The story of a voyage bearing witness to plastic pollution in the oceans, Junk Raft(筏子），based on facts, is an exciting, thought-provoking book. Science educator and researcher Marcus Eriksen's navigational feat(航海壮举）is holding readers' attention and interest--88 days crossing some 4,000 kilometers of open ocean, on a raft made of 15,000 plastic bottles wrapped in fishing nets. But it is more. Two equally fascinating storylines are made up through the written records of a series of events: Eriksen's evolution from soldier to research director of the environmental non-profit 5 Gyres Institute, and the journey we all need to take towards a more sustainable use of plastics.
Around 15%of all the litter in our oceans in plastic, and a calculated 5 million tonnes of plastic waste enter the seas annually. Unavoidably, it is now present at the sea surface and on shorelines, in Arctic seas and on the sea bed at depths of 3,500 metres. Around 700 sea species are known to come into contact with pieces of waste plastic material-and can be harmed or killed by taking in it or becoming twisted and caught in it. There are also concerns about plastics accumulating in commercially important species of fish and shellfish. The waters and shores of Hawaii are particularly heavily pottuted, giving a rationale(理由）for Eriksen's destination.
This environmental challenge has attracted increasing scientific, media and societal attention in recent years. yet few accounts have conveyed the\wider picture accessibly Junk Raft does just this—while exposing our frustratingly slow progress on a issue of major importance to fisheries, tourism and, finally, the health of the world's oceans.
Eriksen lists the issues associated with the accumulation of sea plastic: the causes, consequences and potential solutions. Our single-use culture is the main offender. For more than 60 years, society and industry have been producing more and more throwaway items particularly packaging. Some solutions lie in better acquisition of materials at the end of their lives, in a circular economy.
Eriksen takes the crisis into consideration together with a timeline of scientific discovery and advancement since the 1970s.Alongside this he gives a very personal, somewhat North American, view the troubles of industry and policy involvement the side plots and blind alleys, and the tactics(战术） of avoidance and disturbance he has so often experienced. There are parallels, he shows, with the troubles that faced those who fought to raise awareness around the health impacts of smoking.
Throughout, we are regularly brought back to the realities of life aboard the raft, with Eriksen's fellow sailor Joel Paschal. This is both fascinating and eventful, from their slow, occasionally very dangerous progress to the moments when it seems the raft will break up into pieces, littering the ocean with the waste material Eriksen is trying so hard to fight against. Eriksen's wider journey also takes him onto dry land, where he touches on the accumulation of land plastic. He learns about the consumption of plastic bags by camels-a serious issue in some desert countries.
It can be difficult to judge the direct impacts of projects such as Eriksen's, but he rightly notes the Importance of raising awareness of the risks of disposable plastic. Eriksen has also done much to emphasize the environmental consequences of polymer microbeads(聚合物微粒）in the US Great Lakes, providing key evidence that led to the introduction of a law.
Junk Raft is filled with adventure, romance, a sense of optimism and important truths that will be needed by the thousands of groups. It serves as a reflection of the choices and journeys that each of us makes and helps us understand how plastic in the oceans is closely connected with the future of human life.
