3.7 Sleet. The Dangers of Microplastics
Figure 2: Kuwaitian Land References [1]
3.7
International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis. The Environmental Impacts of the Gulf War 1991. 2004. URL: http://pure.iiasa.ac.at/ id/eprint/7427/.
33 [2]
CCK. Oil Well Fires in Kuwait. Nov. 2018. URL: https : / / cck - law . com / blog / oil - well fires-in-kuwait/.
[3]
Association for Diplomatic Studies & Training. Towering Infernos – The Kuwait Oil Fires. URL: https : / / adst . org / 2016 / 04 / towering infernos-the-kuwait-oil-fires/.
[4]
The Guardian. ‘Gushing oil and roaring fires’: 30 years on Kuwait is still scarred by catastrophic pollution. Dec. 2021. URL: https : / / www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/ dec/11/the-sound-of-roaring-fires-isstill- in- my- memory- 30- years- on- fromkuwaits-oil-blazes (cited on page 32).
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Oceana. Mangrove Forest. URL: https : / / oceana . org / marine - life / mangrove forest/.
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Taylor & Francis Online. Bioremediation of oilcontaminated soil in Kuwait. I. landfarming to remediate oil-contaminated soil. Dec. 2008. URL : https : / / www . tandfonline . com / doi / abs / 10 . 1080 / 15320389609383528 ? journalCode=bssc19.
The Dangers of Microplastics By Lorin Sleet ’22 Microplastics, defined as extremely small pieces of plastic debris in the environment resulting from the disposal and breakdown of consumer products and industrial waste, are significant causes of pollution and environmental damage. For example, they can affect marine ecology and cause water pollution. However, their full impact on the environment and ecosystems is still under study. The first documentations of marine plastic debris, found in the Sargasso Sea, were published in the journal of Science in 1972 [1]. In 1996, Captain Charles Moore discovered the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” located in the middle of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre [3]. However, it was not until 2004 that Richard Thompson, a professor of marine biology from the University of Plymouth, UK, coined the term “microplastic” and called for more research to be done on the subject. Following his call to action, the scientific evidence regarding contamination, fate, and effects of plastic debris in the oceans increased at an exponential rate. The crisis was introduced to the public and popularized two years later in 2006, when a five-part series called Altered Oceans by Ken Weiss of the Los Angeles Times won the Pulitzer prize. His fourth essay in the series, “Plague of Plastic Chokes the Seas,” gave a devastating account of the size
and effects of the problem on marine life and birds. Back in 2006, when Ken Weiss wrote the series, an estimated 1 million seabirds and about 100,000 seals, whales, dolphins, and other marine mammals per year choked on or got tangled in plastic nets or other debris. The numbers since then have only grown. The garbage patch was repeatedly described in articles as being “an island of floating plastic litter twice the size of Texas” [4]. Skeptical of yet intrigued by this claim, Miriam Goldstein at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, along with a group of graduate students, organized an expedition to survey and sample the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in 2009 [5]. It was the first organized study of the Subtropical Gyre. The group spent three days throwing surface skimming nets into the ocean expecting to dredge up pieces of plastic, but got no significant results. However, on the fourth day, observers on the deck had to call for assistance as thousands of pieces of plastic debris “smaller than a pencil eraser” (< 5 mm in size) came into view. The crew had not brought equipment with the ability to quantify the soup of plastic before them. As they studied their observations upon their return, they advocated for investment into specialized research on quantifying the effect of the pollution in oceans and other waterways
