msiltd
|
Joined: 12/28/2007
Msg: 1 | |
| Sea of Plastic Twice the Size of USA
Posted: 2/6/2008 4:08:25 PM | Anyone heard of the recently discovered expanse of garbage sitting just below the ocean surface. Apparently twice the size of the USA and contains such items as luggage and kayaks as well as the usual junk. OMG! They say the ocean currents keep it together in a continuous mass and it surrounds Hawaii. Kills untold numbers of sea and bird life annually.
What are we doing to the planet! | |
|
| Sea of Plastic Twice the Size of USA
Posted: 2/6/2008 4:21:12 PM | | Just watched a program on what the ocean currents do to all the "garbage" swimming/floating around out there. Amazingly, with the help of people in the know of currents, etc, these people were able to pinpoint where the "garbage" should be. Took a boat out there and behold, tons and tons of plastics(goes with the plastic bag thread and the naysayers in it) just floating around. Don't know the square miles of the area, but it was somewhat scarey and definitely eerie. The amount of dead marine life caught up in all the crap would make anyone with a beating heart shed a tear or two. So when you throw out your garbage out into a ditch on the side of the road,,, you now know where it ultimately ends up. May take years to get there,,,,but it does. The scientists or whoever they were doing this program did "tests" dropping bottles with GPS sensors in them and tracked them for years,,,,,right to the area where all the garbage is now swimming. | |
|
Tyeee
|
Joined: 7/6/2007
Msg: 3 | |
| Sea of Plastic Twice the Size of USA
Posted: 2/6/2008 4:30:14 PM | I believe that would be the Sargasso Sea. I remember reading about this sea when I was a youngster, where then there were huge masses of seaweed and all kinds of flotsam going around in a huge circle. As the mankind continues with spewing out ever-increasing amounts of pollution and garbage all the stuff that we deposit in the oceans get caught up in the currents and eventually makes it way to the Sargasso Sea.
No doubt there will be millions of those flimsy plastic grocery shopping bags to be found in that expanse of garbage.
We have landfills for garbage and it seems now we have an oceanfill in the works too!
As global warming trends continue there is concern the ocean currents we know today will be disrupted... and who knows how the currents might change and where that mass of garbage will wander to.
Tyeee | |
|
| Sea of Plastic Twice the Size of USA
Posted: 2/6/2008 4:43:43 PM | The OP mentioned Hawaii ???? I haven't seen the report mentioned here so I don't know where this would be.
Tyee, the Sargasso Sea is an elongated region in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by ocean currents. On the west it is bounded by the Gulf Stream. On the north, by the North Atlantic Current; on the east, by the Canary Current; and on the south, by the North Atlantic Equatorial Current. It is roughly 1,100 km wide and 3,200 km long.
EDIT:
There are numerous reports from different region and oceans just one I found:
http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,23157068-952,00.html | |
|
| Sea of Plastic Twice the Size of USA
Posted: 2/6/2008 4:49:53 PM | | maybe instead of spending money on how to reduce the use of plastic, put those financial resources into a processing method to havest the stuff. look at used cooking.........at one time you couldn't give it away and now processers will charge you with theft if you take some for biodiesel. ...economics is the way to deal with bad stuff. | |
|
msiltd
|
Joined: 12/28/2007
Msg: 6 | |
| Sea of Plastic Twice the Size of USA
Posted: 2/6/2008 4:55:09 PM | | Thanks for the link Mountain Lion. 1997 ! I feel so ignorant, never heard this before, really is eye opening. Everyone needs to know this. | |
|
| Sea of Plastic Twice the Size of USA
Posted: 2/6/2008 5:58:31 PM | ^^^^ never mind
I felt rather ignorant not having heard of the story, though I've know dumping in oceans has been going on since time began...lol
but honestly, I just googled it to read up, never did see the date
Thanks! | |
|
Tyeee
|
Joined: 7/6/2007
Msg: 8 | |
| Sea of Plastic Twice the Size of USA
Posted: 2/6/2008 6:37:34 PM | Thanks to posts above I stand corrected.
So we have a garbage 'oceanfill' in the Pacific, and the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic. I suspect that the latter has a bunch of garbage too... and wonder how if compares in size to the on in the Pacific. | |
|
| Sea of Plastic Twice the Size of USA
Posted: 2/6/2008 6:50:26 PM |
and wonder how if compares in size to the on in the Pacific.
Kind of a moot point isn't it??
Our mother has a way of cleansing herself. She will again soon, even if that means destroying life as well. | |
|
| Sea of Plastic Twice the Size of USA
Posted: 2/6/2008 7:13:06 PM |
Our mother has a way of cleansing herself. She will again soon, even if that means destroying life as well.
YA what he said ! ^^^
and if ya wanna know how she cleans herself, see the vaginaoven thread | |
|
| Sea of Plastic Twice the Size of USA
Posted: 2/6/2008 7:13:25 PM | is there enuf gravity to shoot the waste out to space?...deep space?..
