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August 31, 2021

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My advice on better managing and minimizing litter

By Jacqueline Xi | 00:05 UTC+8 August 31, 2021 | Print Edition

MARINE ecological environment is the basic condition for the survival and development of marine organisms.

Whilst marine resources are indeed abundant, among which China is one of the countries with the richest marine biodiversity that covers more than 20,000 kinds of recorded marine organisms, the situation of marine protection is severe. Scientists estimate that 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals die each year. The economic loss caused by marine plastic pollution may be as high as US$8 billion.

Among all the marine plastic pollution, the land dumping is a major marine plastic waste. Jenna Jenn of the University of Georgia and her colleagues conducted a global assessment of the amount of plastic waste discharged into the ocean in 2010. In 2016, new estimates have pushed the amount of marine garbage to a new height: there are more than 150 million tons of plastic in the ocean, and the number is still increasing. Those wastes posed a great threat to the foraging marine animals.

In 2018, a dead whale washed ashore in eastern Indonesia had about 5.9 kilograms of plastic waste in its stomach, including 115 plastic cups, 4 plastic bottles, 25 plastic bags, two flip flops, a nylon bag and more than 1,000 pieces of various kinds of plastic. This is astonishing, that may call for the attentions and actions from all of the countries, and each of us, in the world.

At present, China has initially established a marine reserve system with reasonable layout, relatively complete types, and increasingly perfect functions. The boundless sea gives people hope, beauty and warmth. Just as it should be, we should do our level best to protect it, our shared future.

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