Marine pollution (SDG 14.1.1) No data available
Index of coastal eutrophication and floating plastic debris density. Plastic distribution
Coastal eutrophication (SDG 14.1.1) No data available
Index of coastal eutrophication and floating plastic debris density. Index of Coastal Eutrophication Potential
Source: TWAP 2019 Tier III; Custodian agency: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
The accumulation of marine litter in the world’s oceans over the past decades has risen. Plastic is ubiquitous, cheap to produce and extremely durable (Ryan 2015). Every piece of plastic ever produced still exists, therefore much of it has ended up, in the oceans. Worryingly, plastic breaks up over time into smaller and smaller pieces known as microplastics, which end up in wastewater, freshwater, and marine environments and are ingested by marine life such as plankton and shellfish, which are in turn consumed by ever larger predators and have been shown to make it all the way to our dinnerplates, with unknown consequences (Rochman et al. 2016). Larger marine wildlife has also suffered from ingestion of and entanglement in marine debris, with growing numbers of whales, turtles, and seabirds found dead with stomachs full of plastic. While public awareness for this issue has grown rapidly in recent years, in part thanks to documentary series such as the BBC’s Blue Planet II and to public outreach campaigns such as UN Environment’s Clean Seas Campaign, much work remains to be done to understand and mitigate the impacts of marine litter and microplastics on marine ecosystems (UNEA 2017). While some data exist at local and regional levels, consolidated global databases and source inventories based on standardised methodologies will be needed to better understand the flows of litter into the marine environment (Kershaw et al. 2011).
Sustainable Development Goal
Source: TWAP 2019 Tier III; Custodian agency: United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP)
Coastal eutrophication is caused by an excess of minerals and nutrients in water, particularly nitrogen, which is the most common limiting nutrient in marine waters. Its overabundance induces a rapid growth of marine plants such as phytoplankton, also known as an algal bloom. When the phytoplankton die, their decomposition process consumes available oxygen in the water, which fundamentally alters the environment and has a negative impact on biodiversity. In extreme cases, all the available dissolved oxygen is consumed, and the area becomes known as a ‘dead zone’ - where almost no life survives (Rabalais et al. 2015). While eutrophication is a natural phenomenon, the primary causes of algal blooms and ‘dead zones’ are improper wastewater management and agricultural runoff, where excess fertilisers containing nitrogen are carried away by rainwater (Breitburg 2018). Some regions, including some developed regions, such as the Baltic Sea, collect data on coastal eutrophication. The only global data available to monitor coastal eutrophication is through proxy indicators such as the quantity of fertilisers applied to agricultural lands worldwide.
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