Climate Change is damaging our ecosystem. The Earth's climate has changed throughout history. Just in the last 650,000 years, there have been seven cycles of glacial advance and retreat, with the abrupt end of the last ice age about 7,000 years ago marking the beginning of the modern climate era — and of human civilization. The current warming trend is of particular significance because most of it is extremely likely ( greater than 95 percent probability ) to be the result of human activity since the mid-20th century and proceeding at a rate that is unprecedented over decades to millennia.

Ice cores drew from Greenland, Antarctica, and tropical mountain glaciers show that the Earth’s climate responds to changes in greenhouse gas levels. Ancient evidence can also be found in tree rings, ocean sediments, coral reefs, and layers of sedimentary rocks. The planet's average surface temperature has risen about 1.62 degrees Fahrenheit ( 0.9 degrees Celsius ) since the late 19th century, a change driven largely by increased carbon dioxide and other human-made emissions into the atmosphere.

If this rapid rate of energy keeps up at the rate it is, it could start to kill many plants and animals. This would deplete the population of plants and animals and us humans, would not have anything to eat and we ( Humans ) my go extinct. Greenhouse gases occur naturally and are essential to the survival of humans and millions of other living things, by keeping some of the sun’s warmth from reflecting back into space and making Earth livable. But after more than a century and a half of industrialization, deforestation, and large scale agriculture, quantities of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere have risen to record levels not seen in three million years.

As populations, economies, and standards of living grow, so does the cumulative level of greenhouse gas (GHGs) emissions. Again, this could lead to plants dying. This could possibly lead to people not having food to live. There is a really big impact on climate change and we need to reduce it somehow.

Sites:

GlobalChange:

https://www.globalchange.gov/climate-change

NASA:

https://climate.nasa.gov/evidence/

INTRODUCTION

Being cheap and durable, people all around the world rely on plastic on a regular daily basis. I can almost guarantee that you use plastic every day. Think about that plastic water bottle that you gulped fresh, thirst-quenching water from after your early morning run, or that plastic bag that stored your turkey and cheese sandwich for lunch. Think of that plastic jug that held the milk that you poured on your cereal this morning, or that plastic bag that held all the items that you bought at the store. Think of all that candy that you ate for Halloween, all of which were individually wrapped and sealed in plastic. Even right now, you are probably using plastic to read this article. The keyboard of your computer, the case of your phone, they both are probably made of plastic! All in

all, you probably use a lot of plastic every day, and so does everybody else. With so many people using plastic every day, the amount of plastic that is used globally sure adds up. In fact, the demand for plastic is so high, that every year we produce an estimated 300 million tons of the stuff. That is about the weight of the entire human population! WOW! That is a LOT of plastic!

You might be thinking, “Okay, okay, I get the point! As humans, we use a lot of plastic. But why should I care?” Well, as it turns out, plastic isn’t all sunshine daisies. In other words, plastic isn’t all that good. “Well, why not?” you may be wondering. Well, the problem with plastic is that most of it is single use, meaning that you can only use it once, and then you have to throw it away. But when you throw away the plastic, it doesn’t just simply disappear. In fact, most plastics take thousands of years to break down, but after that, it still isn’t gone. It has just broken up into smaller pieces of plastic, called microplastics. These microplastics will keep breaking down into smaller pieces, and eventually they will be so small, that you need a microscope to see them. But they will never be gone. It will stay on the earth forever and ever and ever. You might be thinking, “Gee, that’s a LONG time! Where is ALL that plastic stored for SUCH a long time?”

Well, unfortunately, much of the plastic that we throw away ends up in places where it shouldn’t be. This is called plastic pollution. Today, plastic liters places like parks, roads, rivers, and, especially, the ocean. All this plastic pollution means BIG problems for plants, animals, and even us.

THE GREAT PACIFIC GARBAGE PATCH

A massive amount of plastic that we dispose of ends up in the earth’s water sources, like lakes and rivers. Since most of the water on the planet eventually is carried to the ocean, so is all the plastic that is carried by the water. This means that there is a disturbing amount of plastic in the ocean. Did you know that there are 500 times more pieces of plastic in the sea then there are stars in the galaxy! Wow, that’s a lot of plastic! In fact, some places in the ocean have so much plastic that they are given names, like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the largest patch of garbage in the world. It spreads about 600,000 square miles, which is ten times bigger than the state of Illinois! That’s HUGE! This giant patch of garbage is pretty nearby. It spans waters from the west coast of the United States all the way to Japan. When you think of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, you probably imagine a giant heap of trash that you can stand on. But you can’t stand on it. In fact, you can’t even see it. This conversation between Frank and Ralphy will explain this further:

Ralphy: So, I’ve heard that this Great Pacific whatever it’s called-

Frederick: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch?

