Scientists have come up with a new way to measure ocean trash(垃圾) and the numbers are even worse than thought. In 2010, eight million tons of plastic trash ended up in the ocean from coastal countries far more than the trash floating on the surface of the ocean. That ' s bad news. The even worse news is that the tonnage may increase by as much as ten times in the next decade unless the world finds a better way to improve how trash is collected and managed.
The new study identifies the major sources of plastic trash and names the top 20 countries producing the greatest amount of ocean trash. The United States is 20th. The rest of the list includes 11 Asian countries, Turkey, five African countries, and Brazil.
The size of the difference is huge --- 20 to 2,000 times more than the amount of floating trash. To make the figure eight million tons understandable, Jenna Jambeck, who led the study, compares it to lining up five grocery bags of trash on every foot of coastline around the globe. "And by 2025, those five grocery bags of plastic are going to be ten bags," she says. That would be 155 million tons a year if present trash management practices remain the same."
Ocean plastic has turned up everywhere. It has been found in the deep sea and buried in Arctic ice with terrible consequences for some 700 species of wildlife in the ocean.
The study has also created a new mystery. Because what flows into the ocean is so large, scientists now have to figure out where else it collects and in what amounts. "But what we need to do now is close the gap." says Richard Thompson, a scientist from the U.K.
【小题1】What is the most serious problem concerning ocean trash?| A．There is no way to get rid of it. |
| B．Eight million tons of trash goes into the ocean. |
| C．A lot more trash may be put into the ocean in the future. |
| D．The way to measure ocean trash hasn't been found. |
| A．showing the causes | B．describing a process |
| C．making comparisons | D．making a classification |
| A．what is harmless and what is dangerous |
| B．what is on the surface and what is in the deep sea |
| C．what is found and what can be recycled |
| D．what is from America and what is from other countries |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Hopeless. | C．Critical. | D．Concerned. |
