Researchers estimate 10,000 metric tons of plastic enter Great Lakes every year

A new study by Rochester Institute of Technology that inventories and tracks high concentrations of plastic in the Great Lakes could help inform cleanup efforts and target pollution prevention.

Researchers found that nearly 10,000 metric tons -- or 22 millionMarine Pollution Bulletin.

pounds -- of plastic debris enter the Great Lakes every year from the United States and Canada. Matthew Hoffman, assistant professor in RIT's School of Mathematical Sciences, is the lead author of "Inventory and transport of plastic debris in the Laurentian Great Lakes," which will run in an upcoming issue of 

"This study is the first picture of the true scale of plastic pollution in the Great Lakes," Hoffman said. Hoffman used computer simulations to follow the volume of plastic debris moving across state and international boundaries -- from Illinois to Michigan and from Canada to the United States.

Earlier studies estimate 40,000 to 110,000 metric tons of plastics enter the oceans along the U.S. coastline, Hoffman said.

In their study, Hoffman and co-author Eric Hittinger, assistant professor of public policy at RIT, report that half of the plastic pollution entering the Great Lakes -- 5,000 metrics tons per year -- goes into Lake Michigan, followed by Lake Erie with 2,500 metric tons and Lake Ontario with 1,400 metric tons. Lake Huron receives 600 metric tons of plastic and Lake Superior, 32 metric tons per year.

Estimates of surface microplastics entering the lakes each year show 4.41 metric tons in Lake Erie, 1.44 metric tons in Lake Huron and .0211 metric tons in Lake Superior.

Plastic pollution in Lake Michigan is approximately the equivalent of 100 Olympic-sized pools full of plastic bottles dumped into the lake every year, Hittinger said, whereas the yearly amount of plastic in Lake Ontario equates to 28 Olympic-sized pools full of plastic bottles.

Prior observational studies measured localized concentrations of plastic pollution in the open water, tributaries and along the shorelines. The new study applied mathematical modeling for the first time to extend the scope of the problem over time and spatial scales.

The inventory gives full mass estimates on the entire connected lake system and maps plastic debris moving between lakes and across interstate and international borders. The results provide environmentally realistic concentrations of plastic in the Great Lakes.

Findings of the study show debris travels differently in the Great Lakes than in the ocean. Instead of the floating "garbage patches" found in the ocean, plastic in the Great Lakes are carried by persistent winds and lake currents to the shore -- often washing up in another state or country, Hoffman said.

Plastic accounts for approximately 80 percent of the litter on the shorelines of the Great Lakes. The study quantifies dense plastic that quickly sinks and surface plastics like microbeads, fragments and pellets, plastic line and Styrofoam, which could be consumed by wildlife and potentially enter the food chain.

Major population centers are the primary sources of plastic pollution in the Great Lake system, with Chicago, Toronto, Cleveland and Detroit releasing more plastic particles than accumulate on their shorelines.

"Most of the particles from Chicago and Milwaukee end up accumulating on the eastern shores of Lake Michigan, while the particles from Detroit and Cleveland end up along the southern coast of the eastern basin of Lake Erie," Hoffman said. "Particles released from Toronto appear to accumulate on the southern coast of Lake Ontario, including around Rochester and Sodus Bay."

Estimates of plastic pollution throughout the Great Lakes were derived using population dynamics within 100 kilometers, or 62 miles, of the shores and hydrodynamic modeling to simulate the distribution of plastic debris throughout the Great Lakes from 2009 to 2014. Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Great Lakes Coastal Forecast System were used to simulate currents transporting plastic debris throughout the lake system.

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Materials provided by Rochester Institute of Technology. Original written by Susan Gawlowicz. Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

These 25 Creatures Used To Roam The Earth… And Are Mind-Boggling

Paleontologists, scientists and other researchers have collected enough samples over the years to form some pretty solid theories about what kinds of creatures used to roam this earth. If you’ve ever seen Jurassic Park or have been to a natural history museum, you’d know that life here used to consist of three things: huge monsters, dangerous plants and quick deaths. These 25 creatures used to roam the very ground you walk on today. You’ll be so glad they aren’t around any more…

1.) Microraptor: Its name means “one who seizes.” It was a very small dinosaur and paleontologists have long debated the use of its four wings.

One Species of Microraptor Had Black Feathers

2.) Nyctosaurus: This ancient genus of Pterorsaur was found in the Mid-western sections of the US. The name means “naked reptile.”

Nyctosaurus by HaughtyFlaki 

 3.) Opabinia: This is one of the strangest creatures that ever lived. It had 30 flippers, 30 legs, a trunk-like nose and one lobster claw.

 

Picture from: Western Carolina University

4.) Phorusrhacidae: People know this creature as the “terror bird.” It was one of the largest predatory birds that ever lived and could run at speeds up to 40mph.

5.) Pterodaustro: Also known as the Pterosaurs, it had a wingspan of 4 feet. It’s bristle-like teeth implies it probably fed on a diet of plankton and small crustaceans.

Pterodaustro

6.) Quetzalcoatlus: This was the largest pterosaur in the sky, as big is a common African giraffe. Its wingspan was 30 whole feet.

 

Size comparison of Q. northropi (green), Q. sp (blue), and a human

7.) Sharovipteryx: Ths gliding reptile, found in Central Asia, was about one foot long. It would feed on insects and wasn’t capable of powered flight, it would just glide

Sharovipteryx on a glide

8.) Stethacanthus: A type of extinct prehistoric shark, they would grow up to 6 feet long with a strange looking back growth on males.

CGTPL Stethacanthus

9.) Tanystropheus: Its name means “long necked one” and the prehistoric reptile was easily over 20 feet long.

Tanystropheus by PaleoGuy

10.) Therizinosauridae: Or “reaper lizard,” may have been found in Mongolia, China, and the United States. Because they had long necks, pot bellies, four-toed feet, and beaky mouth, scientists weren’t sure if their parts belonged to one creature or several.

Therizinosauridae

11.) Archaeopteryx: The “first bird” supposedly existed during the Jurassic period, discovered in Germany in 1861.

Archaeopteryx artwork

12.) Deinocheirus: There are only a handful of fossil remains of this creature, including two forelimbs and some vertebrae. Its name means “terrible hands.”

13.) Deinotherium: The “hoe tusker” resembled a modern day elephant and were discovered at major hominid extinction sites at Lake Turkana in Kenya.

14.) Dimorphodon: This flying creature had two distinct types of teeth in its jaw. It had great eyesight and huge claws for hunting.

15.) Dunkleosteus: Or “Dunkle’s bone,” was one of the largest armored jaw fishes that ever existed. It was one of the fiercest predators in the ocean. It could be up to 10 meters long and weighed 3.6 tons.

16.) Elasmosaurus: This creature could be up to 46 feet in length (with most of its length in its neck). Its neck was 4x larger than a giraffe’s.

17.) Epidendrosaurus: This was the first reptile to be closer ro a bird than a dinosaur. It was about 6 inches long, with clawed hands on its arms/wings.

18.) Epidexipteryx: These small, feathered dinosaurs were found in the Inner Mongolia region of China. Their large display feathers were the earliest known representation of ornamental feathers in the fossil record.

19.) Hallucigenia: A relative of modern arthropods, Hallucigenia is a strange creature only 3 millimeters long. It has a bulbous round head connected to its cylindrical trunk. It was an ancestor of today’s velvet worms.

20.) Helicoprion: Also known as “spiral saw,” this shark-like cartilaginous fish appeared in the late Carboniferous era. The only evidence of its existence was a curled-up coil of triangular teeth. Some scientists think that it was used to grind shells, while others believed it to be a weapon.

21.) Jaekelopterus: This sea scorpion was massive, at an estimated length of 2.5 meters. It was one of the largest arthropods ever discovered. It supposedly STILL exists in present day freshwater rivers and lakes in Germany.

22.) Josephoartigasia: This capybara-like animal was the biggest rodent on the planet, weighing up to 1000kg.

23.) Liopleurodon: This marine predator lived on a diet of fish, squid, and other sea reptiles. It was bigger than a sperm whale and its skull was nearly 1/4 of its body, filled with many smooth teeth.

24.) Longisquama: This creature was known as the first archosaur to have been able to glide or parachute. It is known for its elongated pair of scales along its back, with the anterior ones resembling feathers.

25.) Megalania: Otherwise known as the giant ripper lizard, it fed on a diet of mammals, snakes, other reptiles, and birds. A modern day relative would be the Komodo dragon that inhabits the Flores Islands in Indonesia.