E18: Ocean Microplastics

Statistically Insignificant

We talk to Sarah of It Came From The Sea pod about how much plastic is in the oceans, how you estimate it, and the vast mystery that is between about 20m and the bottom of the sea.

You can find Sarah at: @fromtheseapod on Twitter

https://www.patreon.com/fromtheseapod

or anywhere that pods are cast.

Support the pod on Patreon for bonus episodes, early access, and additional material: https://www.patreon.com/statisticallyinsignificant

References:

Eriksen, M., Lebreton, L. C., Carson, H. S., Thiel, M., Moore, C. J., Borerro, J. C., ... & Reisser, J. (2014). Plastic pollution in the world's oceans: more than 5 trillion plastic pieces weighing over 250,000 tons afloat at sea. PloS one, 9(12), e111913.

Kukulka, T., Proskurowski, G., Morét‐Ferguson, S., Meyer, D. W., & Law, K. L. (2012). The effect of wind mixing on the vertical distribution of buoyant plastic debris. Geophysical Research Letters, 39(7).

Weiss, L., Ludwig, W., Heussner, S., Canals, M., Ghiglione, J. F., Estournel, C., ... & Kerhervé, P. (2021). The missing ocean plastic sink: gone with the rivers. Science, 373(6550), 107-111.

The video version of this episode is available at https://youtu.be/S4ROyn3jTm4

If you have a statistic or a chart you'd like us to talk about contact us.

Email: [email protected]

Twitter: @StatInsigPod

Bart can be found @SnitchinOrwell on Twitter