Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
DANIELA QUIROZ
Research Paper
INTRODUCTION
Throughout the years, there has been a big crisis of how plastic pollution has caused a
major effect on our world as it has polluted and killed many of our marine life. Plastic takes
1,000 years to fully decompose and has fully polluted our Earth as many do not recycle. Not only
has plastic been a problem, but also global warming. Both have made a major impact on our
world, especially on our animals, to the point of extinction. According to scientist, we only have
twelve years to save our planet from warming up to the point of never going back. I chose this
topic to show people that even though we might not see it here, it is happening. There needs to
be changes in the amount of plastic usage and a decrease of emissions being out into our
atmosphere. And with a little start, there can be a big change. A pathway to change can be to
start recycling, start using metal straws, stop buying plastic cups and use reusable ones, and even
taking your own bag when shopping can help with the number of plastic bags being used and
thrown out every day. As for global warming, little starts can also make a difference, for
example, carpooling or walking can help as there can be a decrease of carbon dioxide into our
air, or even stop eating red meat to save our animals. If everyone can do small changes to make a
difference, we can still hope to save our planet and animal life. I stand to save our planet and
animal life, because they were here before us and human activity is slowly killing them. As
doing this research, I learned how much plastic is being used, and how this has been going on for
years. We have waited till the last minute to realize they are dying, and now we only have twelve
years to save our planet. Not only did I learn from researching, but also as doing my
methodology. As I went to the North Atlantic Grye, I truly learned the damage plastic is doing to
our oceans. It is so polluted by plastic that it is now called the North Atlantic Garbage Patch. It
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made me open my eyes and made me realize how important it was to do this research, not only
for myself, but to confirm the facts that most people know and start making a change.
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LITERATURE REVIEW
In today’s world, plastic pollution and global warming have played a big role, these two
tragedies are just few of the things that we as a society should take into consideration. But what
is global warming? According to the National Geographic (2019), it is not only rising average
temperatures but also extreme weather events, shifting populations and habitats, rising seas, and
other impacts. Not only are we human beings creating large amounts of greenhouse gases, in
which the earth warms up, but are we also polluting our lands, oceans, and even hurting our
animals with a simple use of plastic. As our earth gets polluted, our airs do too, causing climate
change. This paper investigates current literature within the last couple years to understand the
current discourse on environmental issues and what can be done to prevent more damage. First, a
consideration of the history of plastic, considered the plastic age, will be addressed to situate the
issue, then this paper will follow what effects plastic and pollution has on marine life and the air
we breathe.
The improper disposal of plastic has affected the way we live. In the year 1950, a new
age revolved: the plastic age. In a way, plastic is a new revolution as people wouldn’t have to
wash dishes, bottles wouldn’t break, and so the fact that it was cheap. But little did they know
that single use plastic is thrown away, and later polluted. In order to decrease the damages, in
1974 blue recycling cans were introduced and placed off the curbside of people’s homes, in
which increased by 1,050 by 1988 in the United States. As the years go on, by 2000 recycling
helped with global warming as it cuts down greenhouse emissions (Resource Center, 2016).
Although there were positive things being done, research shows that all the recycled being done
is thrown into landfills. According to The New York Times (2018), China announced last
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summer that they will no longer accept garbage from other countries, causing even recycled
trashed to go to waste. This has a major effect as pollution waste will eventually go into our
oceans, hurting and killing the animals. Only 20% of the plastic gets recycled, and 5 million tons
of plastic ends up in the oceans, killing millions of animals every year (Olson, 2019, p.1).
