{"id":1039291,"date":"2020-10-20T01:14:22","date_gmt":"2020-10-20T08:14:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?post_type=blog&#038;p=1039291"},"modified":"2020-10-20T13:14:50","modified_gmt":"2020-10-20T20:14:50","slug":"ocean-plastics","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-living-atlas\/natural-resources\/ocean-plastics","title":{"rendered":"Ocean Plastics &#8211; &#8220;You can&#8217;t manage what you can&#8217;t measure&#8221;"},"author":6701,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_searchwp_excluded":""},"categories":[430042,22771],"tags":[39021,757201,208422,757191,24811],"industry":[],"product":[36581,380802],"class_list":["post-1039291","blog","type-blog","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-education","category-natural-resources","tag-epa","tag-microplastics","tag-ocean","tag-plastics","tag-pollution","product-arcgis-living-atlas","product-arcgis-storymaps"],"acf":{"short_description":"Since the 1950s, it is estimated that 8.3 billion tons of plastics have been produced. Today only 9% of that plastic is recycled....","flexible_content":[{"acf_fc_layout":"quote","author_name":"William Robberson","author_profession_organization":"Ocean P3 Systems","image":false,"text":"\u201cPlastic pollution in the world's oceans can be thought of as the world\u2019s largest continuous oil spill, only in solid droplet form.\u201d "},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":1039411,"id":1039411,"title":"Cigarette lighters Art - Ocean Plastics","filename":"Cigarette-lighters-from-Midways-albatross-nests-Susan-Scott.jpg","filesize":762481,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Cigarette-lighters-from-Midways-albatross-nests-Susan-Scott.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-living-atlas\/natural-resources\/ocean-plastics\/cigarette-lighters-from-midways-albatross-nests-susan-scott","alt":"Cigarette lighters Art - Ocean Plastics","author":"6701","description":"Cigarette lighters from Midways albatross nests (Credit: Susan Scott)","caption":"Cigarette lighters from Midways albatross nests (Credit: Susan Scott)","name":"cigarette-lighters-from-midways-albatross-nests-susan-scott","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":1039291,"date":"2020-10-16 13:02:07","modified":"2020-10-16 13:06:30","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1500,"height":1857,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Cigarette-lighters-from-Midways-albatross-nests-Susan-Scott-213x200.jpg","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Cigarette-lighters-from-Midways-albatross-nests-Susan-Scott.jpg","medium-width":211,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Cigarette-lighters-from-Midways-albatross-nests-Susan-Scott.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":951,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Cigarette-lighters-from-Midways-albatross-nests-Susan-Scott.jpg","large-width":872,"large-height":1080,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Cigarette-lighters-from-Midways-albatross-nests-Susan-Scott-1241x1536.jpg","1536x1536-width":1241,"1536x1536-height":1536,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Cigarette-lighters-from-Midways-albatross-nests-Susan-Scott.jpg","2048x2048-width":1500,"2048x2048-height":1857,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Cigarette-lighters-from-Midways-albatross-nests-Susan-Scott-376x465.jpg","card_image-width":376,"card_image-height":465,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Cigarette-lighters-from-Midways-albatross-nests-Susan-Scott-872x1080.jpg","wide_image-width":872,"wide_image-height":1080}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<p>Thanks to the integration of GIS with the sciences of remote and in-situ observation and measurement, we have a stronger understanding of ocean plastic pollution &#8211; its major sources, movement, impacts and ultimate destinations.<\/p>\n<p>Recently, Environmental Emergency Response experts from USEPA and <a href=\"https:\/\/oceanp3systems.com\/\">Ocean P3 Systems<\/a> collaborated with Esri in development of a <a href=\"https:\/\/arcg.is\/GWPPu\">story map<\/a> to better inform individuals and communities about the global ocean plastics problem and to provide options for taking action.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":1039331,"id":1039331,"title":"Ocean Plastics Scroll","filename":"Story_map_scroll_v4.gif","filesize":669561,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Story_map_scroll_v4.gif","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-living-atlas\/natural-resources\/ocean-plastics\/story_map_scroll_v4","alt":"Ocean Plastics","author":"6701","description":"Ocean Plastics Story Map","caption":"Ocean Plastics Story Map","name":"story_map_scroll_v4","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":1039291,"date":"2020-10-16 12:46:25","modified":"2020-10-16 12:47:17","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/gif","type":"image","subtype":"gif","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":640,"height":360,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Story_map_scroll_v4-213x200.gif","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Story_map_scroll_v4.gif","medium-width":464,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Story_map_scroll_v4.gif","medium_large-width":640,"medium_large-height":360,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Story_map_scroll_v4.gif","large-width":640,"large-height":360,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Story_map_scroll_v4.gif","1536x1536-width":640,"1536x1536-height":360,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Story_map_scroll_v4.gif","2048x2048-width":640,"2048x2048-height":360,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Story_map_scroll_v4.gif","card_image-width":640,"card_image-height":360,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Story_map_scroll_v4.gif","wide_image-width":640,"wide_image-height":360}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":"https:\/\/arcg.is\/GWPPu"},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<p>The