A new global review warns that climate change and plastic pollution are no longer two separate crises. Extreme heat is breaking plastic down faster; floods and cyclones are pushing fragments deeper into rivers and coastlines, and wildfires are turning homes and cars into clouds of microplastic dust. Scientists say these particles carry pesticides and forever chemicals into food systems and water. READ & WATCH Climate Crisis Driving Plastic Pollution to Spread Faster and Last Longer: Study | Planet Pulse, transcript follows-[Firstpost] Studies from Hong Kong to Brazil to Greece show the impact spreading fast, with fish stocks collapsing and microplastics showing up in marine species people eat. Researchers behind the review say the world is running out of time to treat plastic and climate as isolated problems. The planet is facing a single, fused crisis.
And now to our final story. There is a new warning that cuts through the noise around climate change and plastic pollution. A global review says these aren't two separate crises anymore, but instead one fused together. And the result is far more dangerous than what scientists thought even a few years ago.
Extreme heat is breaking plastic down faster. Floods and cyclones are pushing those fragments into rivers, coastlines, and fields. Wildfires are turning homes and cars into clouds of microplastic dust. And these fragments are turning into carriers for pesticides and forever chemicals. So, the real story today isn't just pollution. It's a system that's starting to break. And the window to slow this down is closing fast. Here is the report.
Extreme weather is accelerating plastic pollution. Heat waves, floods, fires. All of these factors are just making it deadlier. But the plastic crisis isn't just about plastic anymore. A new global study says extreme weather is turning microplastics into something far more mobile and more toxic.
Scientists reviewed hundreds of studies and say climate change is now supercharging plastic pollution, not the other way around. This time, climate change is pushing plastics deeper into our air, oceans, and even our food. And the evidence is piling up.
Higher temperatures crack plastic faster. A 10° jump in temperature can double the rate at which a piece of plastic falls apart. That means more plastic parts in places already drowning in waste. Floods and storms push these fragments further.
One typhoon in Hong Kong increased microplastics on nearby beaches by almost 40fold. And that's not it. Wildfires burn through homes and cars and turn them into clouds of microplastic dust. But the biggest shift is how dangerous these fragments become. Microplastics act like Trojan horses. They carry pesticides and forever chemicals. and higher temperatures help them absorb and release even more toxins.
Heat also speeds up the release of toxins into water types of things. Let's not use plastics, right? As much as possible if we can reduce that use because a lot of those end up getting into the wetlands. And the impacts are already showing up in rivers and coastlines.
In Brazil, researchers found some of the highest concentrations of microplastics in major estuaries. Fishermen on those waters say the change is real and painful. Pollution has a big impact. 10 years ago, I'd catch 10 kilos. Today, I catch five. The quantity, variety, and quality of fish have dropped drastically
Scientists in Brazil say the fish that are left are already contaminated. Due to all this trash, due to all this pollution, the fish have already left the region. And the fish they are catching today are already contaminated.
And this isn't just Latin America. Across the Mediterranean, Greek researchers are using mussels to track what we cannot see. Mussels filter everything. And right now, they are filtering microplastics. We usually use mussels because they're filter feeding organisms. and they accumulate a lot of contaminants in their tissues. Also, as they are consumed by humans, they are edible species. We work on them because we would like to see the effect on the humans that consume these organisms.
And the results are worrying. Plastics don't stay large, they keep breaking down. Smaller paths mean they enter more species. And this is just the beginning. Year after year, global plastic production keeps rising. In the next years, we will find even more microplastics in the guts of the organisms. And that's why scientists behind the new global review say plastic and climate are now a single crisis. Each one makes the other worse and the world is not ready for the combined hit.
Plastic production has grown 200fold since 1950. And with oil companies shifting from fuel to plastics, that curve is only going up. So the message from researchers is blunt. We are running out of time to treat this as two separate problems because nature isn't separating them anymore. END OF TRANSCRIPT
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