38 Million Pieces of Plastic Trash Cover This Remote Island
Transcript
This uninhabited island in the South Pacific Ocean is littered … with 38 MILLION pieces of plastic.
Scientists believe that Henderson Island is covered in more plastic trash than anywhere else on the globe.
The island contained 671 pieces of plastic trash per square meter. However, no one has actually hauled the garbage here.
Instead, the trash washed ashore by ocean currents known as the South Pacific gyre, which collects debris from the surrounding waters.
Plastic trash not only causes unsightly pollution on these beaches. Marine animals like seabirds and sea turtles can ingest or become entangled in it, leading to injury and death.
