The Mediterranean sits between three continents and touches the lives of more than 500 million people along its shores. Marine biologists count up to 18 percent of all known sea species inside this single body of water. Tourism, fishing and shipping all lean on the same crowded waters. That richness now sits beside a heavy burden of waste. Researchers estimate that 730 tonnes of plastic enter the sea every day, most of it carried down by rivers.
Single-use items alone account for more than 60 percent of the rubbish found on Mediterranean beaches. The region is also warming about 20 percent faster than the global average, which stresses fish stocks and coastal towns. Twenty-one countries have therefore agreed to work together on cleaner water and better waste rules. Local groups say cleaner rivers would cut the flow at its source. Their task is unusual because currents and pollution ignore national borders completely.