Plastic Pollution In Modern World - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 6 Words: 1799 Downloads: 7 Date added: 2019/04/15 Category Ecology Essay Level High school Tags: Pollution Essay Did you like this example? Abstract Plastic pollution is one of the largest issues facing the worlds oceans. Plastic, which is not degradable and remains in the environment for long periods of time, is frequently disposed of improperly. As a result, oceans are littered with fragments of plastic, nets, packaging, bottles, and debris that poses a serious threat on marine wildlife. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Plastic Pollution In Modern World" essay for you Create order In order to protect aquatic animals and habitats, it is important to not only properly dispose of and recycle plastic, but to develop and use plastic alternatives as well. The following paper discusses the negative effects plastic pollution has on wildlife and the potential for biodegradable plastics and their waste management. Introduction With over 280 million tons of plastic produced annually1, the world has become a plastic society. Durable and inexpensive, plastic is an ideal choice for consumers. However, plastic is a substance that cannot be degraded. There are various forms of synthetic plastic, including polyethylene, polyvinylchloride, polypropylene, polystyrene, polyethylene terephthalate, and polyurethane. Over one third of plastics produced are manufactured into cups, straws, and stirrers that people use every day. To better understand plastic pollution, it is helpful to analyze the creation, lifespan, and disposal of a plastic bottle. In this process, plastic is produced by polymer chains of polyethylene terephthalate, which are melted and shaped into a plastic bottle. The bottle is then filled, packaged, shipped, and consumed. After consumption, the bottle is disposed of.If it is taken to a landfill, the bottle will take a thousand years to decompose and can poison water flow. If the bottle is disposed of in water, it will eventually reach the ocean and be drawn towards the vortex where plastic accumulates. If the bottle is recycled, it is transformed back into raw plastic and repurposed. Unfortunately, the bottle will most likely end up in the ocean, furthering marine plastic pollution.In the past century, there has been a growing concern over plastic pollution. Plastics are long-lived and non-biodegradable, making them a major marine environmental issue. Ocean gyres in the Atlantic, Pacific, and Indian oceans, have become the final graveyard point for plastics.1As a result, ecosystems and marine wildlife are severely impacted. Therefore, it is necessary to deter the negative impacts of plastic pollution on marine wildlife by developing and using biodegradable plastics.ResultsPlastics are lightweight and durable, allowing them to travel far distances. According to the Plastic Oceans Foundation, more than 8 million tons of plastic are dumped into our oceans every year.2When plastics are improperly disposed of, such as along shorelines, the ocean carries the plastic into gyres. An ocean gyre is a large-scale circulation pattern, flowing clockwise in the Northern Hemisphere and counterclockwise in the Southern. Due to Ekman transport, the flow of water perpendicular to driving winds, water eventually spirals into the center of the gyre, where i t accumulates plastic garbage. These garbage patches coincide with regions of the ocean that have low nutrient levels and depleted wildlife. Thus, plastic in the oceans is posing a great risk to marine ecosystems.The greatness of plastic pollution in oceans has increased drastically in the past century. One of the main concerns related to this pollution is danger it poses to marine wildlife and biodiversity. Oftentimes, aquatic animals are injured by the entanglement or ingestion of plastic. Animals such as seabirds, turtles, or dolphins can become entangled in debris in oceans, risking injury or death. The debris includes fishing nets, balloon ribbons, and six-pack plastic rings. The U.S. Marine Mammal Commission reports that 136 marine species have been reported in entanglement incidents, including six species of sea turtles, 51 species of seabirds, and 32 species of marine mammals. The ingestion of debris by animals can also lead to devastating effects on marine wildlife. Aquatic animals mistake plastic particles and debris for food. After ingestion, the plastic cannot be regurgitated. Instead, it becomes trapped in digestive tracts, reducing stomach capacity and causing internal injuries. According to the U.S. Marine Mammal Commission. ingestion incidents have been documented in six of seven species of sea turtles, 111 out of the worlds 312 species of seabirds, and 26 species of marine mammals.4In broader terms, 23% of marine mammals, 36% of seabirds, and 86% of sea turtle species have been negatively impacted by plastic debris.1Sea turtles appear to be one of the largest victims of plastic pollution. Sea turtles ingest fishing lines, six-pack rings, and plastic bags, which look like jelly-fish. For example, leatherback sea turtles have slowly declined in population in the past few decades. In the last 40 years, of the 371 autopsies conducted on leatherback tu rtles, 37.2 % of them had plastic in their gastrointestinal tracts.1In these autopsies, plastic was also found to block the passage of female eggs, affecting reproduction.In various studies conducted on birds, it was found that plastic ingested by birds could be an indicator of increased plastic in the oceans. In a 1997 study conducted in the Pacific Ocean, Blight and Burger discovered that, of the 353 ingested