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The amount of plastic in the ocean is set to triple in a decade unless litter is curbed, a major report has warned.

Plastics is just one issue facing the world's seas, along with rising sea levels, warming oceans, and pollution, it says.

But the Foresight Future of the Sea Report for the UK government said there are also opportunities to cash in on the "ocean economy".

They say this is predicted to double to $3 trillion (£2 trillion) by 2030.

The report says much more knowledge is needed about the ocean. The authors say the world needs a Mission to "Planet Ocean" to mirror the excitement of voyaging to the moon and Mars.

The Foresight reports are written by experts to brief ministers on medium and long-term issues of significance. This one has been signed off by ministers from four different departments as the authors emphasise the need for a joined-up oceans policy.

One of the authors, Prof Edward Hill from the UK National Oceanography Centre told BBC News: "The ocean is critical to our economic future. Nine billion people will be looking to the ocean for more food. Yet we know so little of what's down there.

"We invest a lot of money and enthusiasm for missions to space - but there's nothing living out there. The sea bed is teeming with life. We really need a mission to planet ocean - it's the last frontier."

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption The report projects an increase in the industrial capture of fish

Another of the authors, the chief scientist for the UK government's environment department Ian Boyd, agreed: "The ocean is out of sight, out of mind," he said.

He told BBC News: "There's a continuous process of exploring for new things to exploit in the oceans, and that's happening faster than we scientists can keep up with. My suspicion is legislation is also struggling to keep up - and obviously there are risks in that."

He said offshore wind farms, oil industries and mining firms were spreading into unexplored areas. "Scientists need to get in there faster than the commercial people or at least at the same time - to put proper regulation in place to govern those industries."

The report highlights many concerns, including the current worry about ocean plastic litter, which it forecasts will treble between 2015 and 2025.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption A giant build-up of plastic was captured by underwater photographer Caroline Power

But it stresses that the ocean is being assailed from many different types of pollution - including run-off pesticides and fertilisers from farms, industrial toxins like PCBs, and pharmaceuticals.

The authors say if governments can identify ways of protecting biodiversity in the seas, there are riches to be harvested - including nodules of metals and possibly even cures for cancer.

They predict that the biggest industrial growth in the seas will come from offshore wind, followed by marine aquaculture and fish processing. The report also projects an increase in industrial capture of wild fish.

This latter suggestion alarmed Rachel Jones, a marine expert from London Zoo, ZSL. She told BBC News: "Given that 90% of global fisheries are either at or in excess of sustainable catch levels, I can't really see how they are going to expand capture fisheries."

Follow Roger on Twitter.</s>Luke covers lifestyle for Verdict. You can reach him at luke.christou@verdict.co.uk

Plastic waste in the oceans will treble in the next decade, according to a new report conducted by the UK’s Government Office for Science.

Given the extent of the problem, it is hard to say just how much plastic has ended up in our waters.

However, the report predicts a three-fold increase between 2015 and 2025. The study’s higher estimate suggests that waste could rise from less than 100 million metric tonnes in 2015 to almost 250 million metric tonnes in 2025.

According to Greenpeace, an additional 12.7 million metric tonnes of plastic finds its way into our oceans each year.

The report also looks at potential opportunities to grow the “ocean economy”, which it predicts will double to $3 trillion by 2030 thanks to new technology.

More than 500,000 people in the UK work in industries connected to the sea. This adds more than £47 billion to the economy annually.

However, the UK must look for alternative ways, aside from oil and gas, fishing and shipping, to profit from the ocean or face missing out on rising revenues.

What was said:

Professor Edward Hill from the UK National Oceanography Centre, one of the authors of the study, told the BBC:

The ocean is critical to our economic future. Nine billion people will be looking to the ocean for more food. Yet we know so little of what’s down there. We invest a lot of money and enthusiasm for missions to space, but there’s nothing living out there. The sea bed is teeming with life. We really need a mission to planet ocean – it’s the last frontier.

According to the study:

Understanding, and more importantly maintaining the state of our oceans, is of great importance.

A spokesperson from the Ocean Cleanup, a foundation focused on riding the oceans of plastic waste, previously told Verdict:

According to the group, plastic waste in the oceans pose a physical threat to marine life, which can get entangled in the waste or ingest it.

Likewise, there it can also transport harmful pollutants to remote areas of the ocean, meaning the problem could be further reaching than it might seem.

Plastic waste in our waters can also have economic effects on the fishing, shipping and tourism industries.

Plastic production has been climbing since the 1950s and previous studies have estimated that as much as 10% of that ends up in the ocean.

