These heartbreaking photos of plastic pollution around the world hit hard

They say a picture is worth a thousand words. This came true at a photo exhibition in the UN that showcased the aftermath of plastic waste and how it is affecting our surroundings. These hard-hitting photographs narrating the amount of garbage humans produce and spread are horrifying. Here we take a look at the pictures that tell what we've left behind on Earth.

Major drainage systems in Accra, Ghana's capital city, empty single-use plastic waste into the ocean through the Korle Lagoon. The urban poor sometimes swim in it to recover recyclable material. Aerial view of the Korle Lagoon, choked with single-use plastic, Ghana. Photo by Muntaka Chasant (Ghana)

Garbage piles collected in several such areas are estimated to amount to 216,000 kilograms per month. This girl is growing up in a squatter settlement around Sabah, Malaysia. Photo by Fakir Mohamad bin Md. Nor (Malaysia)

These boys spend their days fighting for food and goods. It’s a daily war for them in the depot of Chittagong, Bangladesh. Photo by Muhammad Amdad Hossain (Bangladesh)

Recent research has shown that these manta rays ingest as much as 137 pieces of plastic an hour, which exposes their population to unknown long-term risks. A filter-feeding manta ray attempts to eat amidst the plastic in Nusa Penida, Bali. Photo by Vincent Kneefel (The Netherlands)

When deliveries of donated educational and medical supplies began in 2004, most of the area was still relatively clean. Now the patch of plastic waste stretches for at least a kilometre and is a good 100 metres wide. 129-year-old humanitarian vessel Vega sails through plastic waste in the Java Sea. Photo by Margarete Macoun (Germany)

This local beach in Java, Indonesia, has become an illegal dumpsite for plastic waste. One of the residents can be seen burning the plastic, so it doesn’t enter her house at high tide. Photo by Vincent Kneefel (The Netherlands)

A woman scavenges for survival in a mountain of plastic waste, Pakistan. Photo by Sufyan Arshad (Pakistan)

A young sea turtle is trying to breathe in a puddle of water filled with plastic in Niteroi, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Photo by Heidi Acampora (Brazil)

A youngster swims in a river polluted with plastic and other waste in Bocaue, Philippines. Photo by Jophel Botero Ybiosa (Philippines)

In Accra, Ghana, a plastic waste scavenger brings plastic he has recovered to a dumpsite where middlemen will buy it for recycling. Photo by Muntaka Chasant (Ghana)

Plastic waste has become part of our microcosmos, even found among the grains of sand on this Uruguayan beach. Photo by Mauricio Ruiz (Uruguay)

Agriculture is the main sector of Tanzania's economy, with almost 70% of the poor living in rural areas and working in farming. These days, plastic waste pollution has increased so much that it is affecting both the environment and livelihoods. Photo by Paul Elias (Tanzania)

A large number of homeless people in Dhaka, Bangladesh have lost their property due to natural disasters. For them, an asphalt street is the best they can hope for, otherwise they have to sleep on plastic trash. Photo by Muhammad Amdad Hossain (Bangladesh)

Morning spotlight at Anse Royale Church, Seychelles. Plastic waste can be found even in the most serene places. Here, it overshadows the beauty of the sunrise and the peacefulness symbolised by the cross. Photo by Sienna Goldstein (Seychelles)

In Tuscany, near San Vincenzo, Italy, small pieces of broken-down plastic and industrial plastic pellets have been washed up on the beach along the coastline. Photo by Alexandra Rudiak (Germany/Canada)

A windstorm coming from the South washes up plastic on the shoreline of the Pelješac peninsula, Croatia. Photo by Anita Bubalo (Croatia)

In Bretagne’s quaint village of Plouharnel, France, once the surfers leave for winter, sea currents fill the seaside with trash. An invasion of plastic monsters, if you will. Photo by Céline Bellanger (France)

The Njoro River flows from the Mau Forest, continuing along several residential areas. By the time it reaches Lake Nakuru, a UNESCO World Heritage Site in Kenya, it is filled with plastic. Photo by James Wakibia (Kenya)

Ever since ancient times, Lithuanian forests have been a place of tranquillity. Now nature is sending us a message, sadly in a plastic bottle. Photo by Jurgita Šukienė (Lithuania)

Clean beaches are increasingly becoming a rare sight in tourist-friendly Croatia. Photo by Paula Porobija (Croatia)

In the archipelago of islands off the coast of Panama, the indigenous communities of the Guna Yala tribe are suffering from a plastic invasion. Photo by Sophie Dingwall (The United Kingdom)

On the reef of a small coastal village in the Indonesian Banggai Archipelago, the villagers are doing their best to fight against plastic pollution. Plastic bags like this one represent a hollow deceit for animals that prey on jellyfish, such as sea turtles. Photo by Shannon Switzer Swanson (The United States of America)

Once an important commercial waterway, the Buriganga river in the southwest outskirts of Dhaka, Bangladesh, has now turned into a plastic river. Photo by Shahriar Hossain (Bangladesh)

Trash heaps near the Adriatic Sea where the Bura wind spreads plastic waste onto the grazing fields. Photo by Goran Dorić (Croatia)

Fishing in the Brantas river of the East Java province, Indonesia, means going through loads of plastic trash, discarded by the residents of thousands of buildings. Photo by Fully Syafi Handoko (Indonesia)

The goat belongs to an islander from the Bajou tribe in Tiworo, Indonesia. Every year, the island beaches are covered by plastic waste, brought in by the ocean currents. Photo by Fakhrizal Setiawan (Indonesia)

Countryside 30 km outside Split, Croatia, after a great storm. Photo by Đurđica Milosavljević (Croatia)