Summary of Edison Barbieri’s recent article in Città Nuova:
Recent scientific research shows that the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch”, located between California and Hawaii, is no longer just a symbol of ocean pollution. The vast amount of floating plastic has created hard surfaces in the open ocean, allowing many marine organisms to attach, survive and reproduce in a place where this was previously almost impossible.
Researchers have found dozens of species living on plastic debris, most of them normally confined to coastal environments, such as barnacles, crabs, anemones and hydroids. Importantly, these organisms are not just being carried by ocean currents: evidence shows they are completing their full life cycles on the plastic itself, forming stable and lasting communities far from land.
This unexpected development is transforming the ecology of the open ocean, bringing together coastal and open-sea species in entirely new ways. However, scientists warn that this is not a positive sign. Plastic is acting as a powerful ecological agent, reshaping marine habitats, altering food webs and increasing the risk of invasive species spreading across oceans and reaching vulnerable coastlines.
The findings underline a troubling reality: plastic pollution is not only harming marine life directly, but is also fundamentally changing how ocean ecosystems function, with consequences that are still largely unknown and potentially irreversible.
Source: https://www.cittanuova.it/la-grande-chiazza-di-rifiuti-del-pacifico-da-origine-a-un-nuovo-ecosistema/
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