IB ESS SL 4.4.2 Plastic Debris Accumulation Questions
Explain how plastic debris accumulates and affects aquatic food webs.
- Syllabus
- First assessment 2026
- Course
- ESS SL
- Level
- SL
Exam points
- identify why plastic debris is a serious pollutant, including persistence, widespread use, entanglement, ingestion, microplastics and toxic chemical transfer through food webs
- explain why plastic consumption and ocean deposition may show no simple correlation by considering policy enforcement, waste disposal, recycling, river discharge, coastal population and data limitations
- apply and evaluate the significance and management of plastic debris using country or aquatic-system evidence, balancing ecological and human impacts against waste-management costs and implementation capacity
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IB ESS SL 4.4.2 Plastic Debris Accumulation Questions question 1
Table:Consumption and disposal of plastic waste for India and selected Pacific Rim countries
Many countries produce large amounts of solid domestic waste. Pacific Ocean currents concentrate and trap solid domestic waste from the Pacific Rim countries and have created the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) in the North Pacific Gyre (Figure: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch).
* estimated for 2017 based on 10 % growth http://www.pardos-marketing.com]
Question (a)
(a)
Identify one reason why most plastics may be considered more serious pollutants than other forms of solid domestic waste.
[ 1 ]
Question (b)
(b)
Explain why the data in Table: Consumption and disposal of plastic waste for India and selected Pacific Rim countries show no correlation between plastic consumption and plastic waste deposited in ocean for the countries listed.
[ 4 ]
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