scholarly journals The fundamental links between climate change and marine plastic pollution

2022 ◽  
Vol 806 ◽  
pp. 150392
Author(s):  
Helen V. Ford ◽  
Nia H. Jones ◽  
Andrew J. Davies ◽  
Brendan J. Godley ◽  
Jenna R. Jambeck ◽  
...  
Science ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 373 (6550) ◽  
pp. 56-60
Author(s):  
Robson G. Santos ◽  
Gabriel E. Machovsky-Capuska ◽  
Ryan Andrades

Human activities are changing our environment. Along with climate change and a widespread loss of biodiversity, plastic pollution now plays a predominant role in altering ecosystems globally. Here, we review the occurrence of plastic ingestion by wildlife through evolutionary and ecological lenses and address the fundamental question of why living organisms ingest plastic. We unify evolutionary, ecological, and cognitive approaches under the evolutionary trap theory and identify three main factors that may drive plastic ingestion: (i) the availability of plastics in the environment, (ii) an individual’s acceptance threshold, and (iii) the overlap of cues given by natural foods and plastics.


2018 ◽  
Vol 32 ◽  
pp. 121-145 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ludmila Ivanova ◽  
◽  
Konstantin Sokolov ◽  
Galina Kharitonova ◽  
◽  
...  

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phạm Hà Trang ◽  
Hoang Truong Giang ◽  
Nguyen Cam Duong

Plastic pollution is an urgent global problem that threatens the entire ecosystem, causing climate change and many other consequences that humans have to bear. Therefore, citizens need to uphold their sense of responsibility, consciously change living habits, say no to single-use plastic products. Protecting the environment, limiting plastic waste is protecting ourselves.


2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
Richard Stafford ◽  
Peter Jones

We agree with Avery-Gomm et al. that we should not separate out environmental issues. We also agree with them over the relative threat of plastic to our oceans. However, recent evidence on the ‘spillover effect’ of pro-environmental behaviours and on public attitudes to threats to areas such as the Great Barrier Reef suggest common consumerist and political approaches to tackle plastic pollution can cause a distraction from issues caused by climate change and biodiversity loss. We reiterate that we need political changes to address overconsumption in order to make real progress on all environmental issues


Author(s):  
William John Montague ◽  

If anyone cares to stop the fossil fuel industry producing countries from destroying the ability of the Earth to support human life, now is the time to demand an alternative. Inaction on eliminating carbon emissions and plastic pollution have all but sealed the fate of our planet. These efforts should have been well underway more than twenty years ago. It is not too late if we act now. I have found a simple technology which can provide a viable solution. This means it is within the means of every nation on Earth to have and implement a simple ‘public domain’ technology.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (1) ◽  
pp. 18-34
Author(s):  
Anastasia Telesetsky

Abstract After years of delicate negotiations, the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) went into force in 1994. Over 25 years later, UNCLOS as a tool for cooperation and coordination is more policy relevant than ever before as the global community seeks to better understand and protect the oceans. Yet, some of the most difficult subject matters for the 21st century including industrial fishing, labor practices, plastic pollution, and climate change are only indirectly addressed by UNCLOS. This article suggests that States could update UNCLOS by amendment to remain relevant by explicitly addressing concerns such as transshipment, perverse fisheries subsidies, multi-species management, maritime trade slavery, plastic litter from the fishing industry and land sources, climate-impacted fisheries, geo-engineering, and renewable energy. While amending UNCLOS might be considered politically impractical, even a rudimentary conversation on amending the treaty would provide much-needed political focus on critical ocean topics where there are present governance gaps.


Author(s):  
Ellie-Anne Jones ◽  
Rick Stafford

We currently face several, interlinked environmental crises, including climate change, habitat destruction and biodiversity loss. However, many governments seem unwilling to take strong and immediate action to address these threats, preferring to promote neoliberal approaches to allow consumers and the general public to make environmentally friendly choices. This is despite neoliberal approaches being much less likely to be successful than government leadership, taxation, subsidies, and legislation in addressing environmental issues. In this study, we examine public perception of environmental threats and solutions to these threats, in a survey, mainly completed in the UK. Climate change is seen as the biggest issue, likely due to recent activist campaigns and subsequent media attention on the issue. Neoliberal attitudes, such as green consumer choices to environmental concerns, do still dominate in a series of possible presented solutions, and score more highly than lifestyle changes such as changing diet. However, when questioned specifically about plastic pollution, government intervention to ban all unnecessary plastic scored very strongly, indicating a shift from a consumer driven response. Furthermore, most participants think they are at best only partly ‘doing their bit’ to protect the environment. The results demonstrate that the public are aware that not enough is happening to protect the environment and provide evidence that there is willingness for stronger government intervention to address environmental issues, although there is potential resistance to major lifestyle changes.


2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Vanessa Bednarz ◽  
Miguel Leal ◽  
Eric Béraud ◽  
Joana Ferreira Marques ◽  
Christine Ferrier-Pagès

Coral reefs are one of the most endangered habitats due to climate change, but not enough attention has been paid to how plastic pollution affects coral reef health. Plastics are massively produced worldwide for many purposes and they degrade very slowly, breaking down into tiny, invisible particles of 5 mm or less, called microplastics. When these tiny particles reach coral reefs, they harm corals by constantly rubbing on them through the action of waves and currents. Corals may also ingest microplastics and get a false sense of “fullness,” which results in the coral not feeding on nutritious food. Within the coral, microplastics may block the gut and cause internal damage. Also, microplastics, which are already made of chemicals, can pick up pollutants and harmful microorganisms from the seawater and transfer them to the coral. A reduction of microplastics pollution is therefore urgent.


2022 ◽  
Author(s):  
Phạm Hà Trang ◽  
Hoàng Trường Giang ◽  
Nguyen Cam Duong

Plastic pollution is an urgent global problem that threatens the entire ecosystem, causing climate change and many other consequences that humans have to bear. Therefore, citizens need to uphold their sense of responsibility, consciously change living habits, say no to single-use plastic products. Protecting the environment, limiting plastic waste is protecting ourselves.


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