Τα πλαστικά αρρωσταίνουν τους κοραλλιογενείς υφάλους

For coral reefs, the threat of climate change and bleaching are bad enough. An international research group led by Cornell University has found that plastic trash -- ubiquitous throughout the world's oceans -- intensifies disease for coral, adding to reef peril, according to a new study in the journal Science.

"Plastic debris acts like a marine motorhome for microbes," said the study's lead author, Joleah Lamb, a postdoctoral research fellow at Cornell. She began collecting this data as a doctoral candidate at James Cook University in Australia.

"Plastics make ideal vessels for colonizing microscopic organisms that could trigger disease if they come into contact with corals," Lamb said. "Plastic items -- commonly made of polypropylene, such as bottle caps and toothbrushes -- have been shown to become heavily inhabited by bacteria. This is associated with the globally devastating group of coral diseases known as white syndromes."