8 Million Metric Tons of Plastic Dumped Into World’s Oceans Each Year

We’ve been hearing for years about all the plastic that is going into our oceans, creating enormous gyres, washing up on beaches, threatening marine life and marine ecosystems in ways we don’t even know yet. A study last year called Valuing Plastic by the Plastic Disclosure Project and Trucost, estimated plastic caused about $13 billion in damages to marine ecosystems each year—and noted that that estimate was probably low, given what we don’t know yet.

A new study, Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean, published in the journal Science last week, estimated that plastic debris washing into the ocean from 192 coastal countries reached somewhere between 4.8 and 12.7 million metric tons in 2010. That’s enough to cover every foot of coastline in the world.

More from Nation of Change.