Opinion The world is pumping out 57 million tons of plastic pollution a year

[Sweater of AV]

It's a very sad state of affairs. Unfortunately, not much is going to change.

 

[jx820]

No answers for CO2? You've heard of trees right?

Yeah, how's that working out so far? This is a comforting thought, but it's not a solution.

Trees had a 370 million year head start on combustion based energy and gave it up in like 200 years.

Each adult tree consumes 48 lbs of carbon per year. Each year humanity produces an estimated 88,184,904,873,951 lbs (40 billion tons) of CO2. So we just need to wave a magic wand and produce 1.8 trillion additional adult trees and it'll all be fixed up. For reference if an adult tree requires about 20'x20' of space that's 25,826,446 square miles. That's more of less the entire land mass of Africa and Asia.

That's not to say we shouldn't be planting more. We should be. It's just not a solution. It's not even part of one because we don't have one yet.

 

[Andy Capp]

Yeah, how's that working out so far? This is a comforting thought, but it's not a solution.

Trees had a 370 million year head start on combustion based energy and gave it up in like 200 years.

Each adult tree consumes 48 lbs of carbon per year. Each year humanity produces an estimated 88,184,904,873,951 lbs (40 billion tons) of CO2. So we just need to wave a magic wand and produce 1.8 trillion additional adult trees and it'll all be fixed up. For reference if an adult tree requires about 20'x20' of space that's 25,826,446 square miles. That's more of less the entire land mass of Africa and Asia.

That's not to say we shouldn't be planting more. We should be. It's just not a solution. It's not even part of one because we don't have one yet.

We do have a solution. We've had a solution for 50 years. Had we acted then we wouldn't have any issue now at all.

 

[jx820]

We do have a solution. We've had a solution for 50 years. Had we acted then we wouldn't have any issue now at all.

I have no idea what you mean by this.

 

[Andy Capp]

I have no idea what you mean by this.

I agree we should definitely plant more trees but that alone won't fix anything. I'm replying to "It's just not a solution. It's not even part of one because we don't have one yet."

People have been sounding the alarm about climate change for decades. Were it not for moneyed interests standing in the way of pushing a green energy agenda all the way back then we likely would not have the climate issues we see today, and which will get an awful lot worse before they get better no matter what we do at this point (aside from really drastic action maybe, which is never going to happen.)

 

[Fox by the Sea]

what really fucked me up was reading that bottled water is awash with the microplastics stuff. i've been only drinking bottled water for decades. wonder if tap water with filter wouldn't have been healthier.

 

[scoopj]

Yeah, how's that working out so far? This is a comforting thought, but it's not a solution.

Trees had a 370 million year head start on combustion based energy and gave it up in like 200 years.

Each adult tree consumes 48 lbs of carbon per year. Each year humanity produces an estimated 88,184,904,873,951 lbs (40 billion tons) of CO2. So we just need to wave a magic wand and produce 1.8 trillion additional adult trees and it'll all be fixed up. For reference if an adult tree requires about 20'x20' of space that's 25,826,446 square miles. That's more of less the entire land mass of Africa and Asia.

That's not to say we shouldn't be planting more. We should be. It's just not a solution. It's not even part of one because we don't have one yet.

Trees and oceans capture 40% of the excess CO2 caused by fossil fuel emissions. They absolutely should be part of the solution.

 

[My Spot]

Why does the list of the worst plastic polluting countries in the world look exactly like the list of the countries which the west sends nearly all of it's "recycled" plastic?

If you live in the west and want to make sure your plastic doesn't end up in the ocean, throw it in the regular trash so it goes to a landfill in the your country, and not on a barge bound for an southeast Asian country that is most likely going to just dump it in a river.

But recycling makes me feel good.

 

[jx820]

Trees and oceans capture 40% of the excess CO2 caused by fossil fuel emissions. They absolutely should be part of the solution.

Sure. If we ever figure out a solution they will certainly be part of it.

But we have to be realistic about what trees can and can't do, and the math behind that. Planting a tree today will pay dividends 25 years from now if they survive the ensuing heat and depending how bad the CO2 gets increasingly acidic rain.

You can't stop what's happening today or in the short term by planting trees. We don't have enough seeds, labor hours, or time for maturity.

But that's not to say we shouldn't start anyway.