BP:
It was announced today (2/15/2015) that China leads the world in the accumulation of plastic ocean garbage. The study, published in the Journal of Science, estimates that China’s heavy coastal population contributes 1.2 million to 3.5 million metric tons of plastic to the world’s oceans each year, largely due to mismanaged waste.
In your opinion, what can be done – and by whom – to create a sense of urgency for the developing economies of Asia?
SE:
People don’t tend to think about the ocean when they think of what we need to do to take care of the planet – as if the ocean somehow doesn’t matter or is so big, so vast, that it can take care of itself, or that there is nothing that we could possibly do to harm the ocean. But that’s not true. Now we know that the ocean has limits; there is only so
much that we can take out before it will be empty of fish and other sea life, and there is also a limit to how much of our greenhouse gas emissions, excess toxic chemicals and trash we can throw into the ocean before this vital living system will no longer be able to function.
The study you refer to in Science Magazine reports that the amount of plastic that washed ashore in the year 2010 alone was enough to cover every inch of coastline on Earth. That doesn’t even include 99% of the plastic that ends up in the ocean every year. Now we know. Ignorance is the biggest problem of all for the ocean – and many other things as well. Knowledge is the key to making a difference. With knowledge, you can be powerful. I have had the privilege of spending more time than others in the ocean and have seen things that others haven’t.
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NO OCEAN, NO LIFE;
NO OCEAN, NO US.
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