Water pollution

Water pollution (or aquatic pollution) is the contamination of water bodies, which has a negative impact on how they can be used. Quotes A substantial fraction of marine plastic debris originates from land-based sources and rivers potentially act as a major transport pathway for all sizes of plastic debris...Plastic debris loads...are positively related to the mismanaged plastic waste (MMPW) generated in the river catchments. This relationship is nonlinear where large rivers with population-rich catchments delivering a disproportionately higher fraction of MMPW into the sea. The 10 top-ranked rivers transport 88-95% of the global load into the sea. Christian Schmidt, Tobias Krauth and Stephan Wagner, "Export of Plastic Debris by Rivers into the Sea", Environmental Science & Technology, vol. 51 no. 21 (11 October 2017), abstract The high fraction of a few river catchments contributing the vast majority of the total load implies that potential mitigation measures would be highly efficient when applied in the high-load rivers. Reducing plastic loads by 50% in the 10 top-ranked rivers would reduce the total river-based load to the sea by 45%. C. Schmidt, T. Krauth and S. Wagner, "Export of Plastic Debris by Rivers into the Sea", Environmental Science & Technology, vol. 51 no. 21 (11 October 2017), p. 12252 External links Category:Environment