Coral reefs are at risk of disease-carrying microbes using plastic to spread and colonise, a new study has found.
The risk of coral being infected with a disease known as White Syndrome increases from 4 per cent to 89 per cent when it makes contact with oceanic plastic pollution, according to a paper from the journal Science.
Asia-Pacific hosts 9 of the 10 worst plastic polluters in the world, researchers believe due to poor waste management.