Rubbish dump twice the size of USA floating in Pacific Ocean

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Bio-degradable plastic bags is definitely the way to go...

Nope. Those just degrade into itty bitty bits of plastic, which then gets eaten by smaller, unwitting sea creatures until they die.

I use canvas bags or those wicker baskets the French shop with. They are both actually biodegradable and made from strictly renewable resources. I've had more than one cashier look at me like I said I was a martian when I tell them to use the bags I brought.

It's amazing how many pro-environmental things I actually do to help out.

And that's something I respect. I'd rather there were more people like you, living more sustainable lives without making a fuss about it, that people who preach constantly, but refuse to change their convenient lifestyles. *coughAlGorecough*

Earth has become Earth-plus-plastic.
Now humans can be phased out, we've done our job.

... What if we used mob connections to shoot it into space?

Maybe we should just nuke these plastic islands. At best, it'll get rid of some of the plastic. At worst, plastic Godzilla kills some Japs.

Really, it's win-win.

Too soon?

I recycle glass, metals, and plastic, even though I have to haul them out myself. Paper either gets recycled or used as firestarters or used to put some nitrogen in my soil. Uneaten food gets composted or thrown in the woods so something can eat it. Things that are still usable get taken to Goodwill. There's very little stuff that I actually throw into a garbage can. I installed low water toilets and I haven't noticed a difference in shit getting stuck.

In the winter i keep my thermostat at 65. I can throw on a sweater or start a fire if I'm cold. in the summer I keep it at 78 with fans running. I'm looking into getting solar panels next year to power my house that way.

And I grow about half of the fruits and veggies I eat so I end up spending that much less power to produce/transport/buy food.

Eh. I won't dispute the article. But I will point out that it is awfully convenient that, while apparently most of the Pacific is completely covered with garbage, through some freak anomaly, you can't see any of it by satellite.

And, of course, the obligitory bit of alarmism:

[my emphasis]
OH TEH NOES!!!11

While I can believe that trash could be sustained in one area (even a very large area) by ocean currents, the density of trash in this region is--must be--very, very low.

To put it another way, all the crap that we HAVEN'T thrown away (buildings, cars, highways, houses, etc.) doesn't even come close to filling an area the size of the United States. And all of the stuff we have thrown away does not go into the ocean--very little of it, in fact. So the density must be quite low. Observable, yes, but quite low.

Yes, if you sail through the area, you will probably see an occasional piece of trash. And there may be significantly more underwater than there is above it. But a few articles of trash per million gallons of seawater is not going to ruin the ecology of the ocean no matter how politically incorrect it is to say it.

It probably makes a difference if you live in the water, and eat by inhaling what's in front of you.

Was this the same guy that came up with the condom reef off of Australia hoax?

Who the hell are you?

Someone needs to find those German Nazi Era Subs out there and stop them from sinking all those Cargo ships and Freighters...The war is over dammit, and they still havent got the word yet!

Isnt there a dead zone in gulf of mexico?

The reveal!

Greenpeace claims it's about the size of Texas.

Eh, I don't eat fish anyway. It all tastes like Mrs. Paul's fishsticks to me.

I can't believe I posted a picture of the Trash Heap and didn't get a single "Hey, no pics of garamet/T'Bonz/your mom without permission."



YOU HAVE FAILED ME, RED ROOM!!!

The size of Texas? Maybe it's a lifesize replica made during craft class at summer camp, and got dropped into the ocean.

Let me guess: predictions for after the 2008 elections. Rush Limbaugh is going to go on an eating binge in a fit of depression--even, perhaps especially, if the Republicans (McCain) win--double his previous high weight, and try to make a break for it by swimming to China.

But I thought humans couldn't impact the world on such a massive scale...at least that's what the global warming opponents tell me...

The ecology of the ocean is a delicate balance between numerous living things. If a crucial part is destroyed, it could certainly brings the whole house of cards crashing down. Just look at the impact that the destruction of coral reefs has had.

Psst! This is a made-up story, backed by junk "science".

Like Global Warming.

It isn't that delicate. The hydrogen bombs we lit off in the South Pacific 50 years ago probably did waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay more damage to the oceans than any trash floating around today does.

I don't buy into the catastrophic, tipping-point-type scenarios that people advance (your "house of cards" analogy). Yes, if you poured 100 trillion tons of sulphur into the ocean, you could probably ruin it. But it isn't one styrofoam cup away from dying.

No, we shouldn't dump garbage in the ocean. But let's keep perspective on these things.

Wait a minute, it's twice the size of the US, invisible to satellites and in international waters off the coast of California?



I name this new floating continent Plastica and claim it for the Kingdom of Clydoscopia!

It's not the entire ocean we have to worry about ruiing, just one link in the food chain. If the plankton or whatnot choke to death on all those llittle fragments of plastic, then the food supply for the next level or peredator is diminished, and so on up the chain. If the plastic blocks a decent percentage of sunlight, then you're disrupting the lives or everything using that sunlight to thrive.

It's not an all or nothing type scenario, it's a situation where everything degrades until they reach a point of no return.


Don't sweat it, though. After all, some people said we'd wipe out the Passenger Pigeon, but that worked itself out in the end, right?

Right?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passenger_Pigeon

I understand that. But, as I said, I doubt the field of garbage is very dense.

Probably not a point of no return, just a new equilibrium.

And removing that one element in the natural order caused what catastrophe exactly?