"Ostia, Italy — The Mediterranean Sea may evoke images of luxurious beach holidays, scrumptious seafood meals and endless sandy beaches, but this body of water is increasingly toxic.
More than 87% of the Mediterranean Sea, which extends from the Atlantic Ocean to Africa, Europe and Asia, is polluted with microplastics and other pollutants including toxic metals and industrial chemicals, according to a July 2024 report by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF).
Globally, water pollution is tied to 1.4 million premature deaths, which spells trouble for the 150 million people who live along the Mediterranean coastline, and the 270 million tourists who are drawn to these waters every single year.
The Mediterranean Sea laps up against 46,000 kilometers (nearly 29,000 miles) of coastline in 22 countries, many with different environmental standards and practices.
Egypt, which contributes 0.25 million tons of plastic that ends up in the Mediterranean, is the worst offender, the group says, followed by Turkey, which contributes 0.11 million tons and Italy, which contributes 0.04 million tons of plastic to the polluted sea – all part of the 1.9 million plastic fragments per square meter."
Barbie Latza Nadeau reports for CNN July 20, 2024.
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