Environmental
February 11, 2020
Plastic pollution: Alarming threat to Life - sciencenerds
Hey, friends, I'm sure you guys must be wondering what is such a big deal about it well you won't believe but plastic pollution has become one of the most urgent environmental issues As the world is getting engulfed in plastic waste
So in today's article let us address this critical problem and learn what is plastic pollution and its causes or effects on us and what we can do to deal with it.
Zoom in, so what is plastic pollution?
plastic pollution is nothing but the deposition of plastic material and particles like plastic bags, bottles and microbeads within the Earth's environment that adversely affects life on the planet.
I know what you guys are thinking but how does it affect the lives of humans and all! well imagine a sea turtle swims through the water in search of food and finds a white blob floating near the surface yummy anything's a jellyfish and eats the item but little innocent turtle know that the floating blob isn't a jellyfish but is a plastic bag that could make it and many other crotch cannibals very sick.
yes, my friends just like that, millions of animals are killed by plastic every year from birds to fish to other aquatic organisms not only that plastic has been found in the stomach of many land-based animals including elephants, zebras, Tigers, camels, cattle and other large mammals in some cases causing death and all these factors somehow impact human lives.
scientists have found microplastics in marine species and almost of these end up on our plates, also they've been found in a maturity of the world's tapped water but the critical question is who is responsible for all this plastic mess around us well, unfortunately, it's none other than humans themselves.
We all make use of things made from plastic as well as things that come to us in plastic, there are many sorts of plastic and they are all light in weight low in cost and can be used in all weathers and they last long really long.
The funny thing is that we don't usually end up using plastic for a very long time, we throw away plastic bags, plastic cups, straws and bottles, chips and chocolate wrappers, spoons, plates etc. and we throw them almost soon after using them.
Plastic is formed of certain chemicals that don't decompose easily, plastic takes a very while to travel away and there in time it does tons of injury, the trash we throw away if done properly is collected from various places and is shipped to a dump yard.
At the dump yard, it's disposed of as best as possible the plastic things are collected then cut into tiny pieces which are then melted and made into new shapes.
In certain countries plastic is reused to form furniture clothes and other useful things but tons of trash falls out of the rubbish bins or is thrown away casually carelessly anywhere.
what happens to that plastic?
well, it goes into our drains, our ponds, our lakes and rivers and a method or the opposite finishes up in our oceans, altogether the oceans everywhere within the world, there's tons of plastic floating on the surface and sunken like treasures within the deepest parts due to the waves and therefore the Sun.
Plastic things within the ocean break down into smaller pieces of plastic.
The oceans are the home of many types of fish, animals and even birds they are not used to seeing brightly coloured and slow-moving things in the ocean they think it's food and swallow these small pieces of plastic.
Many birds roam around for food, they returned with plastic and feed them to their little babies, their stomachs get filled they think they are full and don't eat the food that they actually need and because they haven't got the nutrition they need, they die and when their stomachs are opened it isn't a pretty sight there are many ocean creatures that have died because of eating plastic if you go to the beach you will get the idea of the plastic that is out there in the oceans, some of the plastic, what is in the ocean comes back to the beach when the tide is low and if we don't pick it up and properly get rid of it goes back into the water and causes more harm to the poor little birds, the fish, and the turtles.
The oceans and the seas are home to some of nature's most special creatures there are already more pieces of plastic in the oceans than there are fish, we must do something about the plastic that is out there, we must commit to use and throw away lesser plastic, let's do some contribution in creating a nicer environment for the animals in the ocean for nature mother Earth.
~sciencefreak
~sciencefreak
Hello, I am Sciencefreak, a 21 year old self-employed Nerd.