Images reveal impact of pollution as Trump brings back plastic straws

There are 171 trillion pieces of plastic in the ocean, a significant increase from the 16 trillion pieces found in 2015 .

Each year , humanity churns out an estimated 359 million tonnes of plastic to make bags, straws, packaging, and all the conveniences of modern life.

The worst hotspots for plastic are coastal areas, particularly those near rivers that emit large quantities of plastic.

Dr Samantha Garrard , a marine biologist at the Plymouth Marine Laboratory , said: 'The return of the straw is a big step back'.

30% of turtles and 71% of seabirds have been found with plastic material in their stomachs.

One million birds and 100,000 other types of marine animals die from ingesting plastic on an annual basis.

Divers discovered a plastic bag 36,000 ft ( 10,898 m) below the surface of the Pacific in the Mariana Trench , the world's deepest ocean trench.

A piece of plastic was found over 620 miles ( 1,000 km ) from the nearest coast - that's further than the length of France .

The Global Oceanographic Data Center (Godac ) of the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology (Jamstec) launched for public use in March 2017 .

From all of these different dives, 3,425 man-made debris items were counted.