I found that the more healthier I am eating...less packaged crap and more organics that I am eating the veggies without peeling them...etc...the less garbage I am throwing out now.
Gone from 3 bags a week to less than 1/2 bag.
I recycle more now, still boxes that the juiceboxes, cereals come in...but I throw out the trash bi-weekly now. Funny...a hell of a lot less waste now that the EX is gone... and he use to run the dishwasher every day... I run it once or twice a week now.. ..we can all learn to assume less....make better choices with the items we use in terms of packaging and ability to recycle or reuse. | |
|
| Sea of Plastic Twice the Size of USA
Posted: 2/6/2008 7:14:12 PM | is there enuf gravity to shoot the waste out to space?...deep space?..
I found that the more healthier I am eating...less packaged crap and more organics that I am eating the veggies without peeling them...etc...the less garbage I am throwing out now.
Gone from 3 bags a week to less than 1/2 bag.
I recycle more now, still boxes that the juiceboxes, cereals come in...but I throw out the trash bi-weekly now. Funny...a hell of a lot less waste now that the EX is gone... and he use to run the dishwasher every day... I run it once or twice a week now.. ..we can all learn to assume less....make better choices with the items we use in terms of packaging and ability to recycle or reuse. | |
|
| Sea of Plastic Twice the Size of USA
Posted: 2/6/2008 8:22:25 PM |
is there enuf gravity to shoot the waste out to space?...deep space?.
Enough GRAVITY? To launch something into orbit? Ooops, got yer science a wee bit wrong there, Chickadee. I do think your reduction at source and recycling is the answer. Keep up your efforts.
Try googling 'space junk'. It might give you some insight into what they call the "celestial sea of garbage" and why exporting the issue to another location is hardly the solution to the problem. Wherever humans go, they leave a mess........
Wow, a thread that's actually about something. Thought I was having a brain farc. | |
|
cody11
|
Joined: 10/7/2007
Msg: 14 | |
| |
| Sea of Plastic Twice the Size of USA
Posted: 2/6/2008 10:17:54 PM |
So we have a garbage 'oceanfill' in the Pacific, and the Sargasso Sea in the Atlantic. I suspect that the latter has a bunch of garbage too... and wonder how if compares in size to the on in the Pacific. as *Dolores* note in the brain farc
Wow, a thread that's actually about something. and
Wherever humans go, they leave a mess..
Haven't really thought about these issues since student demonstrations in the early 70ties lol...there wasn't an ocean or sea unaffected by human pollution then. One can only imagine how much more junk has been added in over 35 years...
let's all eat more seafood and re-distribute what anything from shellfish tuna or salmon have collected for us.
Wasn't there a warning recently not to consume fish more than once a month due to high heavy metal accumulation in fish even tuna, which is not a bottom feeder and the levels of farm fish are even worse. | |
|
| Sea of Plastic Twice the Size of USA
Posted: 2/7/2008 2:31:06 PM | From ML,
Haven't really thought about these issues
This is a large part of the problem. People don't have the time or inclination to bother with anything outside whatever might be a current hot-button issue.......and even then, their factual information is often poorly-derived and their passionate resolve for changing behaviour is ephemeral at best. A large percentage of plastic waste is comprised of plastic water bottles. Who was the clever marketer that convinced a naive populous that bottled water was a "safer" alternative than tap water (which in this country comes from highly regulated and monitored municipal water systems)? These bottles are now clogging landfills and contributing to the mid-ocean garbage gyres.
Wasn't there a warning recently not to consume fish more than once a month due to high heavy metal accumulation in fish even tuna, which is not a bottom feeder and the levels of farm fish are even worse.
I don't mean to diverge widely from the thread topic, but it looks like you have parroted some rather old and inaccurate information with respect to fish contamination, so here is a link to help clarify a few facts about PCBs in salmon and mercury contamination in other fish species: http://www.cnn.com/2008/HEALTH/diet.fitness/01/08/cl.fish.conundrum/ | |
|
| Sea of Plastic Twice the Size of USA
Posted: 2/7/2008 6:46:26 PM | ^^^ thanks for the link daaarlin, much obliged
 When you quote in order to concoct a psychoanalysis of sorts to condescendingly point at peoples behaviour or degree of education or reason (in general or individually) please do me a favor and do not use me, or if and when you must, do not use a fraction of an entire context just to suit your purpose.
For all intend and purpose these forums are rather shallow even on more serious topics. So forgive when I led you out to left field. The causes and origins of contamination of most every larger body of salt water and fresh water are so vast a topic that observing these matters for over 40 years and in light of the events I still feel ignorant indeed.
