Tiny Bits of Plastic Found on Mount Everest
Plastic is being found in areas that plastic should be nowhere near, such as the deep sea and the highest peak, Mount Everest. The amount of plastic being used has increased an extreme amount from the 1950s to now. In the 50's, only around 5 million metric tons were being produced, but in 2020, that number is up to 330 million metric tons. These tiny bits of plastic can throw off ecosystems when harmful to animals within them. Snow and stream samples contained from Mount Everest showed large amounts of plastic in both. Microplastics have also been found imbedded in the arctic ice, in our guts, and just blowing through the wind - this may explain how it gets to such remote locations. In the arctic, over 17 different kinds of plastic have been found in melted ice. Researchers also discovered that humans consume between 39,000 and 50,000 pieces of microplastic each year.
Most of this plastic waste that is found in places where it shouldn't be is due to littering which is under our control. Humans are at fault for not taking the eco-friendly route in manufacturing which would help. More and more businesses today are starting to find eco-friendly ways as our younger generations are finding more interest in it. We are capable of making changes, it just has to be done.
Also, a lot of the litter on Mount Everest is from the hikers themselves. Energy conservation is very important to make it up and back down alive. And contrary to popular belief, thanks to an increase in available technology, way more people are going up there. This leads to more trash. It can be hard to get everything down, so they just leave it. That's why dead bodies are left on Everest. Once particular man named Green Boots has been up there since 1996.
ReplyDeleteWe need to stop producing more tons of plastic and start recycling more. We already have tons of plastic and it's inside of the oddest things, so why can't we recycle this plastic instead of littering and polluting our precious Earth? I think if we start recycling more, there will still be plastic in these areas, but it might reduce as time goes on. We need to do things to help save our planet because it's the only one we were given, so we have to take care of it.
ReplyDeleteOur production of plastic is astronomical. The world needs to start exploring to see what else we could use everyday that would restore the planet, not ruin it. Pretty soon there will be enough damage to the point where there no reversing it. We can not let it get to that point. We need to limit the plastic we use or just find ways to destroy it would it wouldn't ruin the planet.
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