Efforts to clean the Great Pacific Garbage Patch might be a mistake. Here is why experts say skimming the surface could be ...

Most people know plastic pollution is bad news. But a small group of scientists says that we should pause all ocean plastic cleanup efforts.

A new study finds that a handful of nations are responsible for the vast majority of plastic waste entering the world’s oceans. Just 10 countries account for more than 80% of all ocean-bound plastic, ...

Tiny plastic pellets may soon be classified as hazardous cargo, as frequent spills are polluting oceans and harming wildlife.

In the oceans, the most widespread type of plastic pollution may be the kind you can’t see. A new study published Wednesday in the journal Nature estimates that the North Atlantic Ocean alone contains ...

Candy wrappers. Balloons. Grocery bags. Every day, the equivalent of 2,000 full garbage trucks worth of plastic gets dumped in the world's oceans. Scientists have long known that plastic waste is ...

Kate Spencer receives funding from NERC, Lloyd's Register Foundation and EU Interreg IV programme Preventing Plastic Pollution Nan Wu works for Queen Mary University of London and the British ...

A persistent claim shared by high-profile sources such as the United Nations, (archived) (archived) World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) (archived) says ...

Scientists in Madeira study the impacts of plastics on whales and dolphins. Far out in the eastern Atlantic, the Portuguese island of Madeira rises from the depths of the open ocean. Despite its ...

New research has shown that blue sharks’ intestines act like temporary holding tanks, trapping fibers long enough to build up significant amounts. Their epic migrations mean they can spread these ...

How plastic sinks to the deep sea — over time, sunlight and waves break large plastic items into tiny fragments that stick to marine snow. These particles gradually sink through the ocean, carrying ...