In the world's deepest undersea chasm, more than 6.7 miles from the Pacific Ocean's surface, Dawn Wright embarked on a mission in a never-before-seen area of the Challenger Deep.
But she soon discovered that something had already beaten her there. In a place no human had ever been, there buried in the sediment, was a single beer bottle.
"This discarded trash had managed to reach an unsullied part of our world before we actually did — a symbol of how deeply and irrevocably humans are affecting the natural world," Wright wrote of the alarming discovery in a Los Angeles Times op-ed.
Though shocking, the discovery is unfortunately unsurprising. Plastic bags and candy wrappers have already been found to litter the floor of the Mariana Trench. Even at the top of the world, Mount Everest has been dubbed "the world's highest garbage dump" thanks to all the frozen trash littering the mountain's highest camp.
While these discoveries are disheartening, simple lifestyle changes such as switching to reusable bags and water bottles can help decrease the number of single-use plastics that are sent to landfills — or end up at the bottom of the ocean.
Lessening the sheer amount of plastic and other garbage entering landfills also helps prevent microplastics and other toxic chemicals from leaching into soil and local water sources, which plants, animals, and humans alike rely on for sustenance and drinking water.
Studies on microplastics have found that their presence in soil significantly hinders plant growth in both speed and ability to fruit. While the effects of microplastics on humans still remains largely a mystery, early studies have shown that higher numbers of microplastics in the human body correlate with a host of health effects, including dementia and Alzheimer's, heart disease, kidney disease, liver disease, fertility issues, and cancer.
While Wright's deep sea voyage and discovery of the beer bottle occurred in summer 2022, news of the discovery continues to shock the internet.
A Reddit post about the find on r/interestingasf*** left many users in shock of humankind's influence on the world.
🗣️ Do you think America has a plastic waste problem?
🔘 Definitely 👍
🔘 Only in some areas 🫤
🔘 Not really 👎
🔘 I'm not sure 🤷
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
"F****** humans littering up our planet without regard," one user wrote.
Another commented, "What a disgusting and embarrassing display of our impact on this planet."
"Just further proves humanity polluted every corner of this planet," someone else said.
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