The Caribbean is renowned globally for its stunning beaches and crystal clear ocean.
However, its islands and the surrounding sea are being contaminated by plastics and other manmade fibres, posing a potential future threat to its diverse marine life and the tourism industry on which its economy depends.
That is according to a new study, the first holistic assessment of marine and land-based plastic pollution in the southern Caribbean and some of the environmental and human factors which might influence its distribution.
The study is the result of sample analysis from a pioneering all-female Round the World sailing mission led by eXXpedition. Samples were collected in late 2019 from the seas and seafloor, and from land-based assessments.
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The 50×30 coalition is an alliance between cryosphere and emissions research institutions, and governments that have accepted the scientific necessity to reduce emissions 50% by 2030; in order to prevent cascading and irreversible damage, on a planetary scale, from the impact of greenhouse gas emissions on the cryosphere.
Because of cryosphere, carbon neutrality by 2050 is not enough: the way we get there matters. Overshoot of the 1.5°C goal cannot be considered a viable or safe option, from either an economic or social standpoint. This is because much of the Earth’s polar and mountain regions – whether glaciers, snowpack, permafrost, sea ice, polar oceans and seas, or the great polar ice sheets – react directly to peaks in temperature and carbon dioxide emissions.