items recovered from 11 species of seabirds, 29.2 % were industrial pellets and 70.5 % were broken pieces of everyday use plastics.1In 2009, the stomach contents of 67 fulmars were found to contain 36.8 pieces of plastic on average.1As a result, the study suggested an increase in the ingestion of plastics amongst birds.In addition to wildlife effects, plastic pollution can lead to habitat destruction. Debris in oceans can damage shorelines and fragile aquatic habitats. The garbage patches in oceans lead to opaqueness and block necessary sunlight. Another concern is that drifting debris can host entire communities of encrusting and attached organisms and transport them great distances.4As a result, these organisms can harm or compete with native species.Biodegradable alternatives to conventional plastics exist. These biodegradable polymers are able to undergo decomposition and degrad e into carbon dioxide, methane, water, and biomass from the enzymatic action of naturally occurring microorganisms over a period of time. Biodegradable plastics may be classified as compostable or degradable.Compostable plastic is plastic that is capable of undergoing biological decomposition in a compost site as part of an available program, such that the plastic is not visually distinguishable and breaks down to carbon dioxide, water, inorganic compounds and biomass, at a rate consistent with known compostable materials. In order for plastic to be classified as compostable, it must be biodegradable, lack toxic residue, and be indistinguishable in compost.Degradable plastic will undergo a significant change in its chemical structure under specific environmental conditions resulting in a loss of some properties.For something to be considered degradable plastic, the plastic does not have to be degraded by naturally occurring microorganisms.Biodegradable polymers include agricultural polymers, polyhydroxyalkanoates, polylactates, polycaprolactones, polyesteramides, polybutylene succinate adipate, and polybutylene adipate coteraphthalate.Following a pilot plant phase in the 1990s, biodegradable plastic production has reached a commercialized scale. A growing portion of these plastics now have renewable origins, rather than petrochemical origins. Yet, the current production capacity for biodegradable plastics is 350,000 tons compared to 280 million tons of petrochemical plastics. Although biodegradable plastics offer environmental benefits, bioplastics have not yet gained widespread use because of high costs. Biodegradable plastics can be two to 10 times more expensive to produce than conventional plastics.Biodegradable plastics can be disposed of through recycling, incineration, landfill, and biological waste treatments. Bioplastics are difficult for existing recycling systems to recycle because of the lack of continuous supply of bioplastic. Therefore, it is not economically reasonable for bioplastics to be recycled. Biodegradable plastics can be incinerated with energy recovery and is a good alternative after the plastic has been used. Bioplastics and biodegradable materials in landfills can lead to methane production. Although the methane can be used as an energy source, it is a potent greenhouse gas that poses a threat to our environment if released. Finally, biological waste treatments, such as composting or anaerobic digestion, can be used to degrade bioplastics.DiscussionPlastic is used every day across the globe. According to Professor Andrew Holmes, from the University of Melbourne, No-one in their daily life within a period of 10 minutes isnt touching something that is made of plastic. Plastic comprises clothes, phones, cars, and laptops. Yet, with the benefits plastic gives us, there are drawbacks and environmental issues.With the increase in plastic pollution in the past few decades, the impact on wildlife has been detrimental. The ocean is full of waste that is improperly disposed of, with an estimated 236,000 tons of plastic contaminating the ocean. Consequently, marine animals become entangled in plastic materials, such as netting, ropes, six-pack rings, and fishing lines. The second biggest issue for these animals is ingestion of plastic. When ingested, these plastics can cause serious digestive tracts problems through perforation and leaching of toxic chemicals found in plastics.In order to protect marine wildlife, society must make changes on land. Individuals need to be made aware of the plastic pollution threatening aquatic animals and ecosystems. It would be beneficial for society to emphasize recycling and penalize those who do not, apply pressure to manufacturers to alter packaging methods, and implement a tax or ban on plastic-bag use. In addition, beach and river clean ups will prevent plastics from further contaminating the ocean.Plastics do not disappear and will remain in the environment until pollution is reduced. Therefore, the world should hasten the transition to biodegradable plastics. These biodegradable polymers will play an important role in society in the future, especially in the packaging segment. Biodegradable plastics can be classified as compostable or degradable and are best disposed of by biological waste treatment. Although these bioplastics can be 10 times more expensive than conventional plastic, bioplastic polymers have the potential to reduce landfills, improve material recovery, and decrease plastic pollution. However, biodegradable plastics require stringent control of collection, separation, and compositing, making the process difficult and narrowly accepted. Therefore, to improve this process and assist bioplastics in reaching their full potential, color-coding the plastics by