Plastic waste discharge to the global ocean constrained by seawater observations

Zhang，Yanxu1,2; Wu，Peipei1; Xu，Ruochong1; Wang，Xuantong1; Lei，Lili1; Schartup，Amina T.3; Peng，Yiming1; Pang，Qiaotong1; Wang，Xinle1; Mai，Lei4; Wang，Ruwei4; Liu，Huan5; Wang，Xiaotong5; Luijendijk，Arjen6,7; Chassignet，Eric8; Xu，Xiaobiao8; Shen，Huizhong9; Zheng，Shuxiu10; Zeng，Eddy Y.4

2023-12-01

10.1038/s41467-023-37108-5

Nature Communications   Impact Factor & Quartile

2041-1723

Marine plastic pollution poses a potential threat to the ecosystem, but the sources and their magnitudes remain largely unclear. Existing bottom-up emission inventories vary among studies for two to three orders of magnitudes (OMs). Here, we adopt a top-down approach that uses observed dataset of sea surface plastic concentrations and an ensemble of ocean transport models to reduce the uncertainty of global plastic discharge. The optimal estimation of plastic emissions in this study varies about 1.5 OMs: 0.70 (0.13–3.8 as a 95% confidence interval) million metric tons yr at the present day. We find that the variability of surface plastic abundance caused by different emission inventories is higher than that caused by model parameters. We suggest that more accurate emission inventories, more data for the abundance in the seawater and other compartments, and more accurate model parameters are required to further reduce the uncertainty of our estimate.

SCI

English

NI Journal Papers ; NI论文

Non-SUSTech

WOS:001029839500033

2-s2.0-85150093583

Scopus

1.School of Atmospheric Sciences,Nanjing University,Nanjing,210023,China
2.Frontiers Science Center for Critical Earth Material Cycling,Nanjing University,Nanjing,210023,China
3.Scripps Institution of Oceanography,University of California,San Diego,La Jolla,United States
4.Center for Environmental Microplastics Studies,Guangdong Key Laboratory of Environmental Pollution and Health,School of Environment,Jinan University,Guangzhou,511443,China
5.State Key Joint Laboratory of ESPC,State Environmental Protection Key Laboratory of Sources and Control of Air Pollution Complex,School of Environment,Tsinghua University,Beijing,China
6.Faculty of Civil Engineering and Geosciences,Delft University of Technology,Delft,Netherlands
7.Hydraulic Engineering,Deltares,Delft,Netherlands
8.Center for Ocean–Atmospheric Prediction Studies (COAPS),Florida State University,Tallahassee,United States
9.School of Environmental Science and Technology,Southern University of Science and Technology,Shenzhen,Guangdong,China
10.College of Urban and Environmental Sciences,Peking University,Beijing,China

Zhang，Yanxu,Wu，Peipei,Xu，Ruochong,et al. Plastic waste discharge to the global ocean constrained by seawater observations[J]. Nature Communications,2023,14(1).

Zhang，Yanxu.,Wu，Peipei.,Xu，Ruochong.,Wang，Xuantong.,Lei，Lili.,...&Zeng，Eddy Y..(2023).Plastic waste discharge to the global ocean constrained by seawater observations.Nature Communications,14(1).

Zhang，Yanxu,et al."Plastic waste discharge to the global ocean constrained by seawater observations".Nature Communications 14.1(2023).