Scientists sound alarm after discovering 'tornadoes' in ocean: 'The main thing we need to consider is the effects'

Every year, millions of tons of plastic are discarded, while a vanishingly small share of this waste is properly recycled. 

What's happening?

To understand how plastic pollution affects marine environments, researchers from the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution searched well below the ocean's surface. 

They found that microplastic particles accumulate in ocean eddies, swirling masses of water. 

For a study published in the journal Chaos, researchers Larry Pratt and Irina Rypina developed 3D models to better understand this collection of underwater microplastic particles. 

The duo used a rotating cylinder filled with water to mimic how the ocean and atmosphere move on at scale. In their setup, the cylinder rotated at a steady speed, while the lid on top could spin at a different speed.

They determined that eddies often followed stable, repeating paths, looping in circles. As Popular Mechanics observed, these eddies essentially act like tornadoes in the water. 

"If you just threw a small particle into the water with some arbitrary velocity, viscous drag would rapidly bring its motion close to that of the fluid," Pratt explained in a statement. "So, to a first approximation, the microplastic particles are just following the fluid trajectories." 

Why are these findings important?

While Pratt and Rypina were able to closely replicate ocean eddies, there was one complication: microplastics don't necessarily move in the same way as the water does. 

Due to their mass and size, they can lag slightly and disturb the water flow as they move. This causes them to slowly deviate from the paths that pure water parcels would normally follow.

"The main thing we need to consider is the effects of small-scale turbulence," Pratt said. "The theory is valid for spherical particles, but most microplastics in the ocean have very irregular shapes." 

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"In the immediate future, we're hoping that the theory will inform sampling strategies and lead to a better understanding of where plastics might be accumulating."

What's being done about plastic pollution?

According to the OECD's Global Plastic Outlook, the world is rapidly increasing its annual plastic production rate. 

Only 9% of all plastic waste is properly recycled, with the rest ending up in landfills or littering our environment. But global efforts are underway to combat plastic pollution, including ongoing efforts to pass a UN Global Plastics Treaty. 

Countries are also enacting regional policies to reduce the prevalence of single-use plastics. 

"In recent years, the growing awareness of plastic pollution has alerted public opinion and paved the way for stronger policy intervention," said Mathias Cormann, Secretary-General of the OECD.

"Many OECD countries and emerging economies have been implementing policies that specifically aim to reduce the negative environmental impacts associated with different stages of the plastics lifecycle."

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