Plastic pollution affects 88% of marine species - and will quadruple by 2050

Plastic pollution now affects almost all species in the world’s oceans, and is set to quadruple by 2050, a report by wildlife group WWF has found.

The report found that 88% of marine species, from plankton to whales are affected by contamination.

Pollution hotspots such as the Mediterranean, the East China and Yellow Seas, and the Arctic sea ice are already exceeding dangerous thresholds of microplastics.

The report commissioned by the WWF reviewed 2,590 studies and found that by the end of the century marine areas more than two and a half times the size of Greenland could exceed ecologically dangerous thresholds of microplastic concentration.

The amount of marine microplastic could increase 50-fold by then, the wildlife charity warned.

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This is based on projections that plastic production is expected to more than double by 2040 resulting in plastic debris in the ocean quadrupling by 2050.

Heike Vesper, Director Marine Programme, WWF Germany said, "All evidence suggests that plastic contamination of the ocean is irreversible. Once distributed in the ocean, plastic waste is almost impossible to retrieve.

“It steadily degrades and so the concentration of micro- and nanoplastics will continue to increase for decades. Targeting the causes of plastic pollution is far more effective than cleaning up afterwards.

“If governments, industry and society act in unison now, they can still limit the plastic crisis.”

The researchers warn that threatened species could be pushed towards extinction by plastic pollution.

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Dr. Melanie Bergmann, Marine Biologist, Alfred Wegener Institute Helmholtz Centre for Polar and Marine Research said: “Research acts like a flashlight with which we cast rays of light into the darkness of the oceans.

“Only a fraction of the effects have been recorded and researched, but the documented effects caused by plastic are concerning and must be understood as a warning signal for a much larger scale, especially with the current and projected growth in plastic production.”

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The durable nature of plastic also means that the uptake of microplastic, and nanoplastic, in the marine food chain will only continue to accumulate.

The WWF called for countries to adopt a global treaty to limit plastic at the UN Environment Assembly 5.2 in February.

Ghislaine Llewellyn, Deputy Oceans Lead, WWF, said: “Without a doubt, unchecked plastic pollution will become a contributing factor to the ongoing sixth mass extinction leading to widespread ecosystem collapse and transgression of safe planetary boundaries.

“We know how to stop plastic pollution and we know the cost of inaction comes at the expense of our ocean ecosystems – there is no excuse for delaying a global treaty on plastic pollution. The way out of our plastic crisis is for countries to agree to a globally binding treaty that addresses all stages of plastic’s lifecycle and that puts us on a pathway to ending marine plastic pollution by 2030.”