Plastic has a big impact on climate change. In 2015, its carbon emission in the U.S., just from extraction and transport was the equivalent on 2.1 million cars driven for one year, or roughly 10 million metric tons of CO2. Now if you add its carbon footprint from incineration, you can add 5.9 million metric tons of CO2, which would be the equivalent of heating up 681,000 homes for a year. These numbers are increasing each year.
On another hand, in regards to plastic pollution, oceans absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but studies are currently under way as to figure out whether the issue of microplastics could affect ocean’s ability to keep absorbing CO2. And it looks like it could be the case.
A great article released on Columbia University’s State of The Planet blog explains in details the effect of plastic on climate change.
In the end, these two issues as well as most other environmental issues are deeply connected, almost like an ecosystem, except that this one aims to hurt everything that created human life and has been created by humans. But humanity has been going through progress since its beginning and the future could look very promising as more and more people are asking for change.
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