[Todos] Coloquios DCAO/CIMA - VIERNES (02/07/2021) 17hs: “Emissions of greenhouse gases from plastic in the environment”

[coloquios en cima.fcen.uba.ar]

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Coloquios del Departamento de Ciencias de la Atmósfera y los Océanos 
(DCAO)/
Centro de Investigaciones del Mar y la Atmósfera (CIMA)
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VIERNES 02/07, a las 17hs:
ID de reunión: 837 6843 1739
Enlace: https://exactas-uba.zoom.us/j/83768431739
Contraseña: plastico

"Emissions of greenhouse gases from plastic in the environment”
Dra. Sarah-Jeanne Royer - Hawaii Pacific University - Center for Marine 
Debris Research

Over the past 50 years, polymer manufacturing has been increasing at a 
very fast pace, from 15 million tons in 1964 to 381 million tons in 2015 
and is expected to double again over the next 20 years. Although plastic 
has widespread applications because of its favorable mechanical 
properties, thermal properties, stability and durability, it is still 
vulnerable to weathering and degradation processes. During these 
processes, plastic reacts with its environment and releases additives 
and polymer degradation products throughout its lifetime. Here we 
demonstrate that most commonly used plastics emit methane and ethylene 
when exposed to solar radiation at ambient temperatures. Polyethylene, 
which is globally the most produced and discarded synthetic polymer, is 
the most prolific emitter for both gases. Through an extensive time 
series of 212 days, we also show that emissions of methane, ethylene, 
ethane and polypropylene from virgin pellets of low-density polyethylene 
increase with time. Moreover, environmentally aged low-density 
polyethylene debris collected in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre also 
emitted hydrocarbon gases when exposed to ambient solar radiation. Due 
to the longevity of plastics and the large amounts of plastic that 
persist in the environment, gas production may occur throughout the 
degradation lifetime of plastic and may represent a source of 
climate-relevant trace gases for an extended period of time.

Dr Sarah-Jeanne Royer is an oceanographer and a specialist on plastic 
degradation in the oceanic environment. She is currently working on this 
problematic at Hawai’i Pacific University on the Island of Oahu in 
collaboration with Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University 
of California, San Diego. Her research focuses on common polymers 
including synthetic microfibers and their degradation times in the 
environment. She also investigates the different sources and sinks that 
connect plastic to the ocean such as the impact of the fishing industry 
with respect to the total mass balance of plastic discarded in the 
ocean.

Prior to this work, she investigated the emissions of greenhouse gases 
from plastics in the environment at the Center for Microbial 
Oceanography, Research and Education. She also worked on marine debris 
at the International Pacific Research Center at the University of 
Hawaii. For more than a decade now, she has been working with several 
organizations (such Sustainable Coastlines Hawaii, Parley for the Oceans 
and The Ocean Cleanup) to share her science, bring awareness to the 
growing issue of plastic in the environment and organized several 
educational workshops.

Her goal is to pursue plastic research to better understand the 
degradation and fragmentation processes of plastic and fate in the ocean 
in addition to the plastic accumulation on the different islands of 
Hawai’i. Her long-last objective is for policymakers to use data from 
scientists and volunteers to design better laws and policies to reduce 
plastic production & consumption.

¡¡Les esperamos!!

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Grupo Coloquios DCAO/CIMA
Departamento de Ciencias de la Atmósfera y los Océanos (FCEN-UBA)
Centro de Investigaciones del Mar y la Atmósfera (CONICET-UBA)
Ciudad Universitaria, Pabellón II, 2do piso.
email: coloquios en cima.fcen.uba.ar
http://www.at.fcen.uba.ar/charlas_not.php
http://www.cima.fcen.uba.ar/coloquios.php
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