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View Full Version : How plastic travels the seas (awesome link)



Chloe
09-18-2013, 11:09 AM
Ok so you all know by now my opinions and beliefs on plastics and how they interact with the ocean and the environment. Living near the Pacific Ocean we are well aware of the fact that there is a massive trash heap circling off the coast that pollutes the water, pollutes beaches, chokes and entangles wildlife, and generally does no good at all for the health of the ocean and in turn the planet. Now there is a link that can illustrate the harmful affects of things like plastic bottles, plastic bags, and other harmful litter and pollutants that we allow to enter the ecosystem every single day. It's a really cool map and hopefully it will open some eyes.

Click here to experiment with the interactive map to see how plastic travels in the ocean
Adrift: tracking the global ocean circulation (http://adrift.org.au/)

Click here to read more about the harmful impacts of plastic in the ocean
Plastic Oceans: 18/09/2012, Behind the News (http://www.abc.net.au/btn/story/s3591476.htm)

This link shows the harmful chemical impact of plastic bottles and items like it
Chemical From Plastic Water Bottles Found Throughout Oceans - Wired Science (http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/03/ocean-bpa/)

http://youtu.be/M4UK9Yt6A-s

BB-35
09-18-2013, 01:46 PM
We have a 5 mile section of land jutting out into Galveston bay, that was made using dredge spoil from digging out our port's ship channel early last century. We had a pretty violent tropical storm come through one year and it deposited THOUSANDS of plastic soda bottles up and down the five miles

Chloe
09-18-2013, 02:20 PM
We have a 5 mile section of land jutting out into Galveston bay, that was made using dredge spoil from digging out our port's ship channel early last century. We had a pretty violent tropical storm come through one year and it deposited THOUSANDS of plastic soda bottles up and down the five miles

It's pretty crazy. I've been on some pretty secluded beaches before along the pacific coast and up in alaska and it's amazing the amount of trash that you can find along the beaches, mostly plastic stuff.

BB-35
09-18-2013, 02:55 PM
What made all the bottles so striking is the mixture of green plastic bottles in the bunch.

Mister D
09-18-2013, 03:16 PM
It's pretty crazy. I've been on some pretty secluded beaches before along the pacific coast and up in alaska and it's amazing the amount of trash that you can find along the beaches, mostly plastic stuff.

There is garbage on virtually every beach across the globe.

Chloe
09-18-2013, 03:40 PM
There is garbage on virtually every beach across the globe.

and not to sound too anti-human, but none of that trash was put there by any other species besides ours. That's what's sad, but that also means that we can stop it.

Mister D
09-18-2013, 03:43 PM
and not to sound too anti-human, but none of that trash was put there by any other species besides ours. That's what's sad, but that also means that we can stop.

Agreed.

Survivor Man often mentions that he can be left stranded on the most remote beaches and can gurantee he'll be able to find bottles and other useful garbage.

Adelaide
09-18-2013, 06:17 PM
It's pretty sad when you think about it, and the fact that there is no solution to fix what has already been done.

Peter1469
09-18-2013, 07:22 PM
I would imagine that we could set up large structures near these plastic "islands" and convert them into alcohol fuels.

Chloe
09-20-2013, 09:21 PM
It's pretty sad when you think about it, and the fact that there is no solution to fix what has already been done.

Thats true. You would think that there would be more efforts to at least remove a portion of it, especially in the pacific. There are beach cleanup a which are great but it doesn't remove the primary source for a lot of the litter coming from off shore.

oceanloverOH
09-24-2013, 09:36 AM
This thread was moved from the Rants sub-forum to the Environmental sub-forum at the OP's request.

Chloe
01-05-2015, 10:40 AM
bump per the conversation last night with PolWatch

Captain Obvious
01-05-2015, 10:41 AM
Microwaving instant coffee again?

Chloe
01-05-2015, 10:42 AM
Microwaving instant coffee again?

?

Captain Obvious
01-05-2015, 10:50 AM
?

Polish time machine

waltky
06-07-2017, 12:30 AM
Granny says, "Dat's right - like dat island o' floatin' plastic inna Pacific...
http://www.politicalwrinkles.com/images/smilies/eek.gif
Seas are 'under threat as never before', UN chief warns
Tuesday 6th June, 2017 - The world's seas are "under threat as never before," the United Nations Secretary-General has told the group's first oceans conference.


Antonio Guterres told presidents, ministers, diplomats and environmental activists from nearly 200 countries that seas are being severely damaged by pollution, over-fishing and the effects of climate change as well as rubbish. He cited a recent study that warned discarded plastic rubbish could outweigh fish by 2050 if nothing is done. Mr Guterres said the aim of the five-day conference is "to turn the tide" and solve the problems that "we created". He said competing territorial and fights over natural resources have blocked progress for far too long. "We must put aside short-term national gain to prevent long-term global catastrophe," the Secretary-General said.

The conference, which began on World Environment Day, is the first major event to focus on climate since President Donald Trump announced last Thursday that the US will withdraw from the landmark 2015 Paris Climate Agreement - a decision criticised by Bolivia's President Evo Morales and other speakers. General Assembly President Peter Thomson, a Fijian diplomat, said "the time has come for us to correct our wrongful ways". "We have unleashed a plague of plastic upon the ocean that is defiling nature in so many tragic ways," he said. "It is inexcusable that humanity tips the equivalent of a large garbage truck of plastic into the ocean every minute of every day."


http://cdn-03.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/article35791803.ece/ba8af/AUTOCROP/w620h342/PANews BT_P-2ba7e152-7781-435a-8464-38047244ccf7_I1.jpg
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has opened a global conference in a bid to tackle sea pollution

Mr Thomson also warned that illegal and destructive fishing practices and harmful subsidies for fisheries "are driving our fish stocks to tipping points of collapse". And he said increasing human-caused carbon emissions are not only driving climate change but causing rising sea levels by warming the oceans and making them more acidic with less oxygen which harms marine life. Mr Thomson said the conference probably represents the best opportunity ever "to reverse the cycle of decline that human activity has brought upon the ocean" and spur action to meet the UN goal for 2030 to conserve and manage the ocean's resources.

The conference asked governments, UN bodies and civil society groups to make voluntary commitments to take action to improve the health of the oceans. So far, more than 730 commitments have been received, most on managing protected areas, according to conference spokesman Damian Cardona. At the end of the conference on Friday, nearly 200 countries will issue a Call for Action addressing marine issues which Mr Cardona said has already been agreed. It urges nations to implement long-term and robust measures to reduce the use of plastics, including plastic bags, and counteract sea-level rise that threatens many island nations as well as rising ocean temperatures and increasing ocean acidity.

MORE (http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/news/world-news/seas-are-under-threat-as-never-before-un-chief-warns-35791804.html)