Current Events

Current Events

Pacific Island covered in plastic

May 18, 2017

Scientists have discovered what they say is the worst case of plastic pollution in the world.

They found nearly 38 million items of plastic debris on Henderson Island in the South Pacific – carried there on ocean currents.

The uninhabited island, which is part of a UNESCO World Heritage site, is the largest of the four Pitcairn Islands.

Australian researcher Jennifer Lavers said the island had the highest density of plastic rubbish anywhere in the world.

The team calculated there were 671.6 items per square metre on the surface of the beaches, with approximately 68 percent of debris buried less than 10 centimetres in the sand.

Each day, 17 to 268 new items washed up on a 10-metre section of North Beach.

She said the finding was a wake-up call to the world that plastic pollution was as grave a threat to humanity as climate change.

Annual production of plastic has increased from 1.7m tonnes in 1954 to 311m tonnes in 2014.

This has resulted in an estimated five trillion plastic items – mostly less than five millimetres in size – circulating in the surface layer of the world’s oceans.

1. Who is the main person or group of people in this news article? Australian researcher Jennifer Lavers 

2. What was the key event from the news article? Scientists have discovered what they say is the worst case of plastic pollution in the world. They found nearly 38 million items of plastic debris on Henderson Island in the South Pacific – carried there on ocean currents.

3. Where did this event take place? Henderson Island in the South Pacific

4. When did this event take place? May 2017

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