The oceans are so polluted, we're now eating plastic

Sunday, April 3, 2016, 4:25 PM - Shortly after a study revealed that there could be more plastic than fish in the sea by 2050, another troubling report says humans have polluted oceans so much that plastic is now a part of our diet.

Humans have dumped so much plastic in the ocean that its being ingested by marine wildlife -- some of which we later consume as seafood.

A study from Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California San Diego notes that nearly 10 per cent of fish collected on a trip to the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" contained plastic waste in their stomachs.

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Drafted by Peter Davison and Rebecca Asch, the study estimates that fish in the North Pacific Ocean that live at intermediate ocean depths might be consuming as much as 21 million kilograms of plastic per year.

Despite advances in environmental initiatives, humans annually produce enough plastic to equate with the combined weight of all adult humans on earth.

The worldwide use of plastic bags has increased 20 times in the past 50 years, and only five per cent of plastic products are effectively recycled.

Watch Below: Adidas creates shoes made from ocean garbage

SOURCE: Plastic Oceans | Scripps Institution of Oceanography | truthout

Thumbnail image courtesy of Steven Guerrisi, Flickr.