environmental science research for everyone
As we approach the start of the UN Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development in 2021, it is time we face our unseen but ubiquitous problem: microplastics. What do we know about them, where can we find them, and what does the science say on its impacts on our hydrosphere and biosphere?
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Some “food” doesn’t have much nutritional value… and this is certainly true of plastic! Some bug larvae seem to be eating plastic, but they don’t live very long as a result. In a recent study, researchers experimented with different diet supplements to improve larvae’s ability to live off of plastic.
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Some of our best insight into the types of plastic litter in the ocean comes from examining what is ingested by sea turtles. Recent research looks at how the composition of plastic waste changes with ocean depth, as informed by the eating patterns of sea turtles.
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You may have first heard about blockchain technology over this past year as the price of different cryptocurrencies swung wildly and made news. OpenLitterMap aims to tackle the global plastic pollution problem through their reward system utilizing blockchain technology called Littercoin. Littercoin rewards people for contributing open data about litter they come across in their cities, reporting information such as litter location, type, and even brand information. Global plastic pollution is a massive problem that requires large scale solutions to solve, and OpenLitterMap’s techy approach might just do it.
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Microplastics are now found all over, even in freshwater environments such as ponds, rivers and lakes. Young mosquitos live in these freshwater environments and move to land as they mature. Scientists in this study wanted to find out if young mosquitos ingest microplastics found in freshwater environments and carry the microplastics with them to air and land as adults.
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More plastic trash in the world’s oceans are serving as breeding grounds for bacteria that are killing coral. Since coral is an important part of the ocean food chain, anything that kills coral also indirectly leads to increased deaths of all marine life. Increased deaths of marine life over time leads to the death of all life on earth.
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Plastic can now be found everywhere, from your kitchen to the ocean. Recently a group of scientists discovered a bacteria that can grow on one of the most abundant types of plastic: PET. Researchers in this study explored the mechanism behind this bacteria’s ability to survive on plastic. Read on to learn more about how these microbes might help us solve our plastic pollution problem.
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