Pacific Garbage Dump

[Rhapsody-NS27]

Originally Posted by barnakiel

I think this material relates somehow to documenting some of the damage done:

MIDWAY - a film by Chris Jordan

b.

I just saw this show up on Yahoo that was also filmed in Midway.
Digging into the Great Pacific Garbage Patch | The Upshot - Yahoo! News

[Ex-Calif]

Originally Posted by conachair

Lets face it, we won't be the first species or civilization to fall by the wayside. Why should we be any different?

The earth will be just fine, once we are all gone...

When we talk survival of the planet we are talking survival of our species. Or more cynically we are talking about maintaining our high consumption western lifestyle by trying to convince emerging nations not to develop a high consumptive lifestyle.

We are all hypocrites...

And yes, plastic is bad...

[GaryMayo]

Natural Selection will solve the plastic in the ocean. The Earth will again reign supreme once we are gone. Sadly when we go, we will also take everything else with us. Birds, fish, all life will pay the price for the industrial revolution of mankind. Plastics is the speck in one eye. The log in the other eye is nuclear Japan. All tuna caught in California now has redaction from the reactors. The majority of our oxygen and weather patterns we have in the world come from living oceans. When that light switch is turned off and the oceans go extinct, plastics will not matter any longer.

[sdowney717]

How horrible, bugs using the plastic to lay eggs.
Plastic the size of confetti.
Create a crisis to fund research.

Gaea is not pleased, need human sacrifices to appease mother earth,
so some of you more radical types should volunteer yourselves to reduce the human load.

Great Pacific Garbage Patch a bigger worry than tsunami debris - KCPQ

She and other researchers found the upsurge in plastic debris in the middle of the ocean is so dramatic that seafaring insects known as "sea skaters" or "water striders" now use it as a surface to lay eggs, where before they might have used natural pieces of flotsam like feathers, shells and pumice.

It is really getting serious, way out there.
We must also eliminate toxic copper bottom paint used by recreational boaters, all other larger ships are copacetic. The deception is coming on more powerfully now.

[SkipMe]

The primary issue is simple - too many people who consume too many things. The only solution lies in reducing world population to more sustainable levels (along with changes in consumption). The other solution, of course, is letting things develop naturally until Earth solves the problem in its usual way (which tends to be quite abrupt)

[delmarrey]

Originally Posted by SkipMe

The primary issue is simple - too many people who consume too many things. The only solution lies in reducing world population to more sustainable levels (along with changes in consumption). The other solution, of course, is letting things develop naturally until Earth solves the problem in its usual way (which tends to be quite abrupt)

And that's the way it is.
Walter Cronkite

[conachair]

Originally Posted by SkipMe

The primary issue is simple - too many people who consume too many things. The only solution lies in reducing world population to more sustainable levels (along with changes in consumption). The other solution, of course, is letting things develop naturally until Earth solves the problem in its usual way (which tends to be quite abrupt)

Why should there *be* a solution? That suggests that there is some ordered stable way that things should be, but that would be a first in the universe. Things come, things go, constant flux. No one in charge. No *answers* to anything ever.

Enjoy the dance while you are here

[mdvick]

This is one of those topics where the have seen vs have not seen and we all have an opinion. I have been blessed to have sailed - ship and sailboat and worked around the world. Until you have seen the trash piles at sea you have NO idea what it does to your soul. I worked in northern Nigeria and the small town - 2 million people was the dirtiest place I have ever been. I was assembling two helicopters for the Governor of the state and the plant where they had placed the containers they were in was a plastic plant the Chinese had sold them and set up. It manufactured all manner of plastic bags, utensils, containers - you name it. I was astonished at the amount of plastics bags of all sizes blowing around and stuck to fences.

I was on a Taiwanese ship and watched as they discarded 65 55 gallon drums overboard. All the daily trash was discarded the same way. This was just ONE ship. I was also on a Russian Icebreaker for three years - Antarctica in the southern summer, the High Arctic in the northern summer and never once saw ANYTHING thrown overboard. Again just ONE ship.

The way we are supposed to prevent skin cancer is to use sunblock. The reefs in Guam are slowly dieing due to chemical contamination. They NEED sunlight to live, what washes off of our skin is killing the coral. Again, just ONE chemical.... I am done with this rant....

[forsailbyowner]

Third world countries arent the only ones, Here in Tampa bay the Coast guard was caught throwing the expired batteries out of channel markers in the water by the local news. I was talking to a navy man that stated they routinely dump plastic bags of trash overboard. The same corporate entity (USA) that fines and harasses for taking a poop in the water.

[donradcliffe]

I went to a good talk about the oceans at the Capitol YC this weekend. On the plastic problem, the conclusion of the environmentalists is that there is no way to clean up the microscopic particles that are already there without dong more harm than good--they are better off concentrating their efforts in eliminating the sources of the plastic.

[Therapy]

Originally Posted by donradcliffe

I went to a good talk about the oceans at the Capitol YC this weekend. On the plastic problem, the conclusion of the environmentalists is that there is no way to clean up the microscopic particles that are already there without dong more harm than good--they are better off concentrating their efforts in eliminating the sources of the plastic.

Yep.

Humans.

[itchybro]

Large chunk...

Dock in Washington is from Japan Tsunami - weather.com

[somedayy]

This just in-http://photoblog.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/04/06/17634743-fish-hitches-ride-on-2011-tsunami-debris-arrives-in-washington-state?lite=

[Andy73]

Although it is early days for this project, I think it is a great reflection on the concept that we are only limited by our own ideas... And the governments and corporations of the world of course

19-Year-Old Student Develops Ocean Cleanup Array That Could Remove 7,250,000 Tons Of Plastic From the World's Oceans | Inhabitat - Sustainable Design Innovation, Eco Architecture, Green Building

[Sailor g]

Wow! This is the one bright spot in an very sad topic. I hope to read more as his research continues. Thanks for sharing this information!