Junijska številka znane revije se na spletu širi kot požar. Naslovnica ponazarja, da je plastično onesnaženje, ki ga vidimo, le vrh ledene gore. Za naslovnico so dobili idejo po tem, ko so znanstveniki plastično vrečko našli v Marianskem jarku, najgloblji točki oceana.

Dva tedna pred izdajo je naslovnico na Twitterju delil Vaughn Wallace, glavni urednik fotografije National Geographica, in takoj je postala viralna.

Our latest @NatGeo cover is one for the ages#PlanetorPlastic pic.twitter.com/NssiHOtaYc

— Vaughn Wallace (@vaughnwallace) 16 May 2018

Številni uporabniki družbenih omrežij so delili samo komplimente, tako za naslovnico kot tudi za to, da se je revija osredotočila na eno največjih ekoloških vprašanj našega časa.

This family sorts plastic under a bridge in Dhaka that is part of an amalgamated informal plastics industry. The communities involved in plastic waste become specialized. Some have contacts with hospitals or casinos to bring plastic waste into the slums for processing. Others sort white bottles, or broken plastic buckets. Some groups have access to vehicles and can take the material to junk shops that store the waste in the same way a wheat farmer stores the grain, waiting for better pricing. And finally there are those with big trucks who take the plastic bales to ports or large local processing companies. Sometimes the plastic doesn’t make it out of the slums. There are businesses that make finished plastic objects like flip flops from the plastic waste being sorted by the business next door. #PlanetorPlastic @thephotosociety @natgeocreative _________ These images are part of a multiyear effort at National Geographic to raise awareness about the global plastic waste crisis. Learn what you can do to help. Take Your Pledge: natgeo.com/environment/pledge

A post shared by Randy Olson (@randyolson) on May 16, 2018 at 11:19am PDT

Nekateri strokovnjaki opozarjajo, da je problem s plastiko enak kot pri podnebnih spremembah.

By @randyolson | A DAY AT THE DUMP – Artisanal trash picking at dump sites is dangerous. Many workers have died as they try to pick scraps of plastic while they stand on top of a load being shifted by a huge trackhoe. These photographs show a normal day at dumpsites in India and Indonesia. As you walk through these sites, you realize why experts want composting to go hand and hand with recycling. A clean plastic is a more effective plastic to recycle. This dump (photo 1) is like a slippery slide: when footing is this treacherous and your work is grabbing little bits of plastic out of the jaws of large machines, it becomes problematic. #PlanetorPlastic _________ These images are part of a multiyear effort to raise awareness about the global plastic waste crisis. Learn what you can do to help. Take Your Pledge: natgeo.com/environment/plasticpledge

A post shared by National Geographic (@natgeo) on May 16, 2018 at 6:45pm PDT

“Prisotnost plastike v morjih in oceanih je ena največjih groženj za ohranitev živalskega sveta,” je pred nekaj meseci povedal Consuelo Rosauro, predstavnik lokalnih oblasti v Španiji, ko so tam našli mladega kita, katerega obdukcija je pokazala, da je umrl zaradi prekomerne količine smeti, ki jih je vnesel v telo.

A post shared by Randy Olson (@randyolson) on May 16, 2018 at 6:52am PDT

Photo by @randyolson. Yes, I’m still polluting @natgeo’s feed with pictures to draw attention to the global plastic waste crisis. Manila’s Pasig River dumps into Manila Bay, and beach goers enjoy a solid floor of plastic waste to lounge upon. I live in a U.S. town with an ocean beach, and I wonder if and when I will begin to encounter this much plastic on my own beach walks. We all share the same oceans. Mussels and other shellfish increasingly eat microplastics, and these mussels share the oceans with all of us as well. The final photo in this gallery is from Dhaka where people are living in similar conditions on their waterways. Beach cleanups in these areas don’t work… the trash is back the next week. #PlanetorPlastic _________ These images are part of a multiyear effort to raise awareness about the global plastic waste crisis. Learn what you can do to help. Take Your Pledge: natgeo.com/environment/plasticpledge

A post shared by National Geographic (@natgeo) on May 16, 2018 at 4:59pm PDT