Much of this plastic is unaccounted for. However, a recent study found plastics in bottled water. As much as 90% of water bottled by popular brands contains traces of microplastics.</s>The amount of waste plastic in the oceans could treble in the next 10 years unless urgent action is taken to curb the problem, a report has warned. It’s estimated that a frankly staggering 12 million tonnes of plastic rubbish is dumped into the oceans every single year.

Plastic waste, along with global warming and industrial pollution present the largest dangers to our oceans warns the Foresight Future of the Sea Report for the Government. The scientists behind the report warned of the danger of the oceans being “out of sight, out of mind”, with more known about the surface of Mars and the Moon than the deep sea bed.

Professor Ed Hill, executive director of the National Oceanography Centre, said it was time to change the attitude of what goes on below the surface as “out of sight, out of mind” and have more of a “Mission to Planet Ocean” approach. He said: “When people get to see what is in the ocean, and the Blue Planet series and so on have helped people to visualise it, and then I think their reaction is twofold, one is complete wonder at what is there, and in other cases complete horror at what we’re potentially doing to it. “It’s this sense of the unexplored world on our own planet, but also it’s important to us, we know less about the bottom of the sea than the moon or Mars, but nothing lives on the moon or Mars, but things live in our ocean and they’re vitally important to us.” Plastic pollution, which is set to treble between 2015 and 2025 without intervention, has a physical presence in the oceans, and can accumulate on the coasts or in particular areas of the sea. The spread of plastic pollution in our oceans has gotten so bad that in September last year scientists actually found lumps of polystyrene near the North Pole.

The ocean and its health is hugely important to the UK, with 95% of the country’s international trade travelling by sea, the internet carried by subsea cables, and oceans storing carbon dioxide and heat and producing oxygen and food. But there are also opportunities for the UK to cash in the global “ocean economy” – which is set to double to 3 trillion US dollars (£2 trillion) by 2030 – in areas where the country is a world leader, such as offshore wind.

There are major opportunities for robotics, artificial intelligence and automated technology to fill gaps in understanding of the oceans and how best to manage them, the experts said. For example, the submarine Boaty McBoatface has recently completed an unmanned mission under Antarctica’s ice shelf to assess whether the ice is melting from below due to warmer seas. Satellite technology can prevent illegal fishing and autonomous underwater sensors can check if carbon dioxide is escaping from subsea carbon storage facilities.</s>The amount of plastic ending up in the ocean is set to treble in a decade without action to curb the problem, a major report has warned.

Plastics is one of a number of environmental issues facing the world’s seas, along with rising sea levels and warming oceans, and metal and chemical pollution, the Foresight Future of the Sea Report for the Government said.

But there are also opportunities for the UK to cash in the global “ocean economy” – which is set to double to 3 trillion US dollars (£2 trillion) by 2030 – in areas where the country is a world leader, such as offshore wind.

The scientists behind the report warned of the danger of the oceans being “out of sight, out of mind”, with more known about the surface of Mars and the Moon than the deep sea bed.

But it is hugely important to the UK, with 95% of the country’s international trade travelling by sea, the internet carried by subsea cables, and oceans storing carbon dioxide and heat and producing oxygen and food.

There are major opportunities for robotics, artificial intelligence and automated technology to fill gaps in understanding of the oceans and how best to manage them, the experts said.

For example, the submarine Boaty McBoatface has recently completed an unmanned mission under Antarctica’s ice shelf to assess whether the ice is melting from below due to warmer seas.

Satellite technology can prevent illegal fishing and autonomous underwater sensors can check if carbon dioxide is escaping from subsea carbon storage facilities.

Work is also beginning on the impacts of plastic in the ocean, as experts are not sure what threats it poses, Professor Ian Boyd, chief scientific adviser for the Environment Department said.

Plastic pollution, which is set to treble between 2015 and 2025 without intervention, has a physical presence in the oceans, and can accumulate on the coasts or in particular areas of the sea.

But the toxic effects when they break down and end up inside marine organisms are not clear, he said.

But he added: “Even in absence of research, there is a precautionary principle to take here, which is we should minimise the amount of plastic, both macro-plastic and micro-plastic, going into the marine environment, in order to make sure that if there are toxic effects, those are being dealt with.”

Efforts to reduce plastic pollution should focus on preventing it entering the sea, introducing new biodegradable plastics and public awareness campaigns about marine protection.

Professor Ed Hill, executive director of the National Oceanography Centre, said it was time to change the attitude of what goes on below the surface as “out of sight, out of mind” and have more of a “Mission to Planet Ocean” approach.