The accumulation of heavy metals in fish may not have anything to do with the “Sea of Plastic” floating about. But then again I’d be happy to learn if you can explain every aspect of chemical reaction of possibly thousands or more combinations of various plastic materials(polymers containing carbon, hydrogen , oxygen, nitrogen, chlorine, sulfur, natural and synthetic molecules) under the exposure of sunlight while submerged in the salt water environment and in continuous motion of the ocean.
My sidestep to point at the contamination of fish and crustations was merely a feeble attempt top give interested readers something else to ponder and research. After all, their health too may be effected consuming sea food.
You are quite correct in that bottles water is not necessarily better or safer than tap water, but the safety problems of bottled water is not necessarily the filling station, but rather the container that is used and the length of time of storage. Indeed these bottles do end up in the landfills or recycling depots or so one would hope and I’ll spare asking who’s drinking 6litres plus a day and pi$$ing more than my horse...more fertilizer for the oceans. 
 | |
|
| Sea of Plastic Twice the Size of USA
Posted: 2/7/2008 7:21:27 PM | Apologies ML. My quote from you was meant to direct attention to the fact that many, many people in our society simply do not have the interest or the capacity (or both) to keep abreast of and make the necessary constructive and concrete changes to make differences to the environmental issues facing the world today. And honestly, I partly understand this because we can suffer from extreme information overload and feelings of powerlessness that make change seem unattainable or at best futile and ineffective.
The sea of plastic, contaminated fish.....it's all part of the same human disease....we're using the ocean as our toilet. We seem to pollute every habitat we encounter, even space. | |
|
| |
| Sea of Plastic Twice the Size of USA
Posted: 2/9/2008 1:33:35 PM | Yes, this natural phenomenon is doing us a favour. As more sh*t gathers there, the rest of the ocean becomes less contaminated.
Perhaps a few million thoughtful people could pitch in to launch an expedition aimed at "scooping up" as much of this accumulated junk as possible. I'd be up for it, as long as we decimated government first and dropped all taxes accordingly. Government, of course, would only guarantee failure because government is mankind's greatest failure.
BTW: we're not "doing" anything devastating to the planet. The planet couldn't care less about us. Describing the phenomenon as a "sea of plastic twice the size of USA" is misleading at best, closer actually to crooked Al Gore-esque propaganda aimed at growing government as large as possible at the expense of civilization itself.
We all must try to be less gullible. We are not destroying Earth any more than Muslims are out to murder every non-Muslim. Let's eliminate both sides of the inhumane socialist coin before it enslaves us all.
---
Election 2008. McCain/Lieberman vs. Clinton/Obama. No matter what the outcome, everyone loses. | |
|
| |
| Sea of Plastic Twice the Size of USA
Posted: 2/10/2008 10:53:38 AM | Yes, well, by now I've grown to expect nothing more reasonable and engaging from socialists than insults.
Try educating yourself. mises.org is a great place to start. | |
|
| Sea of Plastic Twice the Size of USA
Posted: 2/10/2008 7:09:56 PM | ^^ good sir.. i am far from being political.. and could really care less about politics.
I am however a realist...
when my mother was a youngster growing up on a reserve, she said they could drink the water right out of sloughs. And now... it has to be filtered. Yet you say:
BTW: we're not "doing" anything devastating to the planet.
When I see Oil spills in the oceans destroying wildlife, does that not harm the planet...yet you say:
BTW: we're not "doing" anything devastating to the planet.
I see smog blanketing the city. Is that really healthy for the planet?? Yet you say:
BTW: we're not "doing" anything devastating to the planet.
Ever been to the tar sands of Northern Alberta?? The land is stripped and barren.. like a wasteland. Yet you say:
BTW: we're not "doing" anything devastating to the planet.
When we as humans have to protect other species from extinction. Something is wrong. Yet you say:
BTW: we're not "doing" anything devastating to the planet.
I could go on... but you get the idea
Believe what ya want.. I am not here to change your mind... like i said ignorance is bliss.
Good day | |
|
| |
| Sea of Plastic Twice the Size of USA
Posted: 7/6/2008 5:12:01 AM | With respect to the plastic gyre floating in the Pacific Ocean.
Midway Island, in the Pacific, is home to colonies of the Albatross, the large sea bird.
Albatross fly great distances in search for food for their chicks waiting on the island. Not finding much food the dutiful parents will pick some plastic. Ironically there are vast quantities of clear plastic beads that manufacturers use as material to produce plastic products, and these beads look similar to fish eggs. Yummy.
The parent birds return to their hungry chicks with meals of plastic bits and the beads. The hungry birds feed on the non-food meal.
The plastic does not digest and eventually there is no room for any food in the gut and the birds die of starvation, with full bellies.
The island is littered with carcasses of dead birds and masses of plastic are clearly visible through the rib cages.
Certain colonies of the Albatross, if not the species, appears doomed for extinction.
So next time you are on a cruise and see an albatross be sure to hoist your glass of champagne and give it a toast of farewell. It might be the last generation of the species you may see.
OR | |
|
Home
login 
