2 The Dark Side of Plastic Pollution

This section needs to be broken up a little into smaller sections.

While plastics transformed industries, their durability became a problem. Only 9% of all plastic waste has ever been recycled, with the rest accumulating in landfills or the environment. Over 40% of plastic produced annually is for single-use items like packaging, straws, and utensils. Plastics can take hundreds to thousands of years to degrade, breaking into microplastics in the process.

We use Activity on OpenLearn rather than Exercise.

Plastic pollution has become one of the most pressing environmental challenges, affecting ecosystems on land, in water, and even in the air. On land, plastics degrade soil quality, harm wildlife, and leach toxic chemicals into the ground and water sources. In the oceans, plastic waste disrupts marine ecosystems as animals ingest or become entangled in plastic debris, leading to injuries or death. Microplastics—tiny fragments of broken-down plastic—are now found in nearly every corner of the planet, including the food chain, posing risks to wildlife and human health. Plastics also contribute to climate change when burned, releasing greenhouse gases and harmful toxins into the air. With their persistence in the environment for hundreds of years, plastics represent a long-term threat to biodiversity, ecosystems, and the planet as a whole.

Plastic pollution has a profound and far-reaching impact on the environment, affecting ecosystems at every level:

Would break the content at this point and move this into smaller subsections about each topic area, this could also include an image to show the type of ecosystem. I would also not use bullet point lists in these sections but slightly expand the content into paragraphs that would convey each type of ecosystem.

1. Terrestrial Ecosystems

• Soil Contamination: Microplastics accumulate in soil, affecting its fertility and water-holding capacity. These particles can also disrupt soil organisms like earthworms that are vital for maintaining healthy ecosystems.
• Harm to Wildlife: Animals on land, such as birds and mammals, often mistake plastic for food. This can lead to choking, blockages, and malnutrition.
• Chemical Pollution: Plastics can leach harmful chemicals like bisphenol A (BPA) and phthalates into the soil, contaminating plants and groundwater.

2. Marine Ecosystems

• Ingestion by Marine Life: Plastic debris is often mistaken for food by fish, turtles, and seabirds. Ingested plastics can cause blockages in the digestive system, reduce nutrient absorption, and even lead to starvation.
• Microplastics in the Food Chain: Tiny plastic particles are ingested by plankton and other small organisms, transferring microplastics and their associated toxins up the food chain to larger predators, including humans.
• Habitat Disruption: Plastic waste accumulates on coral reefs, smothering corals and preventing them from receiving sunlight or nutrients. Floating plastic can also transport invasive species to new environments, disrupting local ecosystems.

3. Freshwater Ecosystems

• Plastic in Rivers and Lakes: Rivers act as pathways, carrying plastic waste from land to the oceans. This pollution harms freshwater species and disrupts aquatic food webs.
• Chemical Contamination: Plastics release toxic additives into the water, affecting fish and other aquatic organisms' reproductive systems and growth.

4. Air and Climate Impact

• Plastic Incineration: When plastics are burned, they release harmful greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane, contributing to global warming. Toxic chemicals such as dioxins are also released, impacting air quality.
• Microplastics in the Air: Tiny particles from degraded plastics can become airborne, affecting both human health and the atmosphere.

5. Threat to Biodiversity

• Mass Mortality Events: Wildlife entanglement in plastic waste, like fishing nets or six-pack rings, can lead to injuries, drowning, or death.
• Loss of Key Species: The decline of species impacted by plastic pollution disrupts ecosystems and food chains, leading to imbalances in biodiversity.

6. Long-Term Persistence

• Non-Biodegradable Nature: Plastics take hundreds to thousands of years to break down, persisting in the environment and accumulating over time.
• Microplastics Everywhere: These tiny particles have been found in remote regions, including Arctic ice and deep-sea trenches, demonstrating their global spread.

Again, would break this case study into it's own sub-section with some imagery of Seira Leone