Ralphy: Yes, that’s it. Anyway, I’ve heard that it’s pretty close by.

Frederick: Um, yeah? So?

Ralphy: Sooooooo, I was thinking that maybe we could take a boat out to it and go check it out. We could stand and jump around on it. You in?

Frederick: Um, no way dude!

Ralphy: What? But it would be fun!

Frederick: Um, no it wouldn’t.

Ralphy: Why not?

Frederick: Because we would sink.

Ralphy: What do you mean?

Frederick: (becoming annoyed) I mean exactly what I said! We would just sink.

Ralphy: What do you mean? How could we sink if we are standing on a solid island of garbage?

Frederick: What do YOU mean? The Great Pacific Garbage Patch isn’t a solid island of garbage! You can’t stand on it. In fact, you can’t even see it. Most of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is made up of tiny bits of plastic called microplastics. Microplastics are too tiny and spread out to stand on, and way too small to see with your naked eye-

Ralphy: Ha ha, you said naked!

Frederick: Dude! It’s just a saying. Now shut up and listen to me! As I was SAYING, you can’t see microplastics with your NAKED eye. The microplastics of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch simply make the water dark gray and misty. Sometimes the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is described as a “cloudy soup”.

Ralphy: (disappointed) Aw! Why do you always have to ruin all the fun, man?

Frederick: (offended) It isn’t my fault that you can’t stand on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch! It’s just science, dude! But if you REALLY want to stand on the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, then go ahead. I would LOVE to see you try. It would be amusing to watch you sink into the brown, misty water with a look of horror on your face. I would laugh as you cried for my help, your face pale and your eyes begging. As I pulled your flailing self from the water, all out of breath and wide eyed, I would get in your face and say, “So, Ralphy, did you have fun? Then you would look at me and say between gasps, “No… I… didn’t!” Then I would laugh so hard that tears would begin filling my eyes and making the world look like a blurry mess. Between large gasps of laughter, I would say, “I told you so!”

Ralphy: Well if you put it THAT way, maybe I should just scratch that whole idea.

Even though the Great Pacific Garbage Patch might not look like much, it holds lots of invisible, deadly secrets. It is home to tons of plastic that is killing animals and

destroying the environment. But believe it or not, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch only contains some of the plastic that litters the ocean. There is a LOT of plastic in the sea, which means BIG problems for the health of our planet.

HOW PLASTIC POLLUTION IS AFFECTING ANIMALS

Imagine a sea turtle swimming through the ocean, craving a nice mid-afternoon snack. Suddenly, a white blob floating around near the surface of the water catches its eye. “Yum!” it thinks. “It’s a jellyfish! My favorite!” It swims over and gulps down what it thinks is a jellyfish, but actually, it’s not. That white, floating blob actually was a tiny piece of plastic that could make that poor sea turtle very sick.

This sea turtle isn’t alone. Thousands of animals, from a tiny shrimp to a massive whale, have been reported to have mistaken plastic for food. The plastic blocks their intestinal system (their guts), which makes it hard for them to eat properly. Therefore, they suffer due to starvation. The plastic in their stomach may also leak harmful chemicals, which can make them very sick.

Ingesting plastic isn’t the only way that animals are affected by plastic pollution. Many animals are also entangled by plastic, like discarded fishing nets and six-pack rings. Being entangled by plastic makes it hard for them to catch prey, eat, and escape predators. It can also cause suffocation.

It is hard to believe that something as small as a piece of plastic can harm an animal as big as a whale. A piece of plastic might be small, but it is a BIG problem for the lives of animals.

HOW PLASTIC POLLUTION COULD AFFECT HUMANS

Believe it or not, plastic pollution could also be affecting humans! Scientists believe that plastic might be sitting on our dinner plates, and even floating around in the air that we breath! If this is so, then that means BIG things for the health of us all.