the nature of material would make the process simpler. References Sigler, Michelle. The Effects of Plastic Pollution on Aquatic Wildlife: CurrentSituations and Future Solutions.SpringerLink, Springer International Publishing,18 Oct. 2014, link.springer.com/article/10.1007%2Fs11270-014-2184-6. Facts About Plastic.Plastic Oceans Foundation, plasticoceans.org/the-facts/. Sebille, Erik Van. The Oceans Accumulating Plastic Garbage.Physics Today, vol. 68,no. 2, 2015, pp. 60â€Å"61., doi:10.1063/pt.3.2697. Sheavly, S. B., and K. M. Register. Marine Debris Plastics: Environmental Concerns,Sources, Impacts and Solutions.SpringerLink, Springer US, 28 Nov. 2007,doi.org/10.1007/s10924-007-0074-3. Song, J. H., et al.Biodegradable and Compostable Alternatives to Conventional Plastics.The Royal Society, 27 July 2009,www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2873018/. Poenie, Martin. Lecture 19 Plastics 2018. Renewable Resources:Environment/Future. Renewable Resources: Environment/Future, 5 April 2018,Austin, University of Texas at Austin. Are Biodegradable Materials More Expensive?Home Guides | SF Gate,homeguides.sfgate.com/biodegradable-materials-expensive-78496.html. Weule, Genelle. Plastic and How It Affects Our Oceans.ABC News, AustralianBroadcasting Corporation, 27 Feb. 2017,www.abc.net.au/news/science/2017-02-27/plastic-and-plastic-waste-explained/8301316.

Pornography And Its Influence On Society s Greater...

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Research and Critical Thinking Essay Example For Students

Research and Critical Thinking Essay Research Critical Thinking Research and Critical Thinking Essay is such a crucial entity in the world of every single science and our every day lives. While a biologist is testing the effects of carbon monoxide on the environment, a little girl is pointing in the sky counting how many colors there are in a rainbow. Both of these scenarios involve research and critical thinking but are extremely different. There are no guidelines for the little girl but there are many that the biologist has to follow. The same goes for psychological research. Psychological research is almost exactly the same as scientific research. First you must make a hypothesis, experiment, collect data, and based off of the data you make conclusions as to whether or not your hypothesis was confirmed. The difference between psychological research and some other sciences is in whats considered data and how that data is gathered and processed. Because psychology deals greatly with the mind and sometimes focuses on things that are not measurable, research has been restricted to things that are observable and therefore can be traced. To do research that successfully gives birth to credible data there are certain elements that must be followed as closely as possible. First your hypothesis must be researched and generalized. Secondly, before starting an experiment one must have a dependent variable, a control variable, and an independent variable. Third the data must be collected and translated properly. In the case of the researcher who studied college students he has completely abused all the elements of research. He has done almost everything wrong in his research, therefore making his research highly un-credible and almost bogus. Starting with the first step in the scientific method, which is forming a hypothesis, I have reason to believe that after reading this researchers hypothesis he hasnt a clue how to properly conduct it. Comparing the four year college students to the two year college students is not the problem; it is the structure of the hypothesis. Instead of saying students at a four year colleges are more intelligent than students at two year colleges, the hypothesis should be if students who attend four year colleges and students who attend two year colleges take the same IQ test, than the students who attend the four year college will score higher than the students who attend the two year college. It is much more descriptive without being to constricting. At the beginning of the hypothesis it is better to be more descriptive than in the end. For instance if the hypothesis were to state that the four year students would score six points higher than the two year students. However both groups scored eight points higher. Even though they scored higher it would still disprove the entire hypothesis. The next step is the experiment. The way the researcher went about experimenting makes him an even bigger idiot. This is the area that was the most incorrect. First the researcher only tested ten students from each college. With the difference in gender, race, age, education levels, and so many other factors there should be a much larger sample representing each whole. Also he chose the ten people from each college differently. In the four year college he used the first ten volunteers. At the second college he grabbed ten students he found sitting in a T.V. lounge following their last class on a Friday. For one thing if he just found these students how did he know they were students? Just because he found them in a T.V. lounge does not prove that they are. If he randomly just found these ten students how did he know they had returned from their last class that day. I believe he didnt so therefore it wasnt random. Another problem with his selection of test subjects is that what if the first ten students who volunteered at the four year college were all female above the age of 25 with a 4.0 grading average while the ten he chose off the couch at the two year college were all males under the age of 25 with a 2.0 grading average? It would make the entire experiment unfair and the .

