Lots of folks like to talk about collapse. There are movies made about the different ways it might happen.
I want to see one in the very conceivable world where bacteria evolve to eat plastic. All plastic. Rapidly.
What would all the plastic turning to dust before we’re ready for it do to the world?
Buildings collapsing or no longer being weather proof. Cars failing. Most of the electrical grid is down because the insulation sloughed off all the wires. Everything mechanical seizes up because the synthetic lubricants are so similar to plastic they are consumed too. Hospitals and sterilization are impossible.
Great idea for a story!
Maybe it starts by inadvertently being introduced into a plumbing system. It eats PTFE, opening all plumbing joints, & spreading itself from there.
Because of the proliferation of micro plastics in the water, soil, and organic life, we can’t get rid of it. Every human infected with it gets much healthier, because their micro plastics are broken down, but are then seem as a threat vector for spreading it.
Meanwhile, the earthworms and animals are spreading it through our forests and wild lands.
There would be an interesting asymmetry too, where, in the short term, the value of paper banknotes and coins would get massively inflated as polymer banknotes and payment cards would be quickly destroyed. In the medium term, PCBs would degrade and computing would be impossible, digital money would also go away.
Chaos and looting would happen probably within the first week. In dense urban areas, mass death from dehydration and starvation would happen soon after, cities would quickly become unlivable. Access to firearms without any polymer parts would be a massive survival advantage.
Oops, forgot that I’m posting in the positive news community haha. But, an interesting thought experiment!
I have seen articles like this over the past few years. When will it be put into widespread use?
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Tylenol?
One of the least useful drugs out there, it’s effectiveness at relieving pain is questionable, at best, and is one of the leading overdose meds.
