A global plastics crisis

Emily Atkin

NewRepublic.com

When a dead sperm whale washed up on a beach in Spain earlier this year, said Emily Atkin, scientists were shocked to discover “64 pounds of plastic in its stomach and intestines.” Throughout the world, discarded plastic is infiltrating and killing wildlife, ravaging coral reefs, and contaminating birds, fish, and the food chain. It is making its way into our bodies, with unknown health effects. Humans already put 19 billion pounds of plastics into the oceans every year, and that toxic avalanche will double by 2025. Recycling and bans on plastic bags and straws can “make a small difference,” but this scourge is truly an international problem, with Asian countries contributing the vast majority of ocean plastic. “Like human-caused climate change,” plastic pollution requires an international agreement with “binding pollution-reduction targets for every country.” That goal will meet with stiff resistance: Not surprisingly, China, India, and now the U.S. under President Trump have refused to sign a draft U.N. resolution that would start the process of setting plastic targets. But it’s the only way to stop the immense flow of plastics into our oceans and our bodies. “The plastics crisis is entirely within humans’ power to solve, but only if we do it together.”