The share of seabird species found to be ingesting plastic rose to an estimated 90 percent in 2015, with the scientists studying the issue predicting an increase to 99 percent of species found with ingested plastic by 2050.17 Part of the reason we worry about plastics is that it seems to take so long for them to degrade. In 2018, the United Nations Environment Programme estimated that Styrofoam takes thousands of years to disintegrate.
