The effects of plastic pollution in our oceans and What can individuals in the United States do in order to help diminish plastic contamination in our oceans?
December 2, 2019
Abstract:
Lately there has been many plastic pollution issues and that’s because our ocean is being contaminated every year because of all single use plastics such as straws and plastic bottles. Especially in the U.S many of the problems have been contributed due to the fact that they still don’t have a federal ban. Having a federal ban can lead to decreasing the amount of single use plastic found in the ocean every year. This is why in this essay, experts are suggesting certain federal bans for many reasons such as the impact is having on wildlife and the environment itself.
Topic: What are the effects of plastic pollution on our oceans? What can individuals in the United States do in order to help diminish plastic contamination in our oceans?
Background: Plastic pollution has been a major problem in our world lately. Few countries have taken some steps in order to help the plastic pollution situation. The main focus of this essay is to address the plastic pollution problem since its becoming more severe. Experts believe the number of plastic found in the ocean will only increase each year and this is why experts are suggesting some steps that the U.S can take.
Introduction:
Single use plastic is only used once and because of that it’s easy to litter plastic such as bottles and plastic bags. Over the years more plastics has been found in our oceans and what we can predict is that the number of plastic been found is going to increase more. As stated in this article “every year, 8 million metric tons of plastic end up in our oceans” and “So the cumulative input for 2025 would be nearly 20 times the 8 million metric tons estimate – 100 bags of plastic per foot of coastline in the world”. (Guern, 2009) Plastic Pollution is the aggregation of various plastics. For example such as single-use things like straws, bottles and plastic bags. According to an article As stated in the article, “When Mermaids Cry: The Great Plastic Tide” by Claire Le Guern she states that it is spread because of “Our tremendous attraction to plastic, coupled with an undeniable behavioral propensity of increasingly over-consuming, discarding, littering and thus polluting, has become a combination of lethal nature. (Guern, 2009) Throughout the article she explains how plastic is versatile and inexpensive which are used in production which becomes waste later on. Due to this reason, the U.S are still going use plastics because of its qualities which will cause plastic to build up more, affect the ocean wildlife and this is why experts want the U.S to take action now before it gets severe.
Summary:
As of right now the United States does not have a federal ban on most single‐use plastics. There has been many data collected of how much plastic has been found in the ocean and how much harm it is causing. As stated in the article ““roughly 12,000 million metric tons of plastic waste will be in landfills or in the natural environment by 2050”.(Borelle , 2017) Due to the concern that plastic contamination is just going to increase over the years and cause more effect in the ocean wildlife. There has been some steps that have been taken but experts want to make sure that certain things are federally banned such gillnets because of the harm it is having on the ocean wildlife. This is not the only way to help but their has been campaign going such as in certain aquariums banning plastic beverages which will help plastic contamination.
The effects of Plastic Pollution on ocean:
A major impact that plastic pollution is having is harming the ocean wildlife because of entanglement, ingestion, and chemical exposure. As stated in the article there was conducted experiment, “In the northeastern Atlantic, 74% of seabird species studied were found to ingest plastic (O’Hanlon, James, Masden, & Bond, 2017)”.(Iverson , 2019) By this happening eventually the animals will be exposed to toxic which are gathered plastics. As stated in another article “Cleaning up the oceans : How to reduce the impact of man-made trash on the environment, wildlife, and human health” it also states that “Species face entanglement in plastic packaging such as six-pack rings, as well as ghost nets, fishing nets that have been cut loose or are simply lost. And we know that plastics have already entered the food chain. Microplastics have been found in 114 aquatic species, more than half of which we actually consume”. (United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Environment Public Works, author. (2019) This shows that many aquatic species have been affected to the plastics because animals often confuses small plastics with food which will later have an effect on human beings since we consume some of those species. To further add on, in the same article they state that “plastic consumption can harm wildlife and all states of life. Recent research suggests it can also decrease reproduction rates. We also know that tiny plastic particles called microplastics may be present in our drinking water and in the food that all of us consume”. (United States. Congress. Senate. Committee on Environment Public Works, author. (2019) We can conclude that it’s not only affecting the ocean wildlife but also us human beings. This will lead to a decrease in reproduction rates which shows that plastic is very harmful to the ocean wildlife.
Ways to manage Plastic Contamination:
The total amount of plastic pollution was at “5.25 trillion pieces weighing over 250,000 tons in 2014 (Eriksen et al., 2014). In the more recent study in 2018, it shows that because of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch that it has increased over 16 times higher (Lebreton et al., 2018)”.(Iverson , 2019) This shows that the Plastic contamination is increasing at a very fast pace which will have an impact on the future numbers of plastic being found. Throughout the article Iverson wants to recommend a federal ban on single‐use plastics such as fishing nets and increase regulation on plastic use. As stated in the article Iverson wants the U.S to take similar steps like the Europeans because of certain policy they already have. An example is how the producer of single use plastic pays the cost of waste management and clean up. (Iverson , 2019) Iverson article is suggesting the U.S should issue a federal ban on single use plastic like plastic bags, straws, and etc. By having a federal ban the effect of plastic pollution can decrease over time. Also Iverson article discussed about “The NOAA Marine Debris Program” which educated both teachers and students about the marine debris problem. By doing this now people are more aware of plastic pollution. The program did not only do this but they also “removed 4.5 tons of fishing gear in the northeast and 34 tons in California (NOAA Marine Debris Program, 2017)” which is another step to fixing marine debris problem. Currently one of the most harmful fishing gear is a gillnet which can be up to 2 miles in length. According to “NOAA Fisheries, gillnet restrictions vary and include prohibitions on large mesh gillnets, time/area closures and nets with weak links that allow large whales to escape entanglements” because of what is happening in the marine life new restriction are opposed to the use of gillnet since its causing a lot of harm. According to the article “US Aquariums Introduce Campaign to Combat Plastic Pollution” U.S aquariums are doing a campaign to combat plastic pollution on single use plastic. Since plastic pollution is having an impact on the ocean wildlife and these aquariums are taking a step to reduce the contamination of plastic in our oceans. Some steps that are taken are “Significantly reduce or eliminate plastic beverage bottles by December 2020”.(Close-Up Media, Inc, 2017) Lastly, in the article “Why we need an international agreement on marine plastic pollution” they discuss that “In 2012, a voluntary commitment of a significant reduction of marine debris was introduced at Rio+20 with a deadline of 2025. Similarly, in February 2017, UNEP announced the Clean Seas campaign, asking for individuals, industries, and the member states to voluntarily commit to an action of their choice to reduce plastic pollution”).(Borelle , 2017) It talked about how the United States and UNEP created a strategy “a planning tool” to reduce plastic pollution. Which later on in February 2017, UNEP announced the Clean Seas campaign so industries can take action to help reduce plastic pollution. Overall this can conclude that these are some steps to help manage the issue by having policies and campaigns.
Conclusion:
Based on the data of how much plastic is being found in our ocean it’s going to take a long process in order to resolve the plastic pollution problem. Plastic can be known as a silent killer because of how much an impact it is having in the ocean wildlife and also on human beings. This paper talks about how the experts recommend some policy for the United States to have in order to help plastic contamination. Just because of all the attributes that plastics have and how much it is being used in production it is hard to stop plastic from getting into the ocean.
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