Well, you can forget about worrying about whether microplastics are harmful to the environment, because they are out there now, all over the damn place and there's no going back. Plastic is literally and figuratively the 20th century turning itself to dust and getting sucked up in Earth's massive recycling systems. It's in everything from seawater to freshwater to salt (
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/10/micro...) to the air we breathe. It's in the entire food web--our food, our food's food, our food's food's food, and our feces of course (
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2018/10/news-...). And it's bad for everybody (
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/from-fish-to-huma...). It will be in sediment for aeons, a permanent part of Earth's story, forever. There is absolutely zero chance of ever cleaning it all up.
Good job, 20th century. And right on, 21st century! We really doubled down on money-making at the expense of the environment!
After sifting through the dust, if they ever figured out that it was our refuse, future intelligent beings might well refer to us, quite aptly, as trash monkeys.
Good job, 20th century. And right on, 21st century! We really doubled down on money-making at the expense of the environment!
After sifting through the dust, if they ever figured out that it was our refuse, future intelligent beings might well refer to us, quite aptly, as trash monkeys.