Giving Compass' Take:

• Scientists estimate that more than five trillion plastic particles are floating in the oceans around the world, and could be impacting the way that oceans absorb carbon dioxide. 

• What are you doing to reduce plastic waste in your community? 

• Learn about why reducing plastic isn't enough to save the ocean. 

Trillions of pieces of plastic, many of which will last for thousands of years, are floating in the oceans, potentially damaging human health, killing birds and fish, and even adding to global warming.

From bottles and shopping bags to microbeads in cosmetics and the tiny shreds that rub off the soles of our shoes as we walk, vast amounts of plastics find their way into rivers, lakes and the sea.

Scientists estimate that more than 5 trillion plastic particles are floating in oceans around the world - an amount that has accumulated since global mass production of plastics started in the 1950s.

'One of the potential impacts we are investigating is their impact on the exchange of carbon dioxide at the sea surface,' said Dr Luisa Galgani, from the University of Siena in Italy.

'So far, we know that the ocean is absorbing carbon dioxide, but what if the large-scale influx of new micro-materials impacts the most critical layer in this exchange, modifying the capacity of the ocean to act as a carbon dioxide sink?'

Read the full article about the plastic problem threatening the environment by Rex Merrifield at The Naked Scientists.