There Will Be More Plastic Than Fish in the Ocean By 2050

Congrats, humans.

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Complex Original

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It’s time for Captain Planet and the Planeteers to make a comeback. A new study from the World Economic Forum and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation suggests that plastic waste in the ocean will outweigh fish in just three and a half decades, the Huffington Postreports.

"The best research currently available estimates that there are over 150 million tonnes (165 million tons) of plastics in the ocean today," it read. "In a business-as-usual scenario, the ocean is expected to contain 1 tonne (1.1 tons) of plastic for every 3 tonnes of fish by 2025, and by 2050, more plastics than fish (by weight)."

To make you feel even worse, the World Economic Forum reports that the equivalent of one garbage truck worth of plastic leaks into the ocean every minute.

For those less concerned about the environment (that helps you breathe air and provides your food), there is also a major economic impact. The study found that the loss of plastic materials, which could have been recycled, costs the economy $120 billion annually. 

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