PLASTICS AND GLOBAL

WARMING

Pratima Pandey Objective – To create awareness about Global Warming and (Ab)use of Plastics

Familiar sight..?500 billion plastic bags distributed annually worldwide , and less than 3% of those bags recycled.They are typically made of polyethylene and can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade in landfills that emit harmful greenhouse gases. (Time, 2007)

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Plastics - Why so popular?

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Why So Popular?

How Plastics are Harmful?

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Contd.

How Plastics are Harmful?

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Human health hazard

Phthalates, a chemical used to make plastics pliable, may have hormone disrupting effects on unborn baby boys; also linked to obesity and diabetes in men ( CBC News (2008), URMC Press(2007))

Enters food chain as it is ingested by sea and land animalsFor more negative health effects, see http://www.ecologycenter.org/factsheets/plastichealtheffects.html#plas tichealthgrid Contd.

How Plastics are Harmful?

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Plastics in land fills emit greenhouse gases which trap heat and contribute to Global

Warming (GW)

For more on GW, click here!

Is there a way out?

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3 R Mantra from Green Peace Contd.

Is there a way out?

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References• Australian Retailers Association (2008), http://www.noplasticbags.org.au/home/default.aspx

,accessed April 6, 2009.• BBC (2004), http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/3666474.stm, accessed April 6, 2009.• CBC News (2008), http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2008/06/04/f-phthalates.html, accessed

March 17, 2009• Khaleej Times (2009)

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?col=&section=middleeast&xfile=data/middleeast/2009/March/middleeast_March247.xml, accessed April 6, 2009.

• Guardian (2009) http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/16/plastic-bags-india-delhi-ban, accessed April 6, 2009

• National Geographic http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/gw-effects.html, accessed April 6, 2009

• Time (2007) http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/environment/article/0,28804,1602354_1603074_1603179,00.html, accessed April 5, 2009

• URMC Press Room (2007), http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/PR/news/story.cfm?id=1405, accessed March 17, 2009 04/13/23 Each one can make a difference! 9

Thank You

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What is Global warming?

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Global Warming and Consequences • Ice melting - includes mountain glaciers, ice

sheets covering West Antarctica and Greenland, and Arctic sea ice

• Researcher Bill Fraser has tracked the Decline of the 7 April 2009 penguins on Antarctica (from 32,000 breeding pairs to 11,000 in 30 years)

• Movement of butterflies, foxes, and alpine plants have moved farther north or to higher, cooler areas

• Precipitation (rain and snowfall) has increased across the globe, on average.

• Sea level rise became faster over the last century

(So: National Geographic)

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Global Warming and Natural Disasters

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Risk factors: City growth, climate change, environmental degradation(So: International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, UN Agency , reported to BBC, September, 2004 )

Global warming – A Reality – World speaks…

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“We now know without a doubt that global warming is threatening us with higher temperatures, more drought, more wildfire, more flooding, and more erosion of our coastal communities…the overwhelming scientific evidence has proven this over and over again. We must act now with the rest of the world to curb emissions” Barack Obama, President, US

Effects of global warming

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Why go far…Just recall the last time we remarked or discussed about the climate change in our area?

To Know More about GW..

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(Co: www.globalwarming.org.in)

Important Sources of Information •http://www.stopglobalwarming.org/sgw_learnmore.asp•http://environment.about.com/od/faqglobalwarming/f/greengases.htm•http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greenhouse_gas•http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/ •http://www.globalwarming.org.in/global-warming-facts.php