Current measurement methods may be vastly underestimating the amount of plastic in the oceans

Plastics are all around us. They are found in containers and packing materials, children's toys, medical devices and electronics.

Unfortunately, plastics are also found in the ocean.
A 2015 paper published in Science estimates that anywhere from 4.8 million to 12.7 million metric tons of plastic were dumped into the ocean in 2010 alone. One metric ton equals approximately 2,200 pounds, roughly the weight of a Mazda Miata.
As we celebrate Earth Day on Friday, April 22, new research by University of Delaware physical oceanographer Tobias Kukulka provides evidence that the amount of plastic in the marine environment may be greater that previously thought.
Troubling tiny travelers
Plastic in the ocean becomes brittle over time and breaks into tiny fragments. Slightly buoyant, these microplastics often drift at the surface where they can be mistaken for food by birds, fish or other marine wildlife. Microplastics have turned up in the deep ocean and in Arctic ice, too.


Read more at: http://phys.org/news/2016-04-current-methods-vastly-underestimating-amount.html#jCp