He said: “When people get to see what is in the ocean, and the Blue Planet series and so on have helped people to visualise it, and then I think their reaction is twofold, one is complete wonder at what is there, and in other cases complete horror at what we’re potentially doing to it.

“It’s this sense of the unexplored world on our own planet, but also it’s important to us, we know less about the bottom of the sea than the moon or Mars, but nothing lives on the moon or Mars, but things live in our ocean and they’re vitally important to us.”

The oceans could provide new medicines, minerals and energy, he said.

The report said international collaboration and long-term planning was needed to protect the environment and enable the UK to make the most of the maritime economy.</s>The amount of plastic ending up in the ocean is set to treble in a decade without action to curb the problem, a major report has warned.

Plastics is one of a number of environmental issues facing the world's seas, along with rising sea levels and warming oceans, and metal and chemical pollution, the Foresight Future of the Sea Report for the Government said.

But there are also opportunities for the UK to cash in the global "ocean economy" - which is set to double to 3 trillion US dollars (£2 trillion) by 2030 - in areas where the country is a world leader, such as offshore wind.

The scientists behind the report warned of the danger of the oceans being "out of sight, out of mind", with more known about the surface of Mars and the Moon than the deep sea bed.

But it is hugely important to the UK, with 95% of the country's international trade travelling by sea, the internet carried by subsea cables, and oceans storing carbon dioxide and heat and producing oxygen and food.

There are major opportunities for robotics, artificial intelligence and automated technology to fill gaps in understanding of the oceans and how best to manage them, the experts said.

For example, the submarine Boaty McBoatface has recently completed an unmanned mission under Antarctica's ice shelf to assess whether the ice is melting from below due to warmer seas.

Satellite technology can prevent illegal fishing and autonomous underwater sensors can check if carbon dioxide is escaping from subsea carbon storage facilities.

Work is also beginning on the impacts of plastic in the ocean, as experts are not sure what threats it poses, Professor Ian Boyd, chief scientific adviser for the Environment Department said.

Plastic pollution, which is set to treble between 2015 and 2025 without intervention, has a physical presence in the oceans, and can accumulate on the coasts or in particular areas of the sea.</s>The amount of plastic in the oceans is expected to triple in just ten years, a government report warns today.

This key environmental problem risks being ‘out of sight, out of mind’ with more known about the surface of Mars and the Moon than the deep sea bed, it added.

The toll of plastic pollution in the sea could be 150million tonnes by 2025 – treble the 50million tonnes estimated in 2015.

The alert comes days after a Daily Mail investigation revealed how microplastics are contaminating the food we eat and the air we breathe. Fish fillet samples from eight shops showed worrying levels of the tiny particles. The research, which continues a decade of campaigning against plastic, prompted calls for action from the United Nations, ministers and health campaigners.

Scientists behind today’s report said the oceans are vital to Britain as 95 per cent of the UK’s international trade travels by water, while the internet is connected by underwater cables. Our oceans also store carbon dioxide and heat while producing oxygen and food, the Foresight Future of the Sea Report stressed.

It also examined opportunities for Britain offered by the global maritime economy. The value of this is set to double to £2trillion by 2030 in areas where the UK is a world leader, such as offshore wind power.

On the growing blight of plastic pollution, the document warned this will leave a physical presence, accumulating on coasts or in particular areas of ocean.

Professor Ian Boyd, chief scientific adviser for the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, said scientists have only just begun to examine the toxic effects of plastic breaking down and ending up inside marine organisms.

He added: ‘Even in the absence of research, there is a precautionary principle to take here. We should minimise the amount of plastic, both macro-plastic and micro-plastic, going into the marine environment in order to make sure that if there are toxic effects, those are being dealt with.’

The report also warned plastic litter on coasts can increase the risk of dangerous bacteria in the water, such as E.coli.

It said efforts to reduce plastic pollution should focus on stopping it entering the sea, developing new biodegradable materials and public awareness campaigns.

Professor Ed Hill, executive director of the National Oceanography Centre, said it was time to stop thinking of what goes on below the surface as ‘out of sight, out of mind’ and have more of a ‘Mission to Planet Ocean’ approach. He added: ‘When people see what is in the ocean, and the Blue Planet series and so on have helped, their reaction is twofold – wonder at what is there and horror at what we’re potentially doing to it.

‘We know less about the bottom of the sea than the Moon or Mars but nothing lives on the Moon or Mars ... things live in our ocean and they’re vital to us.’

