http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/10/science/10patch.html?ref=earth
There are huge islands of trash accumulating in our oceans, most notably one in the pacific. It's built of all sorts of trash, with a lot of bottles, bottle caps and random things such as light bulbs. This island is only going to grow in size, as it is stuck in a whirlpool like part of the ocean. Currently it's approximately twice the size of Texas.
This is a major problem. Our heavy pollution is shown perfectly by this oceanic garbage patch. Researchers have traveled out to it this past summer and taken water samples. No where in this space (which is twice the size of Texas!) were they able to find a plastic free portion of water. This is extremely disturbing. We need to come down hard on our regulation of pollution, or else more things like this will continue to occur. There are already some other notable garbage patches, such as one that is outside Japan. The life in this area is taking a huge hit. The number of fish has declined greatly, and the ones that remain are extremely tainted. One rainbow trout that was tested was found to have 80 something plastic fragments in its stomach. We all know the effects of decreasing biodiversity globally, and this is something that needs to be fixed.
One quote from the article really sums this up, saying that the patch is "just a reminder that there’s nowhere that isn’t affected by humanity."
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I too, find this account extremely disturbing. How could we have let the standards of which we live drop to such a low that we have completely disregarded any boundaries we have with the planet we cohabit with millions of other species on this planet. Islands of trash are floating cesspools that represent the bane of our very existence. I propose that quick steps are taken to reducing these trash islands such as skimming it off the surface of the ocean with large nets. With what is collected we should recycle what we can. A very important step that should also be taken is to educate the public on the harm that this trash has on our oceans and create harsher fines for those who litter.
ReplyDeleteI was shocked to read that the trash in our oceans have accumulated to become twice the size of Texas. Despite our growing knowledge of the harmful effects of pollution, the trash doubles in size each decade. This leads me to believe that either people simply disregard this information or don't care. Our irresponsibility often has a way of coming back to us; for instance, we are ultimately eating fish with toxic chemicals in it. This is only one of the detrimental effects of pollution. In order to stop the growing trash size, I think there should be heavier punishments for littering.
ReplyDeleteIt is frightening to realize that there is almost nowhere that is untouched by our irresponsible growth. This article is a great example of why all forms of environmental protection need to be addressed, not just global climate change. Co2 emissions are just one of the many critical issues that need to be addressed. Instead of just gawking at how large the trash islands are, we need to be proactive and develop solutions. Kylah has a good idea to skim the plastic off the surface and recycle it. Even though this will not remove all of the particles because some are too small, this is still a positive step. A trash island the size of Texas is definitely better than a trash island two times the size of Texas. Until a final solution can be developed, an interim resolution to at least stop the growth is an excellent first step.
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