THE CHEAT SHEET. Silent Spring 2.0

No. This is about a tragedy like the one Carson talked about decades ago, unfolding as we speak.

Not that we know of. This is about plastics in oceans.

An eminent Canadian marine biologist recently warned that a ‘second silent spring’ is looming over the world’s oceans thanks to the vast amount of plastic that has entered marine ecosystems over the past 50 years. Boris Worm of Dalhousie University in Canada says we can compare the DDT crisis of the 1960s with the way plastics pollute the oceans.

Plastics are everywhere in the ocean, he says, much like DDT and “the scale of the problem and the scale of its effect on wildlife, for one thing, is only becoming apparent now”. His analysis was recently published in the science journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS).

Indeed. A few studies that came out recently affirm his fears. One of them, led by Qamar Schuyler of the University of Queensland, estimates half the sea turtles on the planet have ingested some form of plastic. The study, published in Global Change Biology recently, says some 13 million tonnes of plastic waste is being dumped into the ocean every year, and 52 per cent of sea turtles worldwide have swallowed plastic.

There’s more. The new study arrived just days after another one found that nearly all of the world’s sea birds — 90 per cent to be precise — have eaten plastic. The study was also published in PNAS . The birds mistook plastic bits for fish eggs.

And it is only likely to get worse. By 2050, 99 per cent of seabirds will have plastic in them, according to computer-aided forecasts from Denise Hardesty, a senior research scientist at Australia’s leading science institution, CSIRO. Echoing a similar sentiment, the Queensland study has found that Olive Ridley turtles ( Lepidochelys olivacea ), which are considered “threatened” in most parts of the world, are at the most risk. They eat jellyfish and other floating animals in the open ocean.

Yeah. But we had it coming. In February this year, another study — from the University of Georgia — found that every year some 8 million tonnes of plastic waste reaches the world’s oceans. That’s just the tip of the dirty iceberg of plastic waste being dumped across the globe. Researchers estimate that even this amount of debris will increase manifold over the next decade unless nations take strong measures to manage plastic waste responsibly. Scientists say 8 million tonnes is equivalent to “five plastic grocery bags filled with plastic for every foot of coastline in the world”.

Wait! By 2025, the scientists estimate, the amount of plastic that might be reaching the oceans would be the equivalent of 10 bags per foot of coastline. So, it’s time we took this seriously because around half of the world’s population lives close to the sea, and more than 60 per cent get their protein from the sea.

It’s suicidal for humanity to let marine plastic pollution to go unabated. In 2014, a UN estimate showed that the overall financial damage of plastics to marine ecosystems stands at $13 billion each year. This impacts industries such as marine foods, shipping, tourism and more.

The answer is simple: countries should cut plastic use, recycle, and penalise those who litter. Will this happen? Your guess is as good as mine.

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