無法直視! 南太平洋一島嶼竟充斥着3700萬件垃圾!

An uninhabited island in the South Pacific is littered with the highest density of plastic waste anywhere in the world, according to a study.

一項研究指出，在南太平洋一座荒蕪人煙的小島上，充斥着全球最高密度的塑料垃圾。

Henderson Island, part of the UK's Pitcairn Islands group, has an estimated 37.7 million pieces of debris on its beaches.

亨德森島是英屬皮特凱恩羣島的一部分，其海灘上的塑料垃圾預估高達3770萬件。

The island is near the centre of an ocean current, meaning it collects much rubbish from boats and South America.

這個小島靠近一個洋流中心，因此來自捕魚船丟棄的廢品和南美洲的塑料垃圾極易被衝至岸上。

The joint Australian and British study said the rubbish amounted to 671 items per square metre and a total of 17 tonnes.

由澳大利亞和英國聯合開展的這項研究發現，該島每平方米的塑料垃圾多達671件，垃圾總量達17噸。

"A lot of the items on Henderson Island are what we wrongly refer to as disposable or single-use," said Dr Jennifer Lavers from the University of Tasmania.

澳大利亞塔斯馬尼亞大學的詹妮弗·萊弗斯教授稱：“亨德森島的很多東西都被我們錯誤的稱爲垃圾或者一次性物品。”

The study, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, described how remote islands act as a "sink" for the world's rubbish.

這項發表在美國《國家科學院學報》上的報告，描述了這樣一個偏遠的島嶼是如何變成全世界的“垃圾場”的。

In addition to fishing items, Henderson Island was strewn with everyday things including toothbrushes, cigarette lighters and razors.

除了漁具外，亨德森島還滿是牙刷、菸頭和剃鬚刀等日常生活用品。

"Land crabs are making their homes inside bottle caps, containers and jars," Dr Lavers told the BBC. "At first it looks a little bit cute, but it's not. This plastic is old, it's sharp, it's brittle and toxic."

萊弗斯教授在接受BBC採訪時表示：“寄居蟹都在瓶蓋、箱子和罐子裏安家。起初你可能覺得這很可愛，事實並非如此。這些塑料製品陳舊、鋒利，它們易碎且有毒。”

The condition of the island highlighted how plastic debris has affected the environment on a global scale, Dr Lavers said.

萊弗斯教授稱，這個小島的情況，突顯了塑料垃圾在如何影響着全球範圍內的環境。

"Almost every island in the world and almost every species in the ocean is now being shown to be impacted one way or another by our waste," she said. "There's not really any one person or any one country that gets a free pass on this."

她說道：“結果顯示，幾乎世界上的每座小島，海洋中的每個物種，都在被這些垃圾以某種形式影響着。沒有任何一個人、任何一個國家能夠倖免。”