March 28: The Plastic Problem Flashcards
What materials are used to produce plastics?
Coal
Natural gas
Crude oil
What processes associated with the production and disposal of plastics produce greenhouse gas emissions?
Land clearing for oil production, because when we deforest, the organis carbon that was contained by the trees will be released into the atmosphere. And most of these sites won’t have trees on them, so no trees will absorb carbon from the atmosphere.
The compressors for land clearing
The pipeline leaks
The trucks
Natural gas systems
What are some uses of plastics and their lifespan?
Building and construction: 35 years
Industrial machinery: 20 years
Transportation: 13 years
Electrical: 8 years
Textiles: 5 years
Consumer products: 3 years
Packaging: 0.5 years
What causes the greatest proportion of ground clearing?
Gathering pipelines
What are the types of plastics? (+examples of uses)
PE=polyethylene (shampoo bottles, pipes, plastic bages, food packaging films)
PP=polypropelene (Food packaging, candy wrapping, microwavable containers)
PVC=polyvinyl chloride (building and construction material, pipes, window frames)
PET=polyethylene terephthalate (plastic packaging, water bottle, soft drinks, cleaning products)
PS=polystyrene (glasses frames, cups) Its expanded form is Styrofoam
(this is in order of most the least present)
Why do plastics formed from plants not solve the problems associated with those formed from fossil fuels?
Plant-based PET will not decompose, it has the same environmental impact as plastic. Pure bioplastic will release carbon dioxide and water when it breaks down. If additives or toxins have been added during the manufacturing process, these may be released during degradation.
Why doesn’t recycling solve the problem of plastic?
There are limits to the number of times plastic can be recycled.
What are bioplastics?
Plastics made from renewable plants like corn, cassava, sugar beet, sugar cane and they are NOT made from petrochemicals.
Used for food packaging, coffee cups, bottles, plates, cutlery, vegetable bags, medical applications like implants, fracture fixation.
How can we reduce the impact of plastics on global climate?
- Ending the production and use of single-use plastic( disposable plastic)
- Stopping development of new oil gas and petrochemical infrastructure
- Fostering transition to zero-waste communities
- Ensuring products are designed and managed throughout their lifecycles for reuse and continual recycling
- Implementing extended producer responsibility as a critical component of circular economies
- Adopting and enforcing ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from all sectors
In what ways are microplastics redistributed around the world?
Inputs of microplastics in the ocean from: Atmospheric deposition, Land-based and riverine sources, At sea pollution
How are they being distributed after being in the ocean? Surface ocean circulation, sinking and mid-depth suspension, surface export to Arctic, biofouling (aggregate formation and export), ingestion by fish and into their feces, which will sink.
How does upwelling increase primary productivity in the ocean.
Upwelling is a phenomenon when winds push the top layer of ocean water away, letting nutrient rich, cold water from the bottom rise up. These upwellings have high levels of biological production. Phytoplankton is then created in these nutrient-rich conditions, which leads to increased numbers of zooplankton, providing food for nekton.
how does Carbon transportation happen between phytoplankton and zooplankton?
Phytoplankton: vegetation
Zooplankton: Animal
When zooplankton ingest phytoplankton, the zooplankton absorb some of the carbon that the phytoplankton absorbed during photosynthesis. Thsi carbon is then transported to the deep ocean throught fecal pellets of the zooplankton.
Why is it bad for the ocean that Zooplanktons ingest microplastics?
When they ingest microplastic, it goes into their fecal pellets which are going to the deep ocean. Carbon can be sequestered at the bottom that way, but when microplastics are in the fecal pellets, they tend to break down more readily and sink more slowly, which reduce the amount of carbon being sequestered.
What is the plastiphere?
The plastiphere is formed by the microbial communities that are colonizing the microplastics.
How is plastic toxic to organisms?
Can leach additives used in its formation.
Microplastics attract other chemicals that don’t dissolve in water, which causes an accumulation of polluants in water in higher concentration than usual.
With degradation and aging of plastics, they become more bioavailable, so organisms can more easily absorb them.
Plastic particules can become hotspots for microbial selection, so more pathogens and bacteria that can cause diseases to marine organisms.
Plastic is a carrier of toxic compounds oceanwide.