Pointing to the potential of oceans, the report said they could provide new medicines, minerals and energy. There are also opportunities for robotics, artificial intelligence and automated technology to improve understanding of the oceans and how best to manage them, it added.</s>It identified the rise of plastic in oceans, along with rising temperatures and sea levels and chemical pollution, as some of the biggest problems the marine environment faces.

The report found that 70% of marine litter is non-degradable plastic which is projected to increase threefold between 2015 and 2025.

Experts suggested the government needed to be more strategic in its approach to the sea in order to successfully halt some of the long-term pollution issues.

"The major response is likely to lie in preventing it from entering the sea, introducing new biodegradable plastics, and potentially public awareness campaigns about marine protection," the report said. The UK economy relies heavily on oceans with 95% of trade traveling by sea. The report also suggested that the UK had opportunities to capitalize on the "ocean economy" (sea-based industries), which it says could double in size by 2030 to $3 trillion. "Both the opportunities and the challenges set out in this important report are global in scale and demand our urgent attention," Foreign and Commonwealth Office minister Tariq Ahmad said in a statement accompanying the report."We must keep pushing our scientific understanding of the oceans, harness new technologies, and support commercial innovation." Professor Ed Hill, Executive Director of the National Oceanography Centre, said in a statement that the report showed more research was required to understand the effect plastic pollution is having on marine organisms. "There is still more work to be done to achieve greater knowledge of the marine environment and the impacts of climate change. This will be critical for making a success of the future that this report anticipates," he said. The issue of plastic pollution has become a notorious environmental subject over the last several years as researchers and activists have revealed it accumulating in areas of the sea and along once pristine coastlines. Plastics and other detritus line the shore of the Thames Estuary on January 2 in Cliffe, England. Related: How our throwaway culture is turning the sea into a graveyard Plastic has been found to choke marine wildlife, and has also entered the ocean food chain -- exposing marine life to toxic chemicals that can end up in the food on our plates. Around 150 million tons of plastic are already floating in our oceans -- with an additional eight million tons entering the water each year, according to the World Economic Forum . It is estimated that by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in our oceans by weight if current rates of plastic dumping hold. In December, the UK was one of 193 countries that signed a UN resolution to eliminate plastic pollution in the sea. A month later the UK introduced what it described as one of the world's toughest bans on microbeads, outlawing the manufacture of products containing the harmful plastic particles</s>Plastic is a big topic right now.

With an estimated 12 million tons of the stuff entering our oceans every year and marine life being drastically affected, it’s hard not to worry.

It’s important to act to reduce our plastic consumption and waste, but it’s also important to understand where this waste comes from.

Here we look at the sources of plastic in our seas, and give you tips on how to avoid it getting there in the first place.

Rubbish left on beaches and near coasts can be swept up by tides or wind and wind up in the ocean.

As well as this, when plastic is being transported to landfills or to be burned, it’s at risk of blowing away into rivers and eventually seas.

Any litter that falls down drains or somehow gets into the drainage network will also go to the ocean.

Ironically, some of the plastic waste that hits our seas is from the plastic production industry.

Small bits of plastic called nurdles, resin pellets, or mermaid’s tears as they’re sometimes known, can escape from factories during production or are sometimes disposed of improperly.

According to Greenpeace, nearly three quarters of UK beaches were polluted with these nurdles.

Although I mentioned litter that may fall down drains, there is also a large amount of plastic in the sea that comes from things that are washed down our sinks or flushed down our loos.

Microplastics (like microbeads in face washes) are now banned in the UK, but make up some of the plastic in our oceans.

Things like cotton buds, face wipes, and sanitary products that potentially could be flushed may also contain plastic.

This isn’t a major source of plastic waste in our seas, but if ships go overboard or lose cargo, plastic can enter our oceans.

For example, in 1992, a shipping container full of rubber ducks fell into the sea, and they’re still being found to this day.

Since only 9% of plastic is recycled, there’s loads more we can do.

Something as small as getting a reusable water bottle and coffee cup can reduce your plastic consumption massively.

Plus, being mindful about how we get rid of the plastic we do use will help stop as much of it ending up in the sea.

MORE: The amount of plastic in our oceans will treble if we don’t act now

MORE: Inmates made to sort through their own waste to save the planet</s>The amount of deadly plastic in our oceans could treble if we do not act.

Plastics is one of a number of environmental issues facing the world’s seas, along with rising sea levels and warming oceans, and metal and chemical pollution, the Foresight Future of the Sea Report for the Government said.

