The newly emerging plastic continent on planet Earth, made by human hands, is neither rocky nor desert - lies east of the Pacific Ocean. Plastic waste constitutes about 90 percent of its area, which is expected to increase in the coming years. The discoverer said that the formation of the continent was based on pieces of plastic, with a size ranging between five millimeters and 50 centimeters.

The emergence of plastic at the hands of the British chemist Alexander Buckes in 1856 resembled a revolution in the field of industries, given the many advantages that the products of this material possess, compared to the products of other materials such as glass, wood and clay. Before innovation turned into a curse, after this material spread everywhere, on land, sea and air, with its high durability that provides it with the property of staying for the longest time. Thus, this substance found its way into the food chains of humans, and penetrated into human bodies and tissues, after quickly and early bypassing animals, until it was said that there is no part of the planet free of plastic.

This did not prevent the concern for production, but rather the steady increase in it, as the manufacture of plastic moved from 15 million tons in 1964 to more than 310 million tons in 2014. A research paper tells us that the amount of plastic produced since World War II until today, amounted to about five billion tons, It is expected to reach 30 billion tons by the end of this century. Currently, factories worldwide produce more than 380 million tons of plastic annually, only 16 percent of their waste is recycled for recycling, while 40 percent is received, 25 percent is exposed to the incineration process, and 19 percent is disposed of. percent in the environment.

It is estimated that at least eight million tons of plastic end up in the oceans every year. And if we take into account the major problem with plastic, which is that it is a difficult material to decompose, as it requires the disintegration and disappearance of some types, about four full centuries, we understand very well how the formation of the plastic continent floating in the depths of the ocean.

We also understand the reasons for the decline in the numbers of fish, birds and marine mammals, which was estimated by half during the period from 1970 to 2010. This also explains the increase in the area of ​​marine dead areas, that is, the least productive and poorest areas, reaching 15 percent during the period from 1998 to 2007. It is expected that within 30 years, the amount of materials and plastic waste leaching into marine areas will exceed the amount of fisheries and fish available in some marine areas.

So far, no agreed-upon move has taken place to prevent and encircle the seventh continent from increasing, due to its emergence in a region classified within the scope of international waters, which makes countries indifferent to the issue on the grounds that it is far from their territory. This is a sin whose persistence would lead to disastrous results not only for the neighboring countries of the continent, but for the entire planet.

The door remains open so far for initiatives, such as the one launched in 2018, within the “Ocean Clean Up” project implemented by a Dutch company, which aims to develop a system of about 30 floating barriers, each between one and two kilometers in length, between Hawaii and California. . These barriers prevent waste, by connecting them to a 12-meter-long floating dock, and according to the project organizers, they are expected to help clean up about half of the North Pacific Ocean within five years.

The initiative may help to clean up certain geographic spots, but it will definitely not help in addressing the small pieces that are the basis of the composition of the seventh continent, which means that the situation needs to search for other solutions to overcome the problem of microplastics floating in the oceans, before it is too late.