31.05.2020
Plastic Pollution To Worsen Due To COVID-19 Masks.
While environmentalists are appreciating the reduction in pollution due to lockdowns enforced across the world by many nations, another threat is on the horizon. All over the world, people have been enjoying cleaner air as a result of factories being shut. COVID-19 outbreak and the resultant lockdowns enforced by nations worldwide have drastically reduced pollution. Even the ozone layer hole over the Arctic closed in March. But while all this is good news, another threat is on the rise. But this time, it is one of the safety methods being used in the fight against COVID-19 – personal protective equipment (PPE). According to a WWF report, incorrect disposal of even 1% of the masks pose a huge threat. “If even only 1% of the masks were disposed of incorrectly and perhaps dispersed in nature this would result in 10 million masks per month dispersed in the environment. Considering that the weight of each mask is about 4 grams this would lead to the dispersion of over 40 thousand kilograms of plastic in nature: a dangerous scenario that must be defused” the report said. Credit: OceansAsia
Poverty deprives people of adequate education, health care and of life's most basic necessities- safe living conditions (including clean air and clean drinking water) and an adequate food supply. The developed (industrialized) countries today account for roughly 20 percent of the world's population but control about 80 percent of the world's wealth.
Poverty and pollution seem to operate in a vicious cycle that, so far, has been hard to break. Even in the developed nations, the gap between the rich and the poor is evident in their respective social and environmental conditions.
Poverty and pollution seem to operate in a vicious cycle that, so far, has been hard to break. Even in the developed nations, the gap between the rich and the poor is evident in their respective social and environmental conditions.
