Flow of ocean plastic
The NASA public an animated map that shows the flow of ocean plastic and highlights the magnitude of pollution of marine waters worldwide.
Such representation was made possible thanks to a new method of quantifying the volumes of this substance, developed by a group of researchers from the University of Michigan (USA).
The map details the location and concentration of the plastic that floated in the oceans between April 2017 and September 2018. The data for the animated representation were collected, between 38 degrees north latitude and 38 degrees south latitude, by eight microsatellites from the Cyclone Global Navigation Satellite System (CYGNSS) hurricane prediction system.
Researchers used satellite data to detect and track masses of plastic floating in the ocean. https://t.co/7HPmdtA5eI pic.twitter.com/LDAM4ymhC9
— NASA Earth (@NASAEarth) December 4, 2021
According to estimates presented in the statement on the investigation, about eight million tons of plastic end up every year in the ocean through rivers and beaches.
