3.06 English 06/07/2011 13:37:00 06/06/2011 06 June 2011 06/06/2011 06/07/2011 257 Washington — With World Ocean Day upon us June 8, we have been reading up on the topic of trash that is dumped in the world’s oceans. Here are a few things we found:

Good news: People are the source of trash found in the oceans, which means people can stop trash from entering the oceans.
Bad news: Laws to stop people from polluting the oceans don’t work because they don’t motivate people to change their behavior.
-- From Tackling Marine Debris in the 21st Century, National Academy of Sciences

Good news: There are no giant islands of plastic trash floating in the oceans.
Bad news: There are tons of small bits and pieces of plastic floating in the oceans, which end up in fish and work their way up the food chain — maybe into you!
-- From Discovery News

Good news: Plastics decompose in the ocean.
Bad news: Decomposing plastics release toxic chemicals.
-- From National Geographic News

Good news: Trash that sinks to the bottom of the ocean provides shelter for some fish.
Bad news: Lost fishing gear continues to trap and kill fish and other marine life.
-- From Discovery News

Good news: Living creatures are everywhere in the ocean — even where heat would melt lead, seawater is frozen to ice, and light and oxygen are lacking.
Bad news: The amount of marine life is steadily declining, even noticeably within a single human generation.
-- From First Census of Marine Life 2010, UNESCO Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission

]]> Some of the news about trash in our oceans isn’t that bad, but some is even worse than you might have thought.

]]> (This is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://iipdigital.usembassy.gov/iipdigital-en/index.html)

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