The question of whether or not to use plastic has been a huge debate, and has been talked
about many times. Though it is a useful item, it damages our marine animals and oceans as
plastic takes years to fully decompose. According to Katselson (2015), there has been more than
100 different species with stuffed microplastic inside of them. They can pass through the gills of
crabs and fish, and can even affect larger marine life, such as whales. By definition,
microplastics are small particles or fragments of plastic measuring less than 5mm in diameter,
staying intact in the oceans for a long time (Sidhu, 2018). The cause of this is the fact that
millions of plastics ends up in the oceans as our lands are polluted, and plastic can take
thousands of years to completely decompose. Another alarming affect that was found was
polypropylene, which accumulates 10 times more than microplastic (Katnelson, 2015). Marine
animals more affected by plastic are seabirds, turtles, fish, and crustaceans. Some examples that
have been a threat to them is that they can be tangled by fishing nets, being unable to swim, eat,
and eventually drown. These animals can’t tell the difference and eat on plastic, believing it is
food, which can later block their digestive tracts, damage stomach linings, or lessen drives (Laist,
1987). We may think that this has just been a problem, but marine life has been affected by
plastics ever since the plastic age era. We have had extinctions of animals that keeps on
increasing and have destroyed their homes due to humans being selfish and not cleaning up. This
all goes back to the fact that recycling is a problem and has now been dumped on landfills.
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Through it all, there is still hope to save our oceans and marine life. A start can be
reducing the amount of plastic bags used and taking our own bags to the grocery store. Other
awareness about sustainability, and consider retailers to work to help keep plastic items within a
product recycling loop. A big trauma seen in today’s society was when a plastic straw was stuck
in a turtle’s nose, causing him enormous pain. This made a big movement that even Starbucks
announced that they will stop offering straws by 2020. Other movements that have agreed with
no use of plastic straws are Malibu, California, Miami, Seattle, Vancouver, and British Colombia
(CSP Staff, 2018). A straw is a small factor of all the plastic that is in our oceans that many
don’t realize, but it is a small step that can make a difference. We can help avoid the use of
straws by refusing to use them in restaurants, coffeehouses, or places that involve the use of
straws. There are many businesses that now take into consideration that plastic affects our planet.
Many stores have banned plastic bags when purchasing items forcing individuals to take their
own reusable plastic bags. This helps the process of plastic elimination because plastic bags
aren’t being thrown away and is one step to preventing it from going into oceans (Earth Day
2012). We tend to not care where our waste goes just because it disappears, but in reality, our
waste never goes away. Eight million tons of trash of plastic ends up in the ocean as a result of
Although plastic pollution is a big problem as it is, it can lead to worse. If we don’t
prevent plastic pollution it can lead to what is known as global warning. The importance of
global warming is not only rising average temperatures but also extreme weather events, shifting
populations and habitats, rising seas, and other impacts. When plastic is exposed to sunlight, it
can lead to harmful substances in greenhouse gases. In addition, when plastic goes into rivers,
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seas, etc. it begins to clog and jeopardizes animal life not only on water but on land as well.
Plastic appears to also have a detrimental impact on the environment itself (Environmental
Technology, 2018). As our population increases, so will more emissions into our atmosphere,
causing global warming, and eventually will it not only affect us, but so will the animal’s
habitats. Based on Climate and Weather (2019), climate change could cause a quarter of land
animals, birdlife and plants to become extinct. Facing the facts, a few examples of the dangers
would be how birds migrate and nest earlier than usual and a sea level rise of 50cm can cause sea
turtles to lose their nesting beaches. Human activity has already caused animals to change their
ways of migration, which has destroyed their ways of always living. Another major concern in
today’s society, apart from the turtle’s straw, is pictures of polar bears on just one ice sheet. The
earth warming up has been a threat to animals on land, and have even struggled to fish for food
as, for example, fish have migrated and are left with nothing. According to Iberdrola (2019),
climate change can be responsible for 8% of 25,000 animals becoming extinct. Coral reefs are
turning into white desserts, causing fish to not have a habitat anymore.
Despite of all the bad, there is still hope to save our planet and animals. Some changes
that can be made to lessen the carbon dioxide in our air would be to use renewable energy, use
energy efficient appliances, reduce water waste, eat less meat, un plug plugs when not used to
save energy, carpool, and even invest in using solar panels (Denchak, 2019). Not only can all
these things help our animals, but even for our future.
