Satellite images are used to detect small pieces of plastic pollution floating in the ocean

High-resolution images taken by satellites in orbit around Earth can detect swathes of plastic pollution in the world's oceans, a study has found for the first time. The European Space Agency's Sentinel-2 satellites are able to spot floating plastics and tell them apart from other materials such as seaweed and driftwood. Astronomers say the imaging technique can automatically spot the difference with 86 per cent accuracy. In one location where the method was tested, Canada's Gulf Islands, the method was 100 per cent accurate. Conservationists are calling for similar technology to be used in the fight to clean up the world of humanity's litter.