HKUST(GZ) Computational Media Arts |
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Resource type: Book Chapter Language: en: English Peer reviewed ID no. (ISBN etc.): 978-3-11-074472-9 BibTeX citation key: Reichle2021c Email resource to friend View all bibliographic details |
Categories: General Creators: Reichle Publisher: De Gruyter (Berlin / Boston) Collection: Plastic Ocean: Art and Science Responses to Marine Pollution |
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Abstract |
Plastic in the world’s oceans has become a global concern as the massive accumulation of micro- and nanoplastic particles has turned into an existential crisis for marine life. These anthropogenic pollutants emerged as a by-product of modernity, but went unnoticed for a long time. However, when they were discovered in the late 1990s as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, too little was done far too late. Today it is obvious that untold trillions of micro- and nanoplastic particles floating in the world’s oceans have created a novel, highly toxic ecological habitat, which threatens marine species and human health. To describe the massive transformation of marine ecosystems when exposed to micro- and nanoplastics, scientists recently introduced the term Plastisphere. Based on samples taken from the northern Atlantic, scientists found that new microbial reefs are emerging in the Plastisphere, which differ significantly from any previously known natural conditions of marine environments because toxic micro- and nanoplastic particles provide different conditions for microbes, bacteria, algae, and other micro-organisms than those offered by natural floating marine substrates like wood, feathers, or plants. Also, micro- and nanoplastic particles are highly toxic, serving both as transport medium and »poison pills« due to their ability to absorb toxic chemicals in the marine environment.
Added by: Ingeborg Reichle Last edited by: Ingeborg Reichle |
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