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Added on the 04/10/2020 15:15:21 - Copyright : Wochit
This creepy crawly insect is called a wax worm and, believe it or not, this little guy may just be the answer to global pollution. Footage provided courtesy of the Spanish National Research Council shows a brilliant new discovery made by researcher Federica Bertocchini. She discovered that wax worms are capable of eating through polyethylene plastic. The researcher demonstrated her discovery at a laboratory in Madrid on Wednesday. Although polyethylene is one of the world's most resistant forms of plastic, the worms can destroy the material by munching their way through it. According to the researcher, 100 worms can biodegrade up to 92 milligrams of polyethylene in just one night. That might not seem like much, but what if we multiply that by a thousand? Or even a million? The discovery is touted as the first all-natural solution to the disposal of the dangerous and wasteful material worldwide. Wax worms are now seen as the best way to biodegrade plastic without causing more harmful effects to nature. Polyethylene plastic, the material used to make plastic bags, is very durable. That's why we use it so often. The problem is that polyethylene is not biodegradable, which means that it stays in the environment for hundreds of years after being thrown away. It can cause all sorts of problems for wild animals and the natural environment in general. That's why this new discovery has the potential to help us clean up our act and restore areas like landfills and other areas polluted with plastic.
Littering doesn't only make surroundings look bad, it can have a devastating effect on wildlife. This cobra ate an entire plastic bottle, probably thinking that it was food, and struggled moving and breathing. Footage from India's Goa showed the cobra regurgitating the empty plastic bottle as villagers in the town watched. Eventually, the snake did manage to force the bottle completely out of its system and was reportedly unharmed in the incident, but many other wildlife creatures which consume plastic are not so lucky.
Several hundred environmental activists enter a chemical plant in Pierre-Benite, Lyon, to protest against pollution. The action was organised by Extinction Rebelloion and Youth for Climate and saw protesters cutting through boundary fences, smash security equipment and unfurl a large banner from the site's roof reading "poison". IMAGES
A park in Beijing's Fangshan district, where residents used to gather, dance and exercise, is now flooded with plastic waste after China's capital was hit with its heaviest rains in recent days since records began 140 years ago. IMAGES
Representatives of 175 nations with divergent ambitions met at UNESCO headquarters in Paris for the second of five sessions, with the aim of making progress towards reaching, by next year, a historic agreement covering the entire plastics life cycle. IMAGES
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