References

Throughout this blog I have used a wide range of references which have been HTML linked throughout. These are the specific articles that I have read in relation to this blog.


Cozar, A., Echevarria F., Gonzalez-Gordillo, J.I., Irigoien X., Ubeda B., Hernandez-Leon, S., Palma, A.T., Navarro, S., Garcia-de-Lomas, J., Ruiz, A., Fernandex-de-Puelles, M.L., Duarte, C.M., 2013 Plastic Debris In The Open Ocean, PNAS, vol 111 no. 28

1. Davison, P., 
2. Asch, R.G., 

(2011) Plastic ingestion by mesopelagic fishes in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. Mar Ecol Prog Ser 432:173–180

Dussud, C., Ghiglione J. F.,
Accessed via http://oceans.taraexpeditions.org/en/m/science/news/bacterial-degradation-of-synthetic-plastics/ on the 1/1/2016

1. 
   
   1. Eriksen, M., 
   2. et al.

    (2013) Plastic pollution in the South Pacific subtropical gyre. Mar Pollut Bull 68(1–2):71–76.
   
   Ghiglione, J.F., Conan, P., and M. Pujo-Pay (2009) Diversity of total and active free-living vs. particle-attached bacteria in the euphotic zone of the NW Mediterranean Sea. FEMS Microbiology Letters, 299: 9-21. - See more at: http://oceans.taraexpeditions.org/en/m/science/news/bacterial-degradation-of-synthetic-plastics/#sthash.trY3b4tH.dpuf
   

   
   
   Goldstein, M.C., 
2. Rosenberg, M., 
3. Cheng, L., 

(2012) Increased oceanic microplastic debris enhances oviposition in an endemic pelagic insect. Biol Lett 8(5):817–820.\



Jambeck, J.R., (2015) Plastic waste inputs from land into ocean, Science, 472: 6223

1. Law, K.L., 
2. et al. 

(2010) Plastic accumulation in the North Atlantic subtropical gyre. Science329(5996):1185–1188

1. Yarsley, V.E., 
2. Couzens E.G 

(1945) Plastics (Penguin, London).

1. Zettler, E.R., 
2. Mincer TJ, 
3. Amaral-Zettler LA

 (2013) Life in the “plastisphere”: Microbial communities on plastic marine debris. Environ Sci Technol 47(13):7137–7146

End of the line

I've rather enjoyed completing a weekly blog over the course of this term and I found it a really effective way to engage with the topic. Keeping up with discourse in popular media in conjunction with the reading scientific articles was so effective in presenting a holistic view on the subject.

Im not going to say I'll miss blogging, as the type of person who usually crams an essay into a single day, the whole prospect of blogging was an entirely new concept. But this method of education inspires me to become more engaged in coursework essays in future, allowing ideas to develop fully.

Throughout the course of this blog I have learnt how disastrous the presence of oceanic plastic pollution within our oceans can be on marine biodiversity. The temporal and spatial variation in pollution levels currently found in the Earths oceans is phenomenal and set to increase. Global marine ecosystems are considered by many as having reached a tipping point, given the ever increasing anthropogenic pressure on biodiversity due to pollution, we could see mass extinctions in the very near future.

When considering initiatives trying to prevent and mitigate oceanic plastic pollution, there are a number of approaches from media led initiatives raising public awareness through to national and international laws. When considering international and national laws, though concern for the marine ecosystem began with the Stockholm Conference of 1972 banning vessel based pollution, marine ecosystems have seen ever increasing levels of oceanic pollution. This is due to global population increases and increases in consumerism and the 'disposable culture' of the late 20th century, which lead to increases in pollution from land based sources. Models of the point sources of pollution and their eventual destination as discussed in this essay confirm this increase in pollution from land based sources.

What surprised me through the course of this blog was the environmental movement and their success in bringing about legislation. The 5Gyres charity and their use of twitter and hashtags to promote awareness and to demand governmental action was so successful! With the recent ban on microbeads in the US as a result of pressure from 5Gyres and their #banthebead campaign these environmental movements really are being effective.


Thats all folks, thanks for hanging in there with me!

Nature fights back

I came upon an interesting article recently regarding the potentialities of nature in breaking down plastic marine debris (PMD) and thought it might offer quite a profound alternative to man made mitigation schemes.

Within the oceans microorganisms function as pioneering surface colonisers on plastic pollution, driving ecosystem processes such as primary production (PP), biogeochemical cycling and biodegradation. Within the marine ecosystem plastics are agreed to offer a specific niche of microbial communities and the presence of pollution is known to stimulate microbial production as it supports growth and offers limited predation areas (Ghiglione et al, 2009).

 Zettler et al (2013) state in in their paper 'Life in the 'Plastisphere'' that microbial communities could increase the decomposition rates of oceanic plastic pollution. As we know marine plastics tend to lead to the accumulation of microbial communities around them. The suggestion that micro-organisms can break down plastic polymers is not a novel idea, suggested as early as the 1980s. Zettler et als work utilise modern tecnhiques to definitively prove that bacteria can break down plastic. In their report the use of scanning electron microscopy unveil a diverse community of bacteria (heterotrophs, autotrophs, predators and symbionts) with bacterial shapes suggestive of 'active hydrolysis' of the hydrocarbon polymer plastic. Further rRNA gene surveys identify the hydrocarbon degrading bacteria, thus presenting the potential of microbial breakdown of plastic contaminants.

Dussud and Ghiglione review current knowledge of microbial degradation of plastic materials in their report and present the idea that bacteria could offer a natural method in dealing with oceanic plastic pollution. Bacterial degradation presents a low cost, efficient and environmentally friendly method of reducing oceanic plastic pollution in situ. Future pollution mitigation using biological mechanisms such as this seem entirely possible in the near future. This offers quite a positive outlook when considering projected pollution increases expected in the future!

Obama bans the microbead!

Environmental activists today rejoice, as America passes the first law banning microbeads. The Microbeads Free Waters Act passed by congress on the 31st December with bipartisan support will by 2018 end all sales of products containing plastic microparticles by 2018.

After a full scale initiative by several oceanographic environmental groups such as 5 Gyres the #banthebead twitter movement has pressured the American government into action. Let's hope that the rest of the world quickly follows suite! What a great start to the new year!