Rubbish such as single-use plastics which take decades to decompose are a huge threat to marine life – and our planet.

The scientists behind the report warned of the danger of the oceans being ‘out of sight, out of mind’, with more known about the surface of Mars and the Moon than the deep sea bed.

Oceans are hugely important to the UK, with 95% of the country’s international trade travelling by sea, the internet carried by subsea cables, and oceans storing carbon dioxide and heat and producing oxygen and food.

There are major opportunities for robotics, artificial intelligence and automated technology to fill gaps in understanding of the oceans and how best to manage them, the experts said.

For example, the submarine Boaty McBoatface has recently completed an unmanned mission under Antarctica’s ice shelf to assess whether the ice is melting from below due to warmer seas.

Satellite technology can prevent illegal fishing and autonomous underwater sensors can check if carbon dioxide is escaping from subsea carbon storage facilities.

Work is also beginning on the impacts of plastic in the ocean, as experts are not sure what threats it poses, Professor Ian Boyd, chief scientific adviser for the Environment Department said.

Plastic pollution, which is set to treble between 2015 and 2025 without intervention, has a physical presence in the oceans, and can accumulate on the coasts or in particular areas of the sea.

But the toxic effects when they break down and end up inside marine organisms are not clear, he said.

But he added: ‘Even in absence of research, there is a precautionary principle to take here, which is we should minimise the amount of plastic, both macro-plastic and micro-plastic, going into the marine environment, in order to make sure that if there are toxic effects, those are being dealt with.’

Efforts to reduce plastic pollution should focus on preventing it entering the sea, introducing new biodegradable plastics and public awareness campaigns about marine protection.

Professor Ed Hill, executive director of the National Oceanography Centre, said it was time to change the attitude of what goes on below the surface as ‘out of sight, out of mind’ and have more of a ‘Mission to Planet Ocean’ approach.

He said: ‘When people get to see what is in the ocean, and the Blue Planet series and so on have helped people to visualise it, and then I think their reaction is twofold, one is complete wonder at what is there, and in other cases complete horror at what we’re potentially doing to it.

‘It’s this sense of the unexplored world on our own planet, but also it’s important to us, we know less about the bottom of the sea than the moon or Mars, but nothing lives on the moon or Mars, but things live in our ocean and they’re vitally important to us.’

The oceans could provide new medicines, minerals and energy, he said.

The report said international collaboration and long-term planning was needed to protect the environment and enable the UK to make the most of the maritime economy.

A shocking video taken by a diver off the coast of Bali shows the grotesque scale of plastic pollution in the world’s oceans.

Diver Rich Horner posted the clip, recorded at a dive site called Manta Point, on his social media with the caption: ‘Plastic bags, plastic bottles, plastic cups, plastic sheets, plastic buckets, plastic sachets, plastic straws, plastic baskets, plastic bags, more plastic bags, plastic, plastic. So much plastic!’</s>Baku. 28 September. REPORT.AZ/ Excess liquidity in the amount of 6,2 trillion dollars are circulated in the global financial economy. Report informs referring to "Vestifinance.ru such calculation was made by Stephen Rach, senior fellow at Yale University who served for a long time as chairman of Morgan Stanley Asia.

In his article titled "Project Syndicate" referring to Bank for International Settlements (BIS) Stephen Rach wrote that after 2018 financial crisis combined asset holdings of central banks of USA , eurozone and Japan increased by $8.3 trillion expanding from $4.6 trillion to $12.9 trillion in 2017. Nevertheless, over this period nominal GDP in these regions increased by just $2.1 trillion.

As a result, $6.2 trillion excess liquidity was injected in global financial markets. This excess liquidity was not absorbed by the real economies instead it has been circulating in global financial markets.

For this reason, central banks’ monetary expansion led to growth of G7 economies at just a 1.8% over the 2010-2017. Although monetary expansion decision helped to recover economies that is short of the 3.2% average rebound recorded during the two recoveries of the 1980s and the 1990s.

Stephen Rach wrote that in case central banks do not reach their inflation targets they will start for ‘normalization” in other words they will rush to decrease their balances.

US Federal Reserve’s balance sheet stands at $4.5 trillion. ECB’s balance sheet is at €4.23 trillion or $5 trillion, Central Bank of Japan ‘s balance sheet amounts to $5.07 trillion.

Report informs central banks own over 30% of the global bonds of $54 trillion, or roughly $18 trillion.
A study commissioned by the UK government concludes marine plastic debris may treble within ten years, and predicts the "ocean economy" will double to US$3 trillion (£2 trillion) by 2030.