With that being said, plastic pollution and global warming have big effects on our
animals. The warming up of our earth and our oceans being polluted has caused major damage,
but change can be made. With a simple start of reducing plastic, such as straws and bags, and
decreasing the use of carbon dioxide can help improve our world and save our animals.
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METHADOLOGY
As I have finished my research, questions needed to be asked. There are three types of
quantitative study. As my research was done on the way’s plastic has damaged our marine life
animals, and how global warming also has an impact, the best way to collect the data being made
for this research is by having facts and numbers rather than opinions as it is a big global issue,
Though there are many places being polluted, I traveled by helicopter to where our ocean
was most polluted: the North Atlantic Gyre. It is so polluted that it is now called the North
Atlantic Garbage Patch, and has a density of 200,000 pieces of trash. Because of the sadness of it
Have people invested money to save our oceans and marine life?
By asking questions and already having my research done, it gives the audience a wider
view on why plastic pollution and global warming is such a big crisis, especially on animals.
Having the opportunity to travel and actually see the damage being done to our planet opened my
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eyes and made me realize how this is actually happening. Not only did I travel to the Atlantic
Ocean, but also to Antarctica. As I landed, I was astonished on how our earth is really warming up
and we only have 12 years to save our planet. Our glaciers are melting, and our animals are slowly
dying. Though wishing I had the opportunity to interview people who know about wild animals,
my quantitative study helped me collect and analyze the data and facts without asking person per
person. Some simple facts are that not only is plastic polluting our oceans, but so is our river, lakes,
and streams. Due to this, getting clean water could be a problem later on in life if no change could
be made.
But there are ways to help out. There’re petitions to help and donate money to help wild
life being affected by climate change or plastic pollution. Doing a quantitative study has helped as
the data informs the audience on the actual numbers of, for example, animals dying or amount of
plastic going into our oceans each year or day. Other ways to help out is using reusable cups,
straws, bags for the grocery, and even start to start recycling. Another way to reduce global
warming is by walking instead of driving, turning off the lights when not used, and so much more.
Being informed by facts and numbers is an easy way to study a case and make a difference.
This study has helped as making questions was easier, and can be answered with simple straight
up facts.
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CONCLUSION
All in all, plastic and global warming is damaging or planet. If we don’t change the way
we do things, we may cause irreversible damage that will eventually lead to the extinction of
many animals and even the human population. Plastic has always been seen as the simple and
easy way to package and process items such as food, clothes and even boxes. Since it takes so
long to break down and decompose, the plastic that the strawberries that were sold in last week
will still be around even after the person who ate those strawberries has passed away. There are
many ways to reduce our plastic intake, from using reusable shopping bags, to not using plastic
cups. People just need to make a little bit of a sacrifice to save our planet. If all the people in the
world make a little change, we can save our planet and get the trash to stay out of our oceans. By
getting trash to stay out of the ocean, we can save many marine life from extinction and we can
enjoy our oceans. This reduction of plastic won’t just save the ocean and marine life, but also
wild animals human activity has been killing. These wild animals were on this earth before we
were, and we have invaded their home and have made it our own personal dumping ground. We
need to respect these animals and do everything we can to save them. We can save the oceans,
the animals that inhabit this planet, and ourselves, we just need to make a little bit of change. Not
only this, but also save the planet by reducing carbon dioxide into our atmosphere. Reducing the
number of cars driving, saving water, and start using solar panels to save energy. Wild life
animals are also put at risks, especially those that live in the Artic. Ice sheets are melting, fish are
migrating, making it hard for polar bears to survive and find food. Penguins and other animals
are in ganger of extinction if our earth keeps warming up. At the end of the day, we only have
two choices, sacrifice a little to save a lot or stay the way we are and end up killing the planet
REFERENCES
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CSP Staff. (2018). Consumers reach their last straw with plastic pollution. CSP, 29(10), 72.
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