The Eastern Garbage Patch.

[William33 110]

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2010/07/16/the_world_s_worst_ongoing_disasters?page=0,4

Disaster: The Eastern Garbage Patch

Going since: Discovered in 1997

Damage done: Somewhere between California and Hawaii lies the world's largest garbage dump -- a massive soup of plastic and debris one-and-a-half times the size of the United States and 100 feet deep. The "patch" is the product of the North Pacific Gyre, a loop of currents that picks up trash from the West Coast of the United States and East Asia and funnels it into an endless loop in the North Pacific.

Within the patch, pieces of plastic outweigh zooplankton by a factor of 6 to 1, and are often mistaken by fish and birds for food. Chemicals from the plastic can also make their way into the food chain, including fish consumed by humans.

The patch is the most widely publicized example, but this is a global problem. According to the U.N. Environment Program the world's oceans contain 46,000 pieces of plastic per square mile. These plastics are responsible for the deaths of more than a million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals every year.

[^_^ 5,021]

[Nagishkaw 510]

Scary .

[William33 110]

AJ,

Well, that wasn't my first thought but...

Edited July 23, 2010 by William33

[mawilson 2,133]

Damage done: Somewhere between California and Hawaii lies the world's largest garbage dump -- a massive soup of plastic and debris one-and-a-half times the size of the United States and 100 feet deep.

Although many scientists suggest that the patch extends over a very wide area, with estimates

ranging from an area the size of the state of Texas to one larger than the continental United

States, the exact size is unknown.

For a discussion of the problems in determining the exact size based on current sampling

techniques, see Peter Ryan, Charles Moore et al., Monitoring the abundance of plastic

debris in the marine environment. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B 27 July 2009 vol. 364 no. 1526

1999-2012, doi: 10.1098/rstb.2008.0207

link

[Captain Oates 911]

Within the patch, pieces of plastic outweigh zooplankton by a factor of 6 to 1, and are often mistaken by fish and birds for food

I once mistook a McDonald's burger for food

Well at least we can't blame my company BP for this one

Edited July 23, 2010 by saywhat

[alienlovechild 75]

Turn it into a soggy island for misfit toys.

Think of the tourist potential of a colorful plastic floating island in the Pacific.

[Captain Oates 911]

It's trash from East Asia and the US West coast

any word on the apportionment twixt the two ?

blame is good

blame is healthy

Is Jimmy Hoffer floating round in it ?

[IndigoSkies 168]

Why do the rightist hate the planet so much? Seriously, I can understand trying to be dissmisive of global warming with their puny brains. But the issue of polution is quite apparent. I don't think anyone with a half ounce of brain can deny that human are poluting the planet and we ought to do something about it.

Why do the rightist hate the planet so much? Seriously, I can understand trying to be dissmisive of global warming with their puny brains. But the issue of polution is quite apparent. I don't think anyone with a half ounce of brain can deny that human are poluting the planet and we ought to do something about it.

[Captain Oates 911]

Why do the rightist hate the planet so much? Seriously, I can understand trying to be dissmisive of global warming with their puny brains. But the issue of polution is quite apparent. I don't think anyone with a half ounce of brain can deny that human are poluting the planet and we ought to do something about it.

Why do the rightist hate the planet so much? Seriously, I can understand trying to be dissmisive of global warming with their puny brains. But the issue of polution is quite apparent. I don't think anyone with a half ounce of brain can deny that human are poluting the planet and we ought to do something about it.

We could start by halfing this message

a pixel saved is a pixel saved

Where should we start looking for rightists ? I am sure they are not all anti pollution - after all a lot of then own beach front properties who's values will be reduced by rubbish floating around

Hotel owners

Big boat owners

I would have thought rightists would be more invested in clean seas than people living in a project in Detroit

[William33 110]

We could start by halfing this message

a pixel saved is a pixel savedWhere should we start looking for rightists ? I am sure they are not all anti pollution - after all a lot of then own beach front properties who's values will be reduced by rubbish floating around

Hotel owners

Big boat owners

I would have thought rightists would be more invested in clean seas than people living in a project in Detroit

Seriously though, are we really trashing the planet to this degree?

[alienlovechild 75]

Why do the rightist hate the planet so much? Seriously, I can understand trying to be dissmisive of global warming with their puny brains. But the issue of polution is quite apparent. I don't think anyone with a half ounce of brain can deny that human are poluting the planet and we ought to do something about it.

Why are the leftists so lazy that they can't be bothered to pick up trash? The Left Coast is as liberal as it gets and they don't seem too concerned about this issue.

Notice it's a big bad corporation like BP that's paying for the cleanup in the Gulf of Mexico filled with southern yahoos.

[Pinocchio Liberal 268]

We need garbage patch stimulus NOW!

[trillium13 84]

Why do the rightist hate the planet so much? Seriously, I can understand trying to be dissmisive of global warming with their puny brains. But the issue of polution is quite apparent. I don't think anyone with a half ounce of brain can deny that human are poluting the planet and we ought to do something about it.

I've wondered this myself. I actually heard Rush say on his radio show that the earth is here for us to "exploit". He used that word. Disgusting.

As far as throwing trash around, I don't think anyone does it better than Texans, at least in this area. I was appalled at the amount of garbage thrown everywhere here. And recycling is widely unavailable, you can't even do it if you want to, in 2010.

[TBoneTX 45,267]

As far as throwing trash around, I don't think anyone does it better than Texans, at least in this area. I was appalled at the amount of garbage thrown everywhere here. And recycling is widely unavailable, you can't even do it if you want to, in 2010.

"Don't Mess With Texas," no man. Where I am (Houston 'burb), recycling pickup is once weekly. I still don't fathom (and am inspired to ask) how the garbage company can separate the paper from the plastic from the whatever that's all thrown into the truck. Unknown whether recycling occurs in Canandaigua, no man.