John’s Blog/Newsletter: SEA LEVEL RISE NOW

Artwork “Plastic Beach” by Robert Callender

Plastics are made from petroleum, so there is a connection with the issue of climate change. Yet there is fundamental confusion that needs to be cleaned up.

At the simplest level, the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) and other so-called “greenhouse gases” corresponds to the extra one and a half degrees Fahrenheit (~one degree Celsius) of warming that has developed over the last century. That extra heat, most of which is stored in the ocean, is connected with everything from changing weather patterns, warmer temperatures, extreme rainfall, more wildfires, melting polar ice sheets and rising sea level. 

Unfortunately, there is a common misconception that plastics––such as plastic grocery bags and other plastic litter––are contributing to the problem of climate change, and therefore, eradicating them can be part of the possible solution. This is simply not true, to any material degree.

The proof is that even if we immediately banned all plastics worldwide, or even made them “illegal”, the rate of global temperature increase, melting polar ice sheets, or rising sea level rise would not change in any detectable way.

By far the major contributor to carbon dioxide emissions and global temperature increase comes from the burning of fossil fuels mostly from power generation, transportation, industry, home energy use, outdoor lighting, powering computers and other electronics, etc. To slow the rise in greenhouse gases, the energy use for those needs would need to be reduced or switched to renewable sources (non-fossil fuel based). This is quite unrelated to the use of plastics.

That is why I try to focus efforts on two aspects of climate change, slowing it and adapting to that which is already unstoppable. To be more specific, we must: 

1. Slow the warming by creating economic incentives to get off fossil fuels ASAP and switch to renewables. In addition, we need to explore other means to remove the CO2 already in the atmosphere.

2. Begin adapting to the new climate era, with rising sea level as one of the most tangible and disruptive aspects.

As for the issue of plastics. Without question, plastics are damaging our environment in many ways.  Visibly they are terrible eyesores littering our beaches. A more hidden aspect is the terrible and devastating effect it has on wildlife and ecosystems. Plastic particles are now in the marine food chain, even in the tissues of fish that we eat.

To be clear: I fully support efforts to deal with and eradicate plastic debris, by finding biodegradable substitutes and with removing plastics that are already in the ocean or elsewhere in the environment. Those efforts are extremely important. Yet let’s not confuse them with the critical need to slow climate change. Dealing with plastic “pollution” and dealing with climate change are two critical, but largely separate issues.