TheCable

The complexities of climate change and its associated jargon can make it difficult to digest. TheCable’s climate quick facts will help to demystify these climate concepts through easy-to-understand and straight-to-the-point explanations.

Here are some to keep at the tip of your fingers:

• According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), exposure to plastics can harm human health, potentially affecting fertility, hormonal, metabolic and neurological activity.
• UNEP says more than 800 marine and coastal species are affected by plastic pollution through ingestion, entanglement and other dangers.
• Some 11 million tonnes of plastic waste flow annually into oceans. This may triple by 2040, the organisation said.
• According to the United Nations, oceans absorb about 30 percent of carbon dioxide produced by humans, buffering the impacts of global warming.
• The ocean has also absorbed more than 90 percent of the excess heat in the climate system, according to the UN.