( CNN ) -- The world 's oceans are full of trash , causing `` tremendous '' negative impacts on coastal life and ecology , according to a U.N. report released Monday . The oceans will continue to fill up with junk discarded from cities and boats without urgent action to address this buildup of marine debris , the United Nations Environment Programme says in a report titled `` Marine Litter : A Global Challenge . '' Current efforts to address the problem are not working , and the issue is `` far from being solved , '' the report says . `` There is an increasingly urgent need to approach the issue of marine litter through better enforcement of laws and regulations , expanded outreach and educational campaigns , and the employment of strong economic instruments and incentives , '' the report says . `` Although a number of countries have taken steps at the national level to deal with marine litter , the overall situation is not improving . '' Scientists have been watching trash pile up in the world 's oceans for about a half-century , when plastics came into widespread use . Since plastics do n't biodegrade , or do so very slowly , the trash tends to remain in the ocean , where circling currents collect the material in several marine `` garbage patches . '' See a map of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch » . One of these trashy areas is said to be roughly the size of Texas . The water in these at-sea landfills is thick like a plastic soup , oceanographers told CNN . The trash patches are located in `` very remote parts of the ocean where hardly anyone goes , except the occasional research vessel , '' said Peter Niiler , a distinguished researcher and oceanographer at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography . Plastics and cigarette butts are the most common types of ocean litter , with plastic making up about 80 percent of the ocean trash collected in some areas of the world , a U.N. news release says . The ocean litter is a problem for coastal communities , which rely on clean beaches for tourism dollars and to boost quality of life for their residents , the report says . Ocean trash also affects marine life and degrades human health . Sea turtles , for example , think plastic grocery bags are jellyfish when the bags are floating in the ocean . An untold number of the turtles and other creatures , such as Hawaii 's endangered monk seal , swallow the bags and suffocate , drown or starve , said Holly Bamford , director of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration 's marine debris program . Birds face similar issues when they eat pieces of plastic out of the water . In the North Sea , a survey found 94 percent of fulmars , a type of seabird , had plastics in their stomachs , the U.N. report says . The birds , on average , had about 34 pieces of plastic in their stomachs . A surprising amount of trash that ends up in the ocean starts on the land , the report says . In Australia , for instance , a survey found 80 percent of ocean trash starts on the land . One of the key questions for people interested in ocean trash is how much of it is out there , but Monday 's U.N. report does not solve that mystery . The U.N. says little is known about the extent of litter in the oceans , and more data is needed for the problem to be adequately addressed . `` This deficiency , in combination with the lack of specific legislation , adequate law enforcement and funding , are the primary reasons why the problem of marine litter is far from being solved , '' the report says . `` Unless effective action is taken , the global marine litter problem will only continue to worsen in the years to come . '' The report does suggest several solutions , among them : . Volunteer efforts try to address the issue now , and the Ocean Conservancy says it organizes the largest of these . Last year , 400,000 volunteers from more than 100 countries picked up 6.8 million pounds of trash from beaches , preventing it from harming the ocean , said Tom McCann , a spokesman for the group . `` It 's entirely preventable , '' he said of the problem . `` It 's something we can solve ourselves . '' McCann said people can prevent trash from ending up in the ocean by making smarter choices about the products they buy . Some of the Ocean Conservancy 's recommendations include : .
New U.N. report says ocean trash is a `` tremendous '' problem . Much of the trash is plastic , which goes away very slowly , if ever . Scientists say plastic collects in large `` garbage patches '' in oceans . One such garbage patch is said to be the size of Texas .