National Geographic warns of the devastating effects that plastics are having on the planet with a clever cover for its June edition.
The cover image shows an iceberg-resembling plastic bag partially submerged in the ocean:
The 18 billion pounds of plastic that end up in the ocean each year are “just the tip of the iceberg,” the caption says.
National Geographic’s senior photo editor, Vaughn Wallace, shared the image of the cover — created by Mexican artist Jorge Gamboa — to Twitter on Wednesday.
It’s now going viral, with hundreds of people praising the publication for taking on the important topic in such a thought-provoking way:
National Geographic is launching a “Planet or Plastic?” campaign with the new issue, which aims to reduce global reliance on single-use plastics. As part of the initiative, National Geographic has swapped the magazine’s plastic wrappers in the U.S., United Kingdom and India for paper.
“Will eliminating a plastic magazine wrapper save the planet? Well, no. But it’s an example of the kind of relatively easy action that every company, every government, and every person can take,” wrote editor-in-chief Susan Goldberg.
“And when you put it together, that adds up to real change,” she added.
In February, a sperm whale was discovered dead off the coast of southeast Spain with 64 pounds of plastic trash inside its digestive system. Researchers predict that by 2025, double the amount of plastic waste could annually enter oceans unless radical action is taken.