When discussing climate change and global warming, experts and the general public alike focus on threats such as rising sea levels, hotter weather, and melting ice caps. Although these threats certainly are menacing, they’re very hard to see with your own eyes and rely on years of data to understand first hand. You won’t wake up one morning and suddenly see the ocean rise 12 feet. However, a disaster that every single person on the planet has dealt with is plastic pollution. On the beach, in parks, in sewers, etc plastic can be found littering the ground almost everywhere, even on the bottom of the ocean, where humans rarely visit. Plastic is made of various chemicals that form the equation (C2H4)n. Visit the link to learn about the various types of plastics used in industrial manufacturing!
https://byjus.com/chemistry/types-of-plastic/
These types of plastics are extremely durable and take over 1,000 years to break down. Even then, only breaking down into micro plastics that will last for thousands of more years. These plastics are beneficial to society in so many ways and a wonder of science, yet the impacts they’ve had on the ecosystem and biosphere as a whole are immense.
`Aside from the impacts these plastics have on humans, which we’ll get too later, plastics pose an enormous threat to marine and terrestrial animals. Humans use plastics in almost everything we use, such as; cups, wrappers, tools, boxes, etc. If you can think of a product, humans have “plasticized it”. These colorful and oddly shaped plastics look similar to the meals fish, squirrels, and other animals eat on a daily basis, and are then ingested inside of their bodies. Plastics can’t break down easily and thus the animal dies. This trend has continued across the world for decades, and is responsible for thousands of extinctions. Click the link below for further information on the impacts plastics have on wildlife.
https://www.nwf.org/Home/Magazines/National-Wildlife/2019/June-July/Conservation/Ocean-Plastic
Not only are animals impacted by plastic, but humans are as well. Aside from them being an eyesore and clogging up cities and small towns alike, these plastics find a way into our bodies as well. Plastics that end up in the food we eat such as; fish, water, and other marine animals are digested by humans and are broken down inside our bodies. Everything except for the plastic. How much plastic do you digest a year?
Turns out humans digest a lot of plastic, and it’s affecting our health in monumental ways. Plastic digestion has been linked to increased cancer rates, and can even effect babies in the womb negatively.
Pollution is often forgotten when experts and civilians argue about the impacts of climate change, but poses an equal, if not greater threat. Remember to recycle, and pick up trash whenever you see it laying around. If it doesn’t end up in the can, it’ll end up in you. Organize clean up projects in your area with the link below and be the change you want to see in the world!
Great job highlighting the ways that obssesive plastic use can affect both our lives and the lives of animals! Amazing call to action!
Really great article that looks at the issue from a variety of angles. I like the way you used punctuation throughout, as well as good word choice for verbs.