Pacific wildlife 'threatened by sea of plastic' (The Guardian)

[Up2Late]

(I heard about these areas a few years ago on "This American Life", there are several areas like this around the world. Sounds like this one is growing)

Pacific wildlife 'threatened by sea of plastic'

Deborah Zabarenko in Washington
Monday November 6, 2006
The Guardian

Old toothbrushes, beach toys and used condoms are part of a vast vortex of plastic rubbish the size of Texas floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, threatening sea creatures that get tangled in it, eat it or ride on it, says a Greenpeace report.

Because plastic does not break down the way living material does, ocean currents and tides have carried it thousands of miles to an area between Hawaii and the United States west coast, says the study by the environmental group.

The report, Plastic Debris in the World's Oceans, said at least 267 species, including