Posted on 05/08/2012 7:06:17 PM PDT by Brandonmark
The vast swirl of plastic waste floating in the North Pacific has grown 100-fold over the last 40 years, according to a research paper published Wednesday.
And scientists warned the killer soup of microplastic -- particles smaller than five millimetres (one inch) -- threatened to alter the open ocean's natural environment.
In the period 1972 to 1987, no microplastic was found in the majority of samples taken for testing, said the paper in the Royal Society journal Biology Letters.
Today, scientists estimate the swirling mass of waste known as the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre (NPSG) or the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, is roughly the size of Texas.
"The abundance of small human-produced plastic particles in the NPSG has increased by 100 times over the last four decades," said a statement on the findings of researchers from the University of California.
The United Nations Environment Programme says around 13,000 pieces of plastic litter are found in every square kilometre of sea, but the problem is worst in the North Pacific.
The plastic particles are being vacuumed up by marine life and birds, and the mix is heavy with toxic chemicals.
(Excerpt) Read more at france24.com ...
Yuppies had to have their bottled water and plastic Starbucks coffee cups.
I think that something may have gotten lost in translation.
Or else they must have really, really big millimetres in France.
Is this some new unit of measurement?
And plastic shopping bags.
Go to the grocery, get five items, get five bags
you’re saving a tree remember.
Maybe if it gets thick enough some one will pitch
a floating recycling plant to go out and mine it.
It now encompasses the earth 10 times over.
Socialist math.
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If it continues to grow at the rate of hyperbole, we’ll be soon be able to traverse the stars on a road of plastic.
Note to self: Invest in Pacific Plastic Soup.
This is why whenever I see a sea turtle, I tie a plastic bag to one of its arms, so they can go help pick this up.
Over the last 40 years?
Just one word...Plastics
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PSxihhBzCjk
Sounds like the perfect spot for an algae farm!
No mention of the one size fits all, ribbed for her pleasure sort of debris. I see them all the time on Lake Ontario where the Genesee River empties out. The border line is referred to as the scum line.
Heh. You might suppose that originally somebody identified five millimeters as one fifth of an inch, and then some pointy haired editor decided that was too confusing.
I probably need to move North. Sounds like people are having a lot of indoor fun up there.
the story is from France....is that a legitimate news source???
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