Gloomy environmental statistics relevant to the ocean


• More than 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine animals die from plastic pollution every year. • There are now 5.25 trillion macro and micro pieces of plastic in our oceans and 46,000 pieces in every square mile, weighing up to 269,000 tonnes.


• Every day around 8 million pieces of plastic makes their way into our oceans. • The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is around 1.6 million square kilometers – bigger than Texas. • 88% of the sea’s surface is polluted by plastic waste. • On UK beaches alone there are 5,000 pieces of plastic and 150 plastic bottles for each mile. • Over 8 billion plastic straws pollute the world’s beaches. • By the end of 2020 the number of plastics in the sea will be higher than the number of fish.


What do you know about the people who inhabit coastal areas and the ocean economy?


The ocean is vast, covering 140 million square miles (363 million square km), equivalent to approximately 72 per cent of the earth’s surface.


• More than 600 million people live in coastal areas that are less than 10 meters above sea level. • Nearly 2.4 billion people (about 40 per cent of the world’s population) live within 100 km of the coast. • The ocean economy, which includes employment, ecosystem services provided by the ocean, and cultural services, is estimated at between US$ 3-6 trillion per year.


• Fisheries and aquaculture contribute $US100 billion per year and about 260 million jobs to the global economy.


• Shipping is responsible for more than 90 per cent of the trade between countries. The global oceans based economy is estimated at $US 3 trillion a year, which is around 5 per cent of global GDP.


• Approximately 50 per cent of all international tourists travel to coastal areas. In some developing countries, notably Small Island Development States, tourism accounts for over 25 per cent of GDP.


92 | The Report • December 2020 • Issue 94


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