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Nearly 18 Tonnes of Plastic Covers South Pacific Island
The plastic waste buildup is primarily due to marine plastic pollution.
1 Min Read
Henderson Island, a tiny landmass in the eastern South Pacific, is covered with nearly 18 tonnes of plastic waste, the highest density of anthropogenic debris recorded anywhere in the world.
The plastic waste buildup is primarily due to marine plastic pollution, and approximately 68 percent of the pollution isn’t even visible because as many as 4,500 items per square metre are buried to a depth of 10 centimeters.
The Guardian has more information:
One of the world’s most remote places, an uninhabited coral atoll, is also one of its most polluted.
Henderson Island, a tiny landmass in the eastern South Pacific, has been found by marine scientists to have the highest density of anthropogenic debris recorded anywhere in the world, with 99.8% of the pollution plastic.
The nearly 18 tonnes of plastic piling up on an island that is otherwise mostly untouched by humans have been pointed to as evidence of the catastrophic, “grotesque” extent of marine plastic pollution.
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