceeded 700 worldwide. Experts believe that the reason for the appearance of these zones is both climate change, as a result of which the oxygen content in water decreases, and ocean pollution from washed-off water and fertilizers.
While studying the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, Louisiana State University scientists with support from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) found that wastewater stimulates increased growth of algae, which then die, sink and decompose on the bottom.
The process of rotting and decomposition of algae involves bacteria that consume oxygen.
It also turned out that plastic, under the influence of sunlight, turns into a dangerous toxic petrochemical “broth”, which is carried by wind and currents throughout the ocean. In this case, the process of decomposition of plastic into dangerous toxins under the influence of the sun occurs in just four days.