Question

Which among the following statements is/are true about marine pollution?

• A. Ocean plastic is expected to outweigh the number of fish species in the oceans by 2050, at the current rate of plastic pollution.
• B. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch in the Pacific Ocean covers an area that is twice the size of Texas.
• C. Ocean trash can be broken into smaller pieces — known as microplastics, which finds its way into marine food chains.
• D. The number of hypoxic zones in the oceans has decreased over the years.

Answer 1

Answer: (A), (B), (C)

Ocean trash can be broken into smaller pieces — known as microplastics, which finds its way into marine food chains.

Marine pollution is a big threat to delicate aquatic ecosystems in the oceans. Huge amounts of plastic is dumped into the oceans every year. A percentage of ocean garbage sinks to the seafloor. Plastic debris has formed giant garbage patches due to ocean currents. The biggest of such garbage patches is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The dumping of agricultural nutrients in large amounts promotes algae blooms. This causes deoxygenation and creates hypoxic zones. They are regions with low oxygen concentration that suffocates marine life. Oceanographers have detected an increase in the number of hypoxic zones over the years.