Scientists are worried that, just like animals, we might also be ingesting plastic. But it isn’t like humans are running around eating plastic, mistaking it for hamburgers and fries like sea turtles are mistaking plastic for jellyfish. Scientists believe that plastic is traveling to humans through the food cycle. For example, let’s say a tiny fish eats some plastic. Then, (I know that this is kind of gruesome, but this is nature, people) let’s say a bigger fish eats the tiny fish. Now the bigger fish has plastic in it’s system. This process goes on and on, and eventually it leads to humans. If we take in this plastic, it is likely that we could become very sick.

Ingesting plastic isn’t the only way that plastic pollution might affect humans. Tiny particles of plastic have also ended up in the air. If plastic pollution continues and more and more plastic ends up in the air, it could mess up our lungs and make it harder to breathe.

These are just a few of the ways that plastic pollution might be affecting humans. If we continue to litter the earth with our waste, then who knows how many other ways we might be affected? By polluting the earth, we are putting ourselves in danger. What is the point of continuing to do something that is putting us all at risk? Here’s the deal: if we stop plastic pollution, no one will be in danger. Sounds like a pretty good deal, right? Let’s take it!

HOW TO STOP PLASTIC POLLUTION

If this article has made you feel sad and depressed, then good, because that is exactly what I wanted! Okay, okay, calm down! I didn’t want to make you to feel sad and depressed because I thought it would be fun or amusing! NO! I wanted you to feel sad and depressed so that you would be inspired to act. I wanted you to think, “Gee! This whole “plastic pollution thing” sounds pretty awful! I wish there was something that I could do to help stop it.”

If that was what you were thinking, then I have some good news for you! There are LOTS of things that you can do to help stop plastic pollution! Here are nine simple things that you can do to limit the amount of plastic that you use in your daily life:

• Instead of using single use plastic water bottles, use reusable water bottles. Not only will this limit the amount of plastic that you dispose of, but it will also save you tons of money! In the case of single use water bottles, you have to keep repurchasing them, where as with a reusable water bottle, you only have to purchase one, and it will last you years and years!

• Buy products with less packaging. Not only will this limit the amount of plastic that you have to dispose of, but it will also make it much easier to open since you don’t have to rip through layers and layers of packaging!

• Recycle reuse, reduce! By recycling products, these items will be reused, which will reduce the amount of plastic polluting the environment.

• Instead of putting your sandwich in a single use bag, put it in a reusable bag or container! This will reduce the amount of plastic that you throw away, and it will also save you a lot of money! When it comes to single use plastic bags, you have to keep repurchasing them after you use them. But in the case of reusable bags or containers, you can keep on reusing them for years and years instead of having to purchase a new one. I have been using the same plastic containers for school lunches for my whole school career (a little bit more than six years), and they are
• still in perfectly good shape!

• Shop friendly! When you go shopping, bring reusable bags to pack your purchases in instead of packing them in single use bags. This will reduce your amount of plastic use greatly. My family even brings reusable produce bags when we go grocery shopping!

• Ban plastic straws! When requesting beverages at restaurants, simply say, “No straws please!”

• Go to restaurants that use less single use plastics to serve food and beverages.
• Cook more! Not only is cooking homemade meals healthier, but it also reduces the amount of single use take-out bags and containers.

• DON’T BE AFRAID TO SPEAK UP ABOUT PLASTIC POLLUTION!

There are so many solutions to stopping plastic pollution. The problem isn’t that we don’t know any solutions, but it is that people aren’t acting against plastic pollution. COME ON EVERYONE! IT IS TIME TO ACT!

SUMMARY

This article is now coming to a close, but I hope that the message that I have tried to convey will stay with you forever: plastic pollution is a real problem. We, as humans, have polluted the earth with our junk, and it is our job to clean it up. We must own our actions and work together as a globe to fix our mistake. Come on everyone, it’s time to clean up the earth, for the sake of every living thing on this planet.

CITED SOURCES

• http://theconversation.com/curious-kids-how-do-plastic-bags-harm-our-environment-and-sea-life-98859

• https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/plastic-how-planet-earth-environment-oceans-wildlife-recycling-landfill-artificial-a7972226.html

• https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/

• https://www.unenvironment.org/interactive/beat-plastic-pollution/