The island farthest from human beings: uninhabited but filled with garbage, which caused even more headaches for experts after cleaning it up

Henderson Island is a little-known uninhabited island. However, in 2015, due to the plastic waste problem, this most remote island in the world was hotly discussed for two years and attracted the attention of countless people. . But just as no one cared about it before 2015, new news replaced it, and it quickly disappeared from everyone's eyes.

The picture is used by the photographer Adrian Turner with the permission of the Donkey Bank. Use without the permission of the photographer is prohibited

Henderson Island is located in the center of the South Pacific and belongs to Pitke, 190 kilometers away. The Isle of England is a British overseas territory. This island is more than 5,000 kilometers away from the nearest land. It is an island more remote in the world than the North and South Pole. However, there were traces of Polynesians living here more than a thousand years ago, but around the 15th century it became an island. An uninhabited island, no one lives here so far.

Pitcairn Island, with a population of just over 40, has direct jurisdiction over Henderson Island, but most of the time no one is willing to brave the high tide and take a boat to this deserted island. Only the occasional scientific expedition experts and tourists who came after hearing the news after it became popular arrived. The rest of the time, except for the flying seabirds, no strangers visited.

Logically speaking, such an isolated island far away from human society is the least likely to be contaminated. However, based on the average area of ??the island, this island has the most garbage and is the dirtiest island in the world. However, in 1988, it was listed as a World Heritage Site due to its unique natural geographical environment and well-preserved ecology. Its pollution has really slapped mankind in the face.

In fact, the pollution on Henderson Island existed as early as 2015. In 2009, our photographer Adrian Turner visited the Pitcairn Islands and discovered a lot of trash on the beach. The garbage was mainly composed of discarded fishing nets, foam, and plastic bottles, but the amount was not as terrifying as what was later discovered.

Although there is garbage on the beach at this time, it is still relatively clean overall. The small coconut crabs on the island live in coconut shells. When encountering humans, they drag their "houses" through the grass quickly, but the seabirds on the shore are calm and allow tourists to take pictures. During this period, Henderson Island had less than 500 visitors per year, and almost no one noticed its existence.

In 2015, experts collected 55,000 pieces of trash on Henderson Island and estimated that 180,000 tons of plastic still exist on the island. As the news came to light, this ecological paper spread throughout Europe, America, and Asia, causing a worldwide uproar. That year, ordinary people noticed that the marine ecological environment was in danger, and the 14 million tons of plastic waste on the seabed was even more shocking.

After the news broke, Henderson Island went viral, albeit in a "hurt" way. As more and more scientific expedition teams and public welfare organizations arrive, people find that plastic waste has endangered the ecological environment of the island. For example, five to six million hermit crabs die every year due to plastic, and sea turtles and sea turtles who accidentally eat plastic Bird loss is not uncommon either.

It is estimated that there are 38 million pieces of garbage on Henderson Island***, including about 10 tons of plastic waste. This garbage mainly drifts here through waves, and some of it has been buried 10 centimeters deep under the sand. In addition, Henderson Island is a coral island surrounded by reefs and large ships cannot dock, so it is extremely troublesome to clean up and transport the garbage.

Fortunately, with the promotion of some scientific research and charity teams, the garbage on Henderson Island has been basically cleaned up, and the beautiful beaches of the past have been restored. However, public welfare maintenance alone will not play a fundamental role in cleaning up Henderson Island, where more than 3,000 pieces of garbage wash ashore every day. As long as maintenance is lost, it will not take three years to return to its previous state.

The real solution is for all mankind to put an end to plastic waste and prohibit dumping into the ocean. But is it possible? At least not for the next century. Science is science, the environment is the environment, and the primary consideration of human beings is interests. Just like today, people have forgotten the existence of this island.