By: CHARLES J. MOORE AUG. 25, 2014
Summary:
The world is covered in plastics causing a "plastic footprints." No scientist, environmentalist or national government agency has yet been able to find a way to recycle the plastic trash that covers our land. There are about 2.3 billion of pieces of plastics had flown from Southern California's urban centers into its coastal waters. Plastics are the most common pollutants of ocean waters. They are pushed by winds, tides, and currents. Plastics build up a large pile of waste, known as gyres, and slowly kills millions of sea creatures.
Hundred of species mistake plastics for their natural food, ingesting toxicants, which causes them to choke to death. The main bait fish in the ocean, the lantern fish, eats many of plastic fragments, threatening their future as a nutritious food source to the tuna, salmon and other pelagic fish we eat, adding to the increasing amount of synthetic chemicals the we now carry in our bodies. Plastics are nightmare to recycle because they are hard to clean and they can melt at the low temperatures. Changing the way we produce and consume plastic is a challenge. The United States has been focused on structural controls. This has reduced the amount of litter flowing down the rivers to the sea.
The world is covered in plastics causing a "plastic footprints." No scientist, environmentalist or national government agency has yet been able to find a way to recycle the plastic trash that covers our land. There are about 2.3 billion of pieces of plastics had flown from Southern California's urban centers into its coastal waters. Plastics are the most common pollutants of ocean waters. They are pushed by winds, tides, and currents. Plastics build up a large pile of waste, known as gyres, and slowly kills millions of sea creatures.
Hundred of species mistake plastics for their natural food, ingesting toxicants, which causes them to choke to death. The main bait fish in the ocean, the lantern fish, eats many of plastic fragments, threatening their future as a nutritious food source to the tuna, salmon and other pelagic fish we eat, adding to the increasing amount of synthetic chemicals the we now carry in our bodies. Plastics are nightmare to recycle because they are hard to clean and they can melt at the low temperatures. Changing the way we produce and consume plastic is a challenge. The United States has been focused on structural controls. This has reduced the amount of litter flowing down the rivers to the sea.
Reflection:
I picked this topic because I thought it was interesting. Everyone should be aware on how plastics can affect our environment. We should learn how to recycle. The government cant handle all the work but we can help. The plastic footprints is a big issue in the world. If we continue this problem, the sea will be full of plastics and it will kill hundred of species. The fishes we eat maybe harmful and the chemical will be in our bodies.
I picked this topic because I thought it was interesting. Everyone should be aware on how plastics can affect our environment. We should learn how to recycle. The government cant handle all the work but we can help. The plastic footprints is a big issue in the world. If we continue this problem, the sea will be full of plastics and it will kill hundred of species. The fishes we eat maybe harmful and the chemical will be in our bodies.