The Deep Sea in Crisis: How Human Pollution Is Affecting the Ocean’s Darkest Depths

The Mariana Trench, the deepest known point on Earth, represents a realm so extreme that it was long assumed to be untouched by human activity. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, this immense oceanic trench plunges nearly 11,000 meters below sea level, where darkness is absolute and pressure is hundreds of times greater than at the surface.

For decades, scientists believed that such an environment was too remote and hostile for everyday human pollution to reach in any significant way.