How Plastics Fuel Climate Change

Big Oil is actually funny. For example, one of the funniest uses of CCS I've read about was to pump captured carbon dioxide into underground oil deposits to... lower the cost of the extraction of more oil. Very, very fu...nny.

I am working to switch back to recyclable and reusable glass, ceramic and metal.

I'm here by referral from Hank Green.

What an absolute waste of time channel, if you want nail polish or polyester clothes driven to you on asphalt then oil is used and you fail to mention plastic doesn't exist without these things being refined, that plastic is 15% of each barrel.

If we want polyester throw rugs then that is plastic, plastic will be a byproduct as plastic is from the same oil nail polish is made from, if we are going to have any of the 6000 products refined from oil then the 15% that is turned into plastic will always exist, so out of 100 million barrels a day which are also single use as we don't re-use diesel or petrol, 85 million barrels a day are also being used a single time, there is no chance the reduce the 15% unless the total is reduced, turning that plastic into microplastic producing clothes or microplastic couches, flooring is just reducing what is termed rubbish, this program basically promotes a thrown out plastic/rubbish pick up program is going to be put in place..what an absolute joke

Gotta love those endocrine disruptors that also harm the climate! Death at two ends. Ugh

You would think that some kind of bio-degradable alternative could be made to replace most disposable plastic. Like WTF?

Are you any relation to Plastic Bertrand?

This discussion provokes a couple of major questions I could ask. But it's Friday night. Ask me again later.

How many of you would be happy as clams if we just produced all those plastics from biomass? We could do it, you know. Most plastic actually starts with methane as the feedstock, and there are many ways to get to that starting point.

With respect Adam, I think we’re all massively underestimating the impact of plastic pollution on the climate via those impacts to biotic growth. I went positively bug-eyed when Project Kaisen videoed microplastic eaten from the base through every level of the ocean’s foodweb. Cumulatively, that’s fiddling with our largest carbon sequestering pump. At least landfills are serving a practical protective role for now.

Polyester/acrylic/nylon clothing, linens, blankets, carpets.
Aside from the fact that they will basically be around forever, Laundering these things introduces microplastics into the water supply.

7*10^9 tonnes can be visualised as the mass of 7 km^3 of water, and 7*10^12 tonnes can be visualised as the mass of 7*(10 km)^3 of water

I think imposing high texes on plastic manufacturing and giving subsidies on recycling of plastics might work little bit

Exactly when did climate not change?
For the most part all waste is best incinerated and converted to energy. This would reduce the overall consumption of energy and organic fossil fuels.

there's no "our addiction to plastics". it's the corporations making the stuff for whatever they want. we dont have a choice of plastic free when doing shopping.
it's not out problem. it's a problem of governments allowing corporations to make the stuff willy nilly for everything, in full knowledge it ends up a major pollutant.

Hugely important topic and your video is spot on Adam. It is imperative that most plastic use be banned and soon. There seem to be safer alternatives to most plastic products and undoubtedly more could be developed if a ban was imminent, as history demonstrates with the CFC chemicals used in refrigeration being quite quickly replaced by safer alternatives.

Fun fact.
Plastics décompose into ethylene.
Which is a crazy powerful greenhouse gas. (200x co2)

So the more plastic we send to the rivers, oceans, landfills, the more we make climate change worse for decades... Not even including all the health effect for humans and other organisms (endocrine perturbations, NASH, cancers)

Thanks for another great report Adam! I wish you could get a much bigger audience, you deserve it and the world needs it. Keep up the good work!!!!

I’m getting serious Loki vibes. ;)

Are plastics a major source for climate change? The answer is yes, from mineral extraction and poorly maintained/neglected well heads, colouring and additive production. Then there is making and transportation from one continent to another before final assembly. Usage might be minutes to years, then disposal where plastics do release climate change emissions but over a long period of time, I call it "climate lag"

You just need to live on the coast to get the idea. What goes around...

Amd they actually added lead to petrol just some time ago and we have no clue what else is going on. Don't expect anything to change for the better ) Plastic😂

Everyone seems to ignore asphalt and what it’s made from. Besides it creating heat islands etc.

I'll just have my water shipped in from space, plastic free!

My God the wardrobe behind you is fantastic!

Have you read the club of Rome PDF?

