Two polar bears play with a plastic can in Alaska, knowing the level of pollution we are producing with our lifestyle
Much of the plastic that we produce and use, it becomes a waste that ends up in the environment, contributing to worsen the pollution of our planet.
Every day we get images of oceans and beaches invaded by plastic, animals that have died from being trapped in plastic waste, fish and marine mammals with stomachs full of fishing nets, bottles and plastic bags.
The photos of polar bears playing with a plastic can among the snow in Alaska are just the latest evidence of how our way of life is literally submerging any place on the planet with waste, heavily affecting all life on Earth.
The images, taken by photographer Danny Sullivan, show a pair of polar bears fighting over a plastic can, pulling it with their mouths and biting it. Young bears probably have too ingested parts of the tank.
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In addition to the presence of waste in a place that should be pristine, the photographs show another alarming aspect.
Sullivan has in fact immortalized the two polar bears in early October, when the snow level should be about one and a half meters. Under normal conditions, that plastic would have been buried while due to global warming there is no trace of the snow.
The temperature was 5 ° C above the average for the period: this can only lead to some consequences for polar bears, changing the hunting season window for these animals.
Beyond that, the fact remains that plastic waste shouldn't be found anywhere in the environment, much less in Alaska. How did a plastic can get there? It could have been transported to sea from anywhere and this proves that our habits are having negative effects everywhere.
It is therefore clear that we should change our lifestyle, reducing and eliminating as much plastic as possible.
Each of us can do something, for example by avoiding buying water or other beverages or soft drinks in plastic bottles, eliminating the use of plastic straws, choosing solid cosmetics rather than liquid and preferring products packaged with other materials such as glass, paper or plastic. biodegradable and compostable.
It is small gestures which can, however, make ahuge difference if adopted consistently by each of us.
Read also:
- After iron and bronze, welcome to the worst of geological eras: that of plastic
- Do you know which countries produce the most plastic waste?
- A young sperm whale dies with 100 kilos of plastic in its stomach: it is the symbol of the pollution of our seas
Cover photo: Danny Sullivan