The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling Review

'The Jungle Book' by Rudyard Kipling Review The Jungle Book is one of the works for which Rudyard Kipling is best remembered. The Jungle Book falls in line with works like Flatland and Alice in Wonderland (which offer satire and political commentary underneath the genre title of childrens literature). Likewise, the stories in The Jungle Book are written to be enjoyed by adults as well as children- with a depth of meaning and symbolism that delves far beyond the surface. Relationships and events related to The Jungle Book are important to any human being, including adult men and women, with or without families. While the tales can be read, or children may listen to them from an older reader, these stories need to be re-read later, in high school, and again in later adult life. They are enjoyable in every subsequent reading and the longer one lives, the broader is the frame of reference one has against which to draw the stories into perspective.The Kipling stories offer a marked perspective of a reminder of human origins and history as well as animal. As the Native American and other Indigenous Peoples often state: All are related under one sky. A reading of ​The Jungle Book at age 90 will reach several more levels of meaning than a childhood reading and both are just as brilliant an experience. The stories can be shared inter-generationally, with interpretations shared by all. The book is a group of stories that are actually quite good for â⠂¬Å"Grandparents in the School† types of family literacy programs of the current day. Importance of the Tales Kipling is still much quoted, via Gunga Din and his famous poem â€Å"IF,† but The Jungle Book  is also important. They are important because they address the prime relationships in one’s life- family, coworkers, bosses- and everyone’s relationship with Nature. For instance, if a boy is raised by wolves, then wolves are his family until the last one dies. The themes of The Jungle Book revolve around noble qualities such as loyalty, honor, courage, tradition, integrity, and persistence. These are good to discuss and ponder in any century, making the stories timeless.My favorite Jungle Book story is of a young mahout and his elephant and the legend of the elephant dance in the middle of the forest. This is Toomai of the Elephants. From wooly mammoths and mastodons to our zoological parks, to the Elephants Sanctuary in the American South to Disney’s Dumbo, and Seuss’s Horton, elephants are magical creatures. They know friendship and heartache and can cry. Kipling may have been the first to show that they can also dance. The young mahout, Toomai, believes the tale of the infrequent event of Elephant Dance, even when the seasoned elephant trainers try to dissuade him. He is rewarded for his belief by being taken to that very dance by his own elephant, spending time in another world that few can enter. Faith makes entrance possible, so Kipling tells us, and there is the possibility that childlike faith can be translated to any number of human events. â€Å"Tiger-Tiger† After Mowgli left his Wolf Pack, he visited a Human village and was adopted by Messua and her husband, who both believed him their own son, previously stolen by a tiger. They teach him Human customs and language and help him adjust to a new life. However, the wolf-boy Mowgli hears from Grey Brother (a wolf) that trouble is afoot against him. Mowgli does not succeed in the Human village but makes enemies of a hunter, a priest, and others, because he denounces their unrealistic comments about the jungle and its animals. For this, he is reduced to the status of the cowherd. This story suggests that perhaps the animals are more just than Humans.The tiger Sheer Khan enters the village, while Mowgli takes half his cattle to one side of a ravine, and his wolf brothers take the rest to on the other side. Mowgli lures the tiger into the middle of the ravine and the cattle trample him to death. The envious hunter broadcasts that the boy is a wizard or demon and Mowgli is exiled to wander the c ountryside. This certainly shows the dark side of human beings, again suggesting that animals are nobler creatures.​ Other Favorite Tales Other favorites from this collection are â€Å"The White Seal†, the tale of a Bering Sea’s seal pup that saves 1000s of his kindred from the fur trade, and â€Å"Her Majesty’s Servants†, a story of the conversations heard by a man among the camp animals of the Queen’s military. The entire collection observes mankind from a stance of needing improvement that is possible if they listen to animal wisdom.