Mediterrenean Drowning In Hidden Sea Of Plastic Rubbish - Independent

[hatrack]

The Mediterranean suffers more pollution from discarded plastics than any other sea, especially the north-west sector that washes up on holiday resorts in Spain, France and Italy, an ecological study has found. Around 6.5million tons of rubbish lie below the surface of the world's oceans. The highest concentration by far - including almost 2,000 pieces of plastic per square kilometre - is in the Mediterranean, according to the study. It was carried out by Greenpeace, the environmental group, for the University of Exeter.

A separate Spanish study also predicts global warming will bring hurricanes to the Mediterranean, whipping usually tranquil waters into cyclones. This means the garbage may not remain on the sea bedfor long.

Most of the human rubbish in the seas consists of plastic containers and bags. "These present a serious environmental problem if you bear in mind that their average life, before they disintegrate, is around 450 years," said Sebastian Losada. A spokesman in Spain for Greenpeace's oceans campaign, he was speaking in Barcelona yesterday after the group'sRainbow Warrior docked in the Catalan capital. The ship has spent recent days in the Mediterranean gathering evidence.

The non-biodegradable pieces of rubbish that wash on to the beaches of southern Europe form only 15 per cent of the total. "Most of it we never see, since 70 per cent sits on the sea bed. And another 15 per cent floats suspended in the water," said Mario Rodriguez, Greenpeace's campaigns director. Our perception that the Mediterranean is clean is false, campaigners say. "During the holiday season the beaches are cleaned constantly. But, if you stroll along a beach between September and May, you find plastic rubbish all over the place," Mr Rodriguez said.


EDIT

http://www.ecoearth.info/shared/reader/welcome.aspx?linkid=80267

[glowing]

1. Thanks to oil, plastics are a staple around the world. We seriously

need to start growing hemp and creating clothing and bags from these items. That would cut down on a lot of plastic... And there is nothing wrong with glass bottles... When I was in Canada, they didn't melt the bottles down, they cleaned and re-used... I have a bottle that says Mt. Dew on it, with an orange flavor label.. and I put a red sand in it from PEI... I still have it.