Ocean pollution: 11 facts you need to know (2024)

A big part of the problem: pollution. So how does trash get into the ocean? It’s dumped, pumped, spilled, leaked and even washed out with our laundry. Each year, we expose the world’s waterways to an increasing variety of pollutants — plastic debris, chemical runoff, crude oil and more.

Fortunately, it’s not too late to clean up our act. Share the dirty truth about ocean pollution and help make a difference.

Share these facts about ocean pollution:

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Parker, L. (2022, June). Ocean Trash: 5.25 Trillion Pieces and Counting, but Big Questions Remain. National Geographic. https://education.nationalgeographic.org/resource/ocean-trash-525-trillion-pieces-and-counting-big-questions-remain

Barrett, J., Chase, Z., Zhang, J., Holl, M. M. B., Willis, K., Williams, A., Hardesty, B. D., & Wilcox, C. (2020). Microplastic Pollution in Deep-Sea Sediments From the Great Australian Bight. In Frontiers in Marine Science (Vol. 7). Frontiers Media SA. https://doi.org/10.3389/fmars.2020.576170
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National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. (2017, August). Gulf of Mexico ‘dead zone’ is the largest ever measured. U.S. Department of Commerce. https://www.noaa.gov/media-release/gulf-of-mexico-dead-zone-is-largest-ever-measured
Bullard, E. M., Torres, I., Ren, T., Graeve, O. A., & Roy, K. (2021). Shell mineralogy of a foundational marine species, Mytilus californianus , over half a century in a changing ocean. In Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (Vol. 118, Issue 3). Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2004769118
Weilgart, L. 2018. The impact of ocean noise pollution on fish and invertebrates. Report for OceanCare, Switzerland. 34 pp. https://www.oceancare.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/OceanNoise_FishInvertebrates_May2018.pdf

Ocean pollution: 11 facts you need to know (2024)

Share these facts about ocean pollution:​

Share these facts about ocean pollution: