Continent sized-garbage patch accumulates in Pacific.

[Deep13]

A soup of partially degraded plastics, mostly disposable packaging, as big as a continent and at least 320 feet deep is growing in the Pacific ocean threatening wild life of all descriptions.

http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=4528488&page=1

[CaliforniaPeggy]

1. How did we let this get so damn big?

We need to start trying to get rid of it...

It is toxic beyond words.

Just because we can't see it on a daily basis, is no reason to ignore it...

What a horrifying consequence of our throw-away society...

[John Q. Citizen]

2. We still don't have "Don't litter" down.

[ColbertWatcher]

3. Do you have a poicture of this? n/t

[stevedeshazer]

11. Video here

http://youtube.com/watch?v=tnUjTHB1lvM

[ColbertWatcher]

14. Picture of the entire thing?

Thank you for the video, but what I meant was is there a picture of the thing in its entirety?

One of the big complaints of the doubters is that how can anyone know how big it is if no one can see it?

They claim it doesn't exist because there are no satellite (or aerial) photos of it.

I would like to be able to show them one.

[Deep13]

28. No, it's not a solid object...

...but a lot of crap hanging in the water at various depths. So it is probably invisible from orbit.

[ColbertWatcher]

37. Thank you. n/t

[NashVegas]

4. I'm Glad to See MSM Reporting

I tried to figure out why it's not visible on Google maps; apparently the light goes right through it, was one explanation.

[Fox Mulder]

5. The worst thing that's ever happened to this planet...

is human beings and what we're doing to it.

This is just awful.

[Fed_Up_Grammy]

8. And what on earth is your solution,the lemming route?

[greyl]

18. Please don't confuse our culture with humanity at large. nt

[pnwmom]

35. Are you sure it's "our culture"? I'd assume it belongs to all of the countries

of the Pacific Rim, many of which have lower environmental standards than we do.

[Duer 157099]

6. I think we should move the White House there

it's a new continent, how long till George decides to invade? Let's just move him there and let him think he's king of his own continent.

[panader0]

7. Now we know where to exile bushco

[Mist]

9. This has been mentioned on Sam Seder's show a few times--can't some

ships get out there and cut it up and drag it away (to land, I mean) and figure out how to safely dispose of it? I know there's no way to "safely" dispose of it, but in a land area, it wouldn't cause so much damage, so quickly.

[MonkeyFunk]

36. It's not a solid mass

that can be "cut up".

[Kitty Herder]

10. God , that's depressing.

What the hell is wrong with our species?

[AZCat]

12. There is a wikipedia article with links to images...

if anyone is interested.

Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Also, googling "Pacific Garbage Patch" returns some photos.

[HuffleClaw]

13. meep

how sickening

i've also heard there is oil EVERYWHERE

[CaliforniaPeggy]

15. And off to the Greatest Page!

:patriot:

[dorktv]

16. someone tell one of the D candidates to offer to do something about this.

I mean come on, we can recycle!

[tuvor]

17. "a floating garbage dump about the size of Africa"

There must be satellite photos aplenty.

[alittlelark]

19. Our local AAR affiliate (Green 960) has been talking about it.

There are pics on the web, but one of the guys that is studying it said it is too big to put your mind around in any relative way....unless you want to discuss Australia or the Continental United States.



Damn.... It is truly astounding that we have been kept in the dark about this for soooo long..... they have moved shipping lanes for the trash!

[Mike In Mesa]

20. Where is this all coming from?

I'm new here. Been browsing this site for awhile. It made me sign up just so I can ask... Where is all of this garbage coming from? Are there known perps? Any video footage of any violators dumping trash into the sea? I thought we had dumps and recycling systems.

[otohara]

21. apparantly from rivers / streams

that's what I heard on the news

[pnwmom]

34. I wonder if Canada still dumps untreated sewage into the ocean.

They were several years ago, and it made me think twice about visiting there.

This garbage dump belongs to ALL of the countries on the Pacific Rim, but I doubt that the US is one of the worst offenders.

[shanti]

22. i wondered that as well

how much of this waste has come from natural disasters like the tsunami in thailand, katrina, etc.? or are garbage boats just dumping it?

[HamdenRice]

30. Think of it as the result of a giant whirlpool

All the floating plastic garbage in the ocean -- from ship dumping, from sewage, from run-off, etc., is blown by the wind. The prevailing currents in the Pacific taken together create a whirl pattern that eventually causes much of the floating garbage to accumulate in the center of the whirl.

There have been natural equivalents. For example, the sargasso sea is part of the Atlantic where currents cause vast amounts of sea weed to accumulate.

[Wiley50]

23. We could Pave all of our roads with it

Seems to me that if it was strained out and dried

and then fed into the hopper of a slightly modified asphalt paving machine

we could use it for our benefit while cleaning up the mess

as well as not having to use petroleum based asphalt to pave our roads

Must be other good uses for this resource?

[Alexander]

24. There was a Futurama episode about this.

"A Big Piece of Garbage".

So much garbage accumulates that they wad it up in a ball, attach it to a rocket and launch it into space. Eventually the garbage ball returns, threatening New New York.



A great episode. Probably not too far from the truth, either.

[Duppers]

25. the pattern

[Art_from_Ark]

27. Holy trash dump, Batman!

That is just plain creepy :scared:

[IamyourTVandIownyou]

26. "Trashland"

A new continent.

[Bucky]

29. At what point does this continent of trash get to declare sovereignty?

I'd like to become president of the Republic of Basura-quo.

[2Design]

31. go to any eating place where people are to clear their own tables

and they leave their trash - a garbage can is within feet most of the time - people are disgusting

[Judi Lynn]

32. So damned sad. Learning respect for others can be hard for some people, apparently. n/t

[bluedawg12]

33. It's a problem- this stuf breaks into smaller bits

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/oceans/pollution/trash-vortex
>>Chemical sponge

There is a sinister twist to all this as well. The plastics can act as a sort of “chemical sponge”. They can concentrate many of the most damaging of the pollutants found in the worlds oceans: the persistent organic pollutants (POPs). So any animal eating these pieces of plastic debris will also be taking in highly toxic pollutants.

The North Pacific gyre is one of five major ocean gyres and it is possible that this Trash Vortex problem is one which is present in other oceans as well. The Sargasso Sea is a well known slow circulation area in the Atlantic, and research there has also demonstrated high concentrations of plastic particles present in the water.


Ocean hitchhikers

The floating plastics can also affect marine ecosystems in a surprising way, by providing a ready surface for organisms to live on. These plants and animals can then be transported on the plastic far outside their normal habitat. These ocean hitch-hikers can then invade new habitats to become possible nuisance species.<<