For decades, oceans have served as the planet’s carbon garbage dump, soaking up 90 percent of the excess atmospheric heat generated since 1970 and a third of our greenhouse gas emissions. Now the 71 percent of the Earth that makes life on land possible has reached a frightening tipping point that threatens human existence, according to a landmark report issued Wednesday by the United Nations-supported Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, or IPCC.

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Today plastic in our Ocean is one of the biggest challenges

Plastics provide health, safety, sustainability, and convenience benefits, especially in the developing world where plastic products have helped improve living standards, hygiene, and nutrition. They have an important place in our world — but not in our environment.