There is a large discrepancy between estimates of oceanic plastic input and the amount of plastic measured floating at the ocean surface. Model results show that this can be explained by large objects being underestimated in previous mass budget analyses, combined with lower input estimates.
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This is a summary of: Kaandorp, M. L. A. et al. Global mass of buoyant marine plastics dominated by large long-lived debris. Nat. Geosci. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01216-0 (2023).
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Estimates of global marine plastic mass demystify the missing plastic paradox. Nat. Geosci. 16, 665–666 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01220-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41561-023-01220-4
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