It is now a month since the meeting in Paris to discuss how the planet would face the here to stay climate change.
There has been a unanimous decision to keep the temperatures no higher than an average of two degrees Celsius. Even better, the idea is to try to keep it no more than 1.5 0C. Temperatures have already rose nearly 1 0C from pre-industrial times.
So, if the world wants to keep the temperature at this low there is need to act fast. It will take a lot of effort from every one in the planet.
All of us can start today. Have you given a thought about all the plastic around you? It is made from petroleum, so if we use less plastic, less greenhouse gases will gone into the atmosphere.
Around 120 plastic bottles for every single person per year in the USA finds its way in the trash apart from those that are send to the recycling facilities. Not counting the plastic bags, cutlery, drinking pipes, pieces of toys and more, much more. Worst, this is just the USA figure for plastic bottle.
The USA is only the 20th more plastic polluting country in the world. The developing economies are dumping much more per capita. All in all, the 7 billion inhabitants of the planet are dumping 5-14 billion tonnes of plastic every year in the oceans. Well, a bit more every year that goes by. The rate of plastic dump in the oceans is on a steep raise.
The Great Pacific Garbage patch extend is difficult to know. Conservative estimate figures say that is of similar to the size of Texas. Some argue it is more. But everybody agrees it is the largest landfill in the world.
Each time you buy something opt for the item with least plastic packing. Think if you really need the plastic bottle. Apart from helping keeping the planet on track to avoid catastrophic consequences with increasing temperatures, you will be helping decreasing pollution that affects a large number of marine species. That affects us when we eat the fish that ate plankton that ate plastic.
Here a short and poetic take of the real problem in one of the most pristine places in the world.