The fact that plastics are lowering feritlity rates should be enough merrit to bann them. Plastic is so disgusting and horrible, and I think the biggest problem is its exstremely hard to get away from it. Yes you can stop drinking bottled water or water in a plastic container, but its still in the pipes. And yes you can buy your own bags for the grocery store, but its still a part of the industrial agriculture process, and in your food. Its almost as if the only way to get away from plastic is to leave society, or go to any of the sensible country's that banned it.

Thank you, I didn’t know that treaty was happening but now I’ll definitely be paying close attention

I definitely think that we can move towards reclassification of plastic as a more hazardous material; but, I don't think that a full ban on plastics makes sense. We definitely need to remove plastics from unnecessary things and especially reduce single-use and waste plastic. Plastics, and even fossil-fuel derived plastics, have very desirable properties that are needed in certain industries. So seeing plastics disappear would be regrettable.

How do you feel about plant based plastics? How do we keep the benefits/technology we've gained from plastic materials while getting rid of most of the pollution?
How is your hair so fluffy?

😅

AAAAND the US has just backed out of capping plastic production. 🙃 Corporate America strikes again

I read during my biology course recently, that new research points to that even forever plastics, actually are expelled from living organisms, IF the surrounding environment is cleared of these harmful substances. So that’s amazing. Now we just have to actually get rid of all the Pfas etc etc etc. Does that sound right to you?

Not to mention black plastic. It’s infuriating. What they do is they recycle computers and tech that have extremely toxic flame retardants in them. These are then”recycled ” into kitchen ware!! With said flame retardents still on them. Resulting in infertility. And nobody tells you unless you accidently read about it somewhere obscure, like at uni (ahem).

I have to rewatch this because sometimes I get distracted by how handsome Adam is and I forget to listen 😂

Please post pictures of wind farm killed whales,dead birds, nature killed by renewables. Also show countries who responsibly not making the messes like you show! The trash mountain is not in West?

You deserve Millions of subscribers and Billions of views. You are legit and nice and educate people about the most important thing in the world. Lots of love and support from India.

I am a Vegetarian, i drive an EV Scooter, i rarely consume packaged foods or drinks, and i try to not use any Plastic product as much as possible, it's not so tough if people try for their own good.

How about using the "lake" comparison about the amount of plastic waste - what well known basin of a body of water, or better yet empty canyon we can see - would be filled by our plastic waste?

You had me until you said farming was a problem its not now destroying grasslands forests for housing and businesses is a problem but farming is not the problem.

Another excellent presentation.

The oil barrons are the oligarghs.

Keep up the good work

as i thought about climate changes, all types of human created disasters, wars, pollutions, environmental destructions, and so stuffs like reducing birth rates in men and women. look. it is the circle of life on this planet. if something is not or shouldn't be around this planet. eventually it will disappear just like Dinosaurs yeah? Dinos maybe once were ruling this planet but at the end most of them already disappeared forever. u maybe find some living dinos nowadays but they turned into birds and crocodiles, snakes, lizards and other cold bloods animals. those big one are all gone. why? because the planet couldnt handle their population? imagine how much trees and veges and meats those Dinos were eating everyday to get that big? same with human at the moment. their population are booming but at the same time they are not stupid to not seeing the consequences of a booming population on this planet. eventually this planet will be overload and then the human society will eventually shiet themselve before they realize that ooopsssie, its already happening. dont think so? well, it will happen anyways no matter if they believe it or not.

We're effectively initiating Kessler Syndrome on the surface of Earth as an ever-greater volume and increasing particle fragmenentation is set to pervasively pollute the environment and all within of which its effects will be inescapable.

For as long as it remains profitable to do so we're just not going to stop using these O, G & C products.

P.S. Unsubbed, as I'm tired of the constant censorship, being unable to speak. Ultimately, the truth will speak for itself, regardless.

It’s not just plastic—almost all fertilizers, rubber, and all asphalt are produced via oil refining (aka burning). Can you please make a video addressing this?

Algorithm sent me to you after a video I started to watch from a US ‘eco’ influencer who was trying to convince us and apparently herself, that her choice to start using more plastic over glass and aluminum is ok because “no climate scientists are preaching to quit plastic”. Interesting lol. Call it confirmation bias, but I found your video a lot more legitimate. Thank you!

That's a lot of plastic

Well, here on December 2nd and the Global plastics Treaty is delayed to 2025. Those Plastics Lobbyists succeeded in delaying more action.