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Our species' bottomless appetite for plastic isn't just a problem because of all the waste it generates. Its production is also spewing unchecked greenhouse gas emissions,The work shows that our reliance on the ubiquitous material is undermining climate change mitigation efforts, not to mention adding endless plastic pollution to the environment and our bodies
"Petrochemicals, the building block of plastic, are already poisoning communities that neighbor production facilities with cancer-causing pollution," Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Beyond Petrochemicals executive director and one of the report's sponsors Heather McTeer ToneyThe scientists found that even a conservative scenario — of the plastic sector growing at 2.
A less conservative scenario — in which the plastic sector grows by four percent per year — would see greenhouse gas emissions increasing three fold by 2050, making up a staggering 25 to 31 percent of the planetary carbon budget to keep warming at 1.5 degree Celsius. The team arrived at the findings by analyzing how plastic is produced, from the extraction of fossil fuels to producing finished products.
The findings are grim, according to the scientists, and defy easy fixes — much like the rest of the climate crisis, tragically.
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