'Message In A Bottle': Scientists Deploy Plastic Pollution Trackers Into Ocean Around Scotland | COP26
On the penultimate day of the COP26 Glasgow climate summit, 4 plastic pollution trackers, designed to mimic single-use plastic drinks bottles, were deployed as part of 'Message in a Bottle' project.
New Delhi: Scientists from different universities have deployed plastic pollution tracking devices into the ocean around Scotland, in order to understand how plastic bottles move in the sea waters and how they interact with climate change impacts, wildlife, and weather patterns.
The plastic pollution trackers have been deployed as part of a tracking project named 'Message in a Bottle'. It is being run by the Arribada Initiative, the University of Exeter, the University of Plymouth, and the Zoological Society of London (ZSL).
The project receives support from #OneLess and OneOcean. #OneLess campaign was established in 2016 to reduce London’s single-use plastic footprint and tackle ocean plastic pollution at source, while OneOcean is a company involved in the maritime industry.
The 'Message in a Bottle' tracking project
The tracking devices are designed to mimic single-use plastic drinks bottles, and respond to currents and winds in a fashion similar to real bottle, according to a statement issued by the University of Exeter.
The project is divided into two stages. The first stage was launched on June 8, which is World Ocean Day, during the Group of Seven (G7) Summit in Cornwall. Over the past five months, seven tracking devices have already travelled hundreds of miles.
The second stage, launched on November 11, will enable four new tracking devices to pass over deep ocean trenches, across major migratory routes for marine mammals and birds, and distant shores, mentions the statement.
The launch of stage two of the project coincides with COP26's Cities Day.
ZSL and Bangor recently conducted a study, which reveals the association between global climate crisis and plastic pollution. The study explains how extreme weather worsens the distribution of microplastics into pristine and remote areas.
As COP26 is nearing its end, the four devices have been named "Heat", "Acidity", "Deoxygenation" and "Pollution", to draw attention towards the need to address ocean crisis, and to ensure that stringent measures for protection of the ocean are announced in future COPs, the study mentions.
Professor Heather Koldewey, lead scientist on the project, said the research helped them understand that plastic and climate change are fundamentally and intrinsically linked, according to the University of Exeter statement. She added that plastic, which is made from fossil fuels, generates greenhouse gases at every step of its life cycle, the impact of which is prevalent around the world. This is because plastic pollution in the ocean, and climate change are interconnected, he explained. Koldewey said there is only one ocean, and that their team was trying to demonstrate the connectedness by tracking the flow of plastics.
She concluded that there is an urgency to acknowledge that climate crisis is the ocean crisis.
Mirella von Lindenfels, Director of the International Programme on the State of the Ocean (IPSO), said the ocean regulates Earth's climate, and protects people from the impact of climate change by absorbing Earth's excess heat and more than a third of its carbon-dioxide emissions.
She explained that the research team named the new bottles "Heat, Acidity, Deoxygenation, and Pollution" to highlight how climate-driven impacts on the ocean will affect life on Earth, the statement mentioned.
She said marine plastic crisis must be tackled in tandem with climate change to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Dr. Phil Hosegood of the University of Plymouth explained that the bottles released during the G7 Summit have demonstrated how plastics released offshore find their way back to coastlines. The fact that the plastics released off the coasts of Cornwall reach as far as the beaches in the Chanal Islands and France, indicates a strong connectivity between currents in the open ocean and the currents along shores and beaches, Hosegood said.
He added that actions taken locally to prevent the flow of waste from land to ocean could have a positive impact on the planet.
London's #OneLess Campaign
There is an annual production of more than 359 million tonnes of plastic. Scientists predict the production will double in the next two decades.
More than 40 per cent of this plastic has single-use applications. London's #OneLess campaign helps tackle the plastic pollution problem.
The campaign, over the past six years, has encouraged many Londoners to switch from using single-use plastic water bottles, to refilling and reusing.
Professor Koldewey said the collaborative approach to the issue has enabled the researchers to bring people from different sectors, including the Mayor of London. Koldewey explained that the project will help identify the barriers to reducing plastic pollution, and enable the world to take steps to reduce the amount of plastic that ends up in the waterways and oceans.
Though campaign is limited to London, the researchers hope that the findings of the study will inspire other cities across the world to eradicate single-use plastic pollution to protect our ocean, mentioned the statement.
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