Global Warming and Energy

Greens always tell us we're turning the oceans into garbage dumps with plastic, but 99 percent of the plastic is missing. I bet the oceans break it down just like they break down the oil it's made from. Four theories.

"Theory 2Broken down: The small plastics could be continuously degrading into smaller, undetectable pieces.
The problem: While plastic pieces are continually being broken down in the ocean, there is no reason to believe that the rate at which plastic is being degraded has increased, the authors said. Plus, degradation of plastic can take hundreds to thousands of years. Other degrading factors could be at play though, such as small bacteria helping to break down the plastics."

But they fail to mention a factor here they mention later.

"Theory 3
Sinking: Oceanic epipyphytes — nonparasitic plants that usually grow on other plants — will often latch onto anything that floats. For a particle with a lot of surface area for its size, plant growth on the outside of the plastic would make it heavy, causing it to sink.The problem: Previous studies have shown that when a plant-ballasted plastic sinks in the open ocean, the plants growing on it die and fall off, causing the object to pop back up."

The same surface area issue applies to Theory 2. Small pieces will be broken down faster than larger pieces.