Hey people, I hope you guys are good! I thought today's post should be about where plastic ends up and how it contributes to climate change. I know everybody knows that plastic ends up in landfills and ends up in the ocean. But how does it affect climate change? But to answer this question. We have to think about plastic first. Only nine percent of plastic is recycled. This really tells us that most of the plastic ends up in landfills and oceans. The plastic that ends up in the ocean releases methane. The methane heats the water causing the water to become hotter and to expand, which causes sea levels to rise. This floods farms and causes adequate food to be an even worse problem. This is like a domino effect when you think about it! Every living organism depends on something else or an organism to survive. But, when the phytoplankton ingests the microplastics from plastics as food, the phytoplankton die. This is important because phytoplankton takes in carbon dioxide, reducing carbon dioxide levels. But, staying in oceans and landfills is not the only reason why plastics affect climate change. It also impacts climate change in the process of production. Carbon emissions are being released during plastic production and incineration because energy is needed when creating or burning a product. This could emit 2.8 gigatons of carbon dioxide every year. This could increase global temperatures because it traps more heat than necessary to warm the Earth when greenhouse gases emissions rise.
Deforestation is basically clearing out an area filled with trees. How does it affect climate change? Since trees contain carbon dioxide, once they are cut down, the carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere, which increases carbon dioxide levels, contributing to climate change. This is not the only reason why deforestation contributes to climate change. The tools used in deforestation also contribute to climate change because they burn fossil fuels. Overall, deforestation is a significant carbon dioxide contributor to climate change. To combat this, you can plant more trees so that the atmosphere will have less carbon dioxide since trees take in carbon dioxide to survive and thrive.
Some other things you can do to combat climate change are:
The most common thing you can do is recycle, and it's probably the easiest.
You can recycle plastic water bottles and bags, which have the recycle sign on them.
You can also help with clean clean-ups. There are plenty of clean-ups for beaches, roads, and many more.
You can educate people like I am trying to do.
Use less plastic because most of it goes into the ocean and then breaks down because of the heat, which poisons the sea.
You can walk or bike. When you walk or bike, you don't release carbon emissions. In worst cases, use public transportation because many people use it, and it doesn't release more carbon dioxide.
You can conserve water to have water left, like taking 5-minute showers. You can buy reusable stuff, so you don't need to use too much plastic. You can participate in peaceful protests.
You can also talk to people who have more knowledge about climate change so that you can tell other people.
You can put a bucket in the shower when you shower, so you can use that water for your plants or clean something up.
You can buy local produce.
You can build a garden and grow fresh produce.
You can buy organic produce.
Spread the message that "Climate Change is not a hoax!" and try to make a difference.
-Robotics Girl
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