A study found about 90%
of plastic waste polluting
earth’s oceans comes from
Asia and Africa.
Researchers at Germany’s
Helmholtz Centre for
Environmental Research
discovered a small number
of rivers account for the
vast majority of plastic pollution
and none of them are located
in western countries.
“The 10 top-ranked rivers
transport 88-95 percent
of the global load into the sea,
” Dr. Christian Schmidt,
a hydrogeologist who
led the study, told the
Daily Mail.
“The rivers with the highest
estimated plastic loads
are characterized by
high population –
for instance the Yangtze
with over half a billion people.”
Out of the top ten
rivers that produce
the most pollution,
eight are in Asia and
two are in Africa.
The Yangtze River in China
and the Ganges River in India
were responsible for the
most plastic pollution.
While westerners are told
to alter their lifestyles
to save the planet,
little is said to the people
in the countries responsible
for the vast majority of pollution.