商科与经济EPQ课题：如何在维持经济运转的情况下减轻全球变暖和塑料污染对海洋的负面影响

The effect of global warming and plastic pollution on the ocean, and how to make the negative influence minimum as the economy is still working

全球变暖和塑料污染对海洋的影响，以及如何在经济仍在运行的情况下使负面影响降至最低

研究概述

海洋污染与全球变暖和塑料污染密切相关。该项研究的目的是探讨如何将全球变暖和污染的影响降到最低，并保持经济的正常运行。研究收集了丰富的二手资料，从人类本身、经济、海洋污染等方面，展示了海洋污染的现状，并揭露了可能产生的连锁反应。海洋生物误食塑料制品的情况增加，且这种情况，将会随着食物链富集，影响人类生产和生活的各个方面。

作者Author：刘雨颂 Yusong Liu

Abstract:

Ocean pollution is closely related to global warming and plastic pollution. This study aims to investigate how to minimize the effects of global warming and pollution and keep the economy still working.

Introduction

The ocean has experienced severe changes during the past 30 years. The extent of summer sea ice in the Arctic area has reduced 40% resulting in polar bears, walruses, and other animals being in dangerous situation situations; It is predicted that 60% of the world’s coral reefs will be severely threatened by 2030, and 98% will live in a deadly harsh marine environment and will be completely extinct around 2050(Loria,2018). Many communities were facing various forms of erosion risk and had to relocate due to the rising sea levels (Chen,2012).

We dump around eight million tons of plastic into the sea every year. Here it entangles and drowns vast numbers of clarinetists. Some of the animals ate the plastic products and died in pain. People’s lives and the economy have been affected so much. The purpose of this study is to find the effects of global warming and plastic pollution on the ocean, and how to make the negative influence minimum as the economy is still working.

Methods

For this dissertation to be reliable and comprehensive, primary and secondary data were collected.The research method that I use is quantitative research. Google scholar, CNKL.net, and duxiu.com is the maintained source of second-hand evidence, the data, and examples from many national government websites, have high reliability and provided useful data and examples of global warming and plastic pollution, and are trustworthy to make the dissertation creditable. For primary-hand evidence, a questionnaire was made. The questionnaire contained 11 questions that were open to the public, that collected around 60. By using a variety of reliable resources, the dissertation can be creditable and authentic.

Results

Global warming

The Arctic is warming 2-3 times faster than global warming (Zhao et al. 2015). In the past 30 years, the extent of summer sea ice in the Arctic area has reduced by 40%. There is a large white area in March 1985 but disappeared in March 2018. The sea ice has melted for 33 years.

For marine creatures, the coral has been affected a lot. Coral bleached is made by global warming. A rise in temperature of one or two degrees for just a few weeks can be enough to cause the coral polyps to eject their plant-like cells. When that happens, the coral loses both its colour and its main source of food. If the high temperature remains, coral bleached in this way is likely to die.

Human:

Global warming not only affects animals but also humans. Sea level rises make residents who live near the coast have to relocate their families, with a high cost and risk. Many communities are unprepared for rising sea levels and increased storm activity.

Climate:

Global warming also leads to change. Extreme high temperature, extreme low temperature, heavy precipitation, blizzard, haze days in China, and high-temperature heat wave in Europe, and during the accelerated warming of the Arctic, the number of snowstorms in the northeastern United States increased significantly.

Economy:

Agriculture has a close link to the weather. In the year 2010,5000 trillion yuan (zhai&Liu,2012) were lost due to landslides caused by sudden heavy precipitation.

To keep the economy still working. The government could make some policies due to global warming. From the ecological system perspective, implementing global warming policies have useful effects on protecting the ocean. Make advertising to let people have a strong awareness of how serious global warming is.

Plastic pollution

We dump around eight million tons of plastic into the sea every year. Here it entangles and drowns vast numbers of marine creatures. But it has even more widespread and far-reaching consequences. As the plastic breaks down, it combines with other pollutants that are consumed by vast numbers of marine creatures.

Human:

Humans are at the top of the food chain, so the amount of plastic will increase as the creatures are at a higher position in the food chain.

The fishes eat micro-plastic and contain 8 kinds of plastic, people will have the most plastic in their bodies.

Economy:

The fishing industry has been affected by plastic pollution. “The amount of fishing that catches in the sea falling as much as 34% in the last 50 years (Fishing for plastic, cleanses.org,2020).

A fall in income for all fishermen is a negative perspective for the fishing industry. Fishing is a part of the whole economy, if the fishing industry’s profit falls, the profit of the economy will fall, too. To keep the economy still working. Banning plastic products is impossible. The government should make a policy about using plastic products. From the perspective of citizens, it can help them to have the awareness of using reusable products. From the perspective of the enterprise, the government limited using of plastic products, bringing new opportunities and markets for them, they have to find new materials for their business.

Conclusion

Sea ice in the Arctic sharply decreased as global warming got more and more serious. In addition, the phenomenon made a chain reaction in the ecosystem as well as the economy.

Marine creatures would like to eat plastic products as their food. Higher levels of the food chain level eat more plastic.

The earth is the sole planet that people depend on for survival.

Everyone needs to take part in saving the environment and keeping the economy working.

Reference