“Reduce, Reuse, Recycle,” is the mantra preached to adults and children alike in an attempt to reduce the amount of trash ending up in our ocean. However, when recycling fails, as it often does, what is there to do?

When we talk about ocean pollution, plastic usually takes the spotlight, and reasonably so. It has been reported that plastic was found in the deepest part of our ocean- the Mariana Trench- and is present on shores and beaches around the world. Plastic pollution is a huge threat to our ecosystems, as it can entangle marine organisms or be ingested by them, possibly leading to starvation and death.

Today, the mantra, “reduce, reuse, recycle,” is recognized by most people and even is part of the curriculum taught in schools to children as young as 9 and 10. In the face of an intensifying environmental crisis and increasing anxiety surrounding climate change’s acceleration, we view this being commonplace in education as a good thing.

Scientists have warned the public for years about the threat of climate change and have been met with little response. While many of us ignore what seems to be pessimistic white noise, it’s really a desperate cry for help, and experts can’t seem to grasp how it’s being so casually discounted.

Excessive carbon emissions have been raising concerns across the world for quite some time now, and for good reason. They are the driving force behind the harmful increase in average global temperature that leads to the plethora of negative environmental effects known collectively as, “climate change.

The Problem
We hear a lot about carbon emissions and global warming but what does this really mean and how are we contributing to the issue? Carbon dioxide emissions are a complicated topic - too big for any blog post to tackle in its entirety. Put simply, CO2 is one of many greenhouse gases polluting our atmosphere, skyrocketing as human consumption continues to increase annually.

Since the industrial revolution, atmospheric carbon dioxide (CO2) and other greenhouse gasses have risen exponentially as humans burn fossil fuels with increasing efficiency. Models have estimated that in the 800,000 years prior to 1950, CO2 levels rarely reached concentrations of 300 parts per million (ppm), whereas today atmospheric CO2 is well over 400ppm.