Marine plastic litter and microplastics pollution is a global governance problem with unknown and potentially dire consequences. Efforts to promote individual‐centered solutions to the problem are increasingly necessary but are insufficient to tackle the root causes of the problem. Therefore, a concerted policy response at the global level is imperative. The success of such efforts necessarily depends on the way in which the problem is framed and understood, including its degree of urgency. This paper engages with this problem by considering the nature of the issue in light of the crisis term and argues that the global problem of marine litter may be more productively considered a “creeping crisis” given the complexity, scope, and spatio‐temporally fragmented nature of the problem.

中文翻译：

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是否可以将全球海洋垃圾问题视为危机？

船用塑料垃圾和微塑料污染是一个全球治理问题，其后果尚不明朗，甚至可能带来可怕的后果。促进以个人为中心的问题解决方案的努力越来越必要，但不足以解决问题的根本原因。因此，必须在全球范围内采取协调一致的政策应对措施。这种努力的成功必然取决于问题的框架和理解方式，包括其紧迫性。本文通过根据危机术语考虑问题的性质来解决该问题，并指出，鉴于复杂性，范围和时空分散的性质，全球性的海洋垃圾问题可能被更有效地视为“爬行危机”。问题。