When temperatures rise and ice melts, more water flows to the seas and ocean water warms and expands in volume. Shutterstock , and ,
By now, most of us have heard that the use of plastics is a big issue for the environment. Partly fuelled by the success of the , people are more aware than ever before about the 鈥� as well as the impact it can have on 鈥� with industries promising .
Single use plastics are now high on the agenda 鈥� with many people trying to do their bit to reduce usage. But what if all of this just provides a convenient distraction from some of the more serious environmental issues? In our we argue plastic pollution 鈥� or more accurately the response of governments and industry to addressing plastic pollution 鈥� provides a 鈥渃onvenient truth鈥� that such as climate change.
Yes, we know plastic can entangle birds, fish and marine mammals 鈥� which can starve after filling their stomachs with plastics, and yet there are no conclusive studies on population level . Studies on the toxicity effects, especially to humans are . for example, that plastic is not as great a threat to oceans as climate change or over-fishing.
Read more:
More easily fixed?
Taking a stand against plastic 鈥� by carrying reusable coffee cups, or eating in restaurant chains where only paper straws are provided 鈥� is the classic neoliberal response. Consumers drive markets, and consumer choices will therefore create change in the industry.
Alternative products can often have different, but equally . And the benefits of these small-scale consumer driven changes are often minor. Take, for example, energy-efficient light bulbs 鈥� in practice, using these has been shown to have very little effect on a person鈥檚 .
But by making these small changes, plastic still appears to be an issue we can address. The of plastic pollution 鈥� which aims to sieve plastic out of the sea 鈥� is a classic example. Despite many scientists鈥� and its recent failed attempts to the project is still attractive to many as it allows us to tackle the issue without having to make any .
Scientists first became aware of a potentially warming world as far back as the 1970s. Pexels
The real issue
That鈥檚 not to say plastic pollution isn鈥檛 a problem, rather there are much bigger problems facing the world we live in 鈥� specifically climate change.
In October last year the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) produced a report detailing drastic action needed to . Much of the news focused on what individuals could do to 鈥� although some articles did also indicate the need for .
Despite the importance of this message, environmental news has been dominated by the issues of plastic pollution. So it鈥檚 not surprising that so many people think ocean plastics are the most serious environmental threat to the planet. But this is not the case. In 2009 the concept of was introduced to indicate safe operating limits for the Earth from a number of environmental threats.
Planetary boundaries. The green circle indicates a safe operating space. Three boundaries have been greatly exceeded. ,
Three boundaries were shown to be exceeded: biodiversity loss, nitrogen flows and climate change. Climate change and biodiversity loss are also considered meaning if they are exceeded for a prolonged time, they can shift the planet into new, less hospitable, stable states.
These 鈥渃lear and present dangers鈥� of climate change and biodiversity loss could undermine the capacity of our planet to support over seven billion people 鈥� with the loss of homes, food sources and livelihoods. It could lead to major disruptions of our ways of life 鈥� by making many areas uninhabitable due increased temperatures and rising sea levels. These changes could start to happen .
Lifestyle overhaul
This is not to distract from the fact that some significant steps have been taken to help the planet environmentally by reducing plastic waste. But it is important not to forget the need for large-scale systemic changes needed internationally to tackle all environmental concerns. This includes longer-term and more effective solutions to the plastic problem 鈥� but also extending to more radical large-scale initiatives to reduce consumption, decarbonise economies and move beyond materialism as the basis for our well-being.
The focus needs to be on making the way we live more sustainable by questioning our overly consumerist lifestyles that are at the root of major challenges such as climate change, rather than a narrower focus on sustainable consumer choices 鈥� such as buying our takeaway coffee in a reusable cup. We must reform the way we live rather than tweak the choices we make.
There is a narrow window of opportunity to address the critical challenge of, in particular, climate change. And failure to do so could lead to massive systemic impacts to the Earth鈥檚 capacity to support life 鈥� particularly the human race. Now is not the time to be distracted by the convenient truth of plastic pollution, as the relatively minor threats this poses are eclipsed by the global systemic threats of climate change.
, Professor of Marine Biology and Conservation, and , Reader in Environmental Governance,
This article is republished from under a Creative Commons license. Read the .
