Sign up for our daily briefing
Make your busy days simpler with Axios AM/PM. Catch up on what's new and why it matters in just 5 minutes.
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Catch up on coronavirus stories and special reports, curated by Mike Allen everyday
Denver news in your inbox
Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Denver
Des Moines news in your inbox
Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Des Moines
Minneapolis-St. Paul news in your inbox
Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Twin Cities
Tampa Bay news in your inbox
Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Tampa Bay
Charlotte news in your inbox
Catch up on the most important stories affecting your hometown with Axios Charlotte
J. Lavers 2015
Trillions of pieces of plastic are estimated to litter the world's oceans, but we don't really know the extent.
Two researchers travelled to Henderson Island, a remote, uninhabited island in the South Pacific, to try to get a handle on how much plastic refuse had washed ashore. They estimated nearly 38 million pieces of plastic debris are on the island.
- The details: Roughly 99.8% of the debris found on Henderson was plastic. Between 21 and 672 pieces of plastic debris were found per square meter on the beach, and 53 to 4,497 plastic items per square meter were buried in the sand. The researchers speculated that the nearly 38 million pieces of plastic debris had washed ashore from ocean currents carrying refuse thrown overboard from commercial fishing fleets.
- Amazing stat: The 17.6 tons of debris estimated to be present on Henderson Island account for only 1.98 seconds' worth of the annual global production of plastic, they wrote.