story map displays the role of GIS in understanding and addressing ocean plastics pollution and demonstrates that we know enough to act NOW. Although the world lacks the scientific data to understand the full extent of the problem, we do know that plastic does not have a place in the natural environment and that we have the capabilities to correct it. Actions are needed to prevent the loss of plastics to the environment, and we need ways to measure the effectiveness of solutions.<\/p>\n<p>Please use this story map to promote the actions needed to stop plastic waste loss to the environment. Action is required by individuals, demanding support from their local, state and federal representatives. The need for accountability extends from manufacturer and post-consumer use to responsible reuse\/end of life.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":1039361,"id":1039361,"title":"Ocean_Plastic_Islands","filename":"Ocean_Plastic_Islands.jpg","filesize":676802,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Ocean_Plastic_Islands.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-living-atlas\/natural-resources\/ocean-plastics\/ocean_plastic_islands","alt":"Ocean Plastic Accumulation","author":"6701","description":"Ocean Plastic Accumulation","caption":"Ocean Plastic Accumulation","name":"ocean_plastic_islands","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":1039291,"date":"2020-10-16 12:54:05","modified":"2020-10-16 12:54:52","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":2431,"height":1622,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Ocean_Plastic_Islands-213x200.jpg","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Ocean_Plastic_Islands.jpg","medium-width":391,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Ocean_Plastic_Islands.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":512,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Ocean_Plastic_Islands.jpg","large-width":1619,"large-height":1080,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Ocean_Plastic_Islands-1536x1025.jpg","1536x1536-width":1536,"1536x1536-height":1025,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Ocean_Plastic_Islands-2048x1366.jpg","2048x2048-width":2048,"2048x2048-height":1366,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Ocean_Plastic_Islands-697x465.jpg","card_image-width":697,"card_image-height":465,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Ocean_Plastic_Islands-1619x1080.jpg","wide_image-width":1619,"wide_image-height":1080}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<p>Ocean P3 Systems and EPA plan to present this story map and the journey to creating it at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/en-us\/about\/events\/owc-forum\/overview\">Esri Ocean, Weather, and Climate GIS Forum<\/a> in early November. Please join us for the event.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/opportunity.census.gov\/\">The Opportunity Project<\/a> was launched in March 2016 as a White House initiative to catalyze new technologies that use federal and local data to empower communities with information about critical resources, and is now a widely used model for collaborative problem solving through data, technology, and user centered design.<\/p>\n<p>This story map is an engaging digital tool that complements existing citizen science plastics data. It was created in response to a <a href=\"https:\/\/opportunity.census.gov\/assets\/files\/2020-natural-environment.pdf\">challenge<\/a> presented by The Opportunity Project, and presents survey information on the amount of plastic on beaches, the sources of plastic pollution, the impacts of plastic on the environment and actions that can be taken to alleviate the problem, offering solutions to one of our Planet\u2019s toughest challenges.<\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"image","image":{"ID":1039351,"id":1039351,"title":"FIsh_Ocean_Plastic","filename":"FIsh_Ocean_Plastic.jpg","filesize":194905,"url":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/FIsh_Ocean_Plastic.jpg","link":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/arcgis-living-atlas\/natural-resources\/ocean-plastics\/fish_ocean_plastic","alt":"Fish Ocean Plastic","author":"6701","description":"Fish Ocean Plastic","caption":"Ocean Plastics Impact Ecosystems","name":"fish_ocean_plastic","status":"inherit","uploaded_to":1039291,"date":"2020-10-16 12:50:55","modified":"2020-10-16 12:56:41","menu_order":0,"mime_type":"image\/jpeg","type":"image","subtype":"jpeg","icon":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/wp-includes\/images\/media\/default.png","width":1352,"height":900,"sizes":{"thumbnail":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/FIsh_Ocean_Plastic-213x200.jpg","thumbnail-width":213,"thumbnail-height":200,"medium":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/FIsh_Ocean_Plastic.jpg","medium-width":392,"medium-height":261,"medium_large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/FIsh_Ocean_Plastic.jpg","medium_large-width":768,"medium_large-height":511,"large":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/FIsh_Ocean_Plastic.jpg","large-width":1352,"large-height":900,"1536x1536":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/FIsh_Ocean_Plastic.jpg","1536x1536-width":1352,"1536x1536-height":900,"2048x2048":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/FIsh_Ocean_Plastic.jpg","2048x2048-width":1352,"2048x2048-height":900,"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/FIsh_Ocean_Plastic-699x465.jpg","card_image-width":699,"card_image-height":465,"wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/FIsh_Ocean_Plastic.jpg","wide_image-width":1352,"wide_image-height":900}},"image_position":"center","orientation":"horizontal","hyperlink":""},{"acf_fc_layout":"content","content":"<p>This story map is only one of an ever-growing collection of ready-to-use apps available in <a href=\"https:\/\/livingatlas.arcgis.com\/en\/home\/\">ArcGIS Living Atlas<\/a> and in <a href=\"https:\/\/livingatlas.arcgis.com\/policy\/overview\/\">Esri Maps for Public Policy.<\/a><\/p>\n"},{"acf_fc_layout":"quote","author_name":"USEPA","author_profession_organization":"","image":false,"text":"We hypothesize that when micro-plastic particles are ingested as food by marine organisms, sorbed contaminants bioaccumulate and biomagnify within and up the food web, resulting in impacts to the ecosystem and potentially to public health"}],"authors":[{"ID":6701,"user_firstname":"Keith","user_lastname":"VanGraafeiland","nickname":"Keith VanGraafeiland","user_nicename":"kvangraafeiland","display_name":"Keith VanGraafeiland","user_email":"KVanGraafeiland@esri.com","user_url":"https:\/\/oceans-esrioceans.hub.arcgis.com\/","user_registered":"2018-03-02 00:18:44","user_description":"Keith VanGraafeiland is a Senior Principal GIS Engineer at Esri and Ocean Content Lead for the ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World. With over 18 years of experience, Keith specializes in marine and environmental GIS, remote sensing, and advanced data science. Keith\u2019s work bridges oceanography and data science, using machine learning and analytics to turn complex data into actionable insights for the GIS community.","user_avatar":"<img data-del=\"avatar\" src='https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2026\/02\/KeithVanGraafeiland-7-465x465.jpg' class='avatar pp-user-avatar avatar-96 photo ' height='96' width='96'\/>"},{"ID":7121,"user_firstname":"Diana","user_lastname":"Lavery","nickname":"Diana Lavery","user_nicename":"dianaclavery_global","display_name":"Diana Lavery","user_email":"DLavery@esri.com","user_url":"","user_registered":"2018-03-02 00:19:20","user_description":"(she\/her\/hers) Diana loves working with data. She has over 15 years experience as a practitioner of demography, sociology, economics, policy analysis, and GIS. Diana holds a BA in quantitative economics and an MA in applied demography. She is a senior GIS engineer on ArcGIS Living Atlas of the World's Policy Maps team. Diana enjoys strong coffee and clean datasets, usually simultaneously.","user_avatar":"<img data-del=\"avatar\" src='https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2025\/04\/diana-lavery-3z7a9428-213x200.jpg' class='avatar pp-user-avatar avatar-96 photo ' height='96' width='96'\/>"}],"related_articles":[{"ID":874951,"post_author":"6701","post_date":"2020-06-03 21:20:33","post_date_gmt":"2020-06-04 04:20:33","post_content":"","post_title":"Coastal Flooding - rising seas, more flooding","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"coastal-flooding-rising-seas-more-flooding","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2020-06-05 06:45:36","post_modified_gmt":"2020-06-05 13:45:36","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/?post_type=blog&#038;p=874951","menu_order":0,"post_type":"blog","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"1","filter":"raw"},{"ID":73701,"post_author":"7621","post_date":"2016-10-07 09:05:05","post_date_gmt":"2016-10-07 09:05:05","post_content":"","post_title":"MarineCadastre.gov Has the Living Atlas Swimming in Ocean Data","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"marinecadastre-gov-has-the-living-atlas-swimming-in-ocean-data","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2018-08-05 21:07:49","post_modified_gmt":"2018-08-06 04:07:49","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/product\/uncategorized\/marinecadastre-gov-has-the-living-atlas-swimming-in-ocean-data\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"blog","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"},{"ID":66651,"post_author":"4331","post_date":"2015-03-18 11:00:40","post_date_gmt":"2015-03-18 11:00:40","post_content":"","post_title":"New Learn ArcGIS Lesson: No Dumping - Drains to Ocean","post_excerpt":"","post_status":"publish","comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","post_password":"","post_name":"new-learn-arcgis-lesson-no-dumping-drains-to-ocean","to_ping":"","pinged":"","post_modified":"2018-03-26 21:04:41","post_modified_gmt":"2018-03-26 21:04:41","post_content_filtered":"","post_parent":0,"guid":"http:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/products\/product\/uncategorized\/new-learn-arcgis-lesson-no-dumping-drains-to-ocean\/","menu_order":0,"post_type":"blog","post_mime_type":"","comment_count":"0","filter":"raw"}],"card_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Blog_Card_Ocean_Plastics.jpg","wide_image":"https:\/\/www.esri.com\/arcgis-blog\/app\/uploads\/2020\/10\/Blog_Card_Wide_Ocean_Plastics2.jpg"},"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v25.9 (Yoast SEO v25.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Ocean Plastics - &quot;You can&#039;t manage what you can&#039;t measure&quot;<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Since the 1950s, it is estimated that 8.3 billion tons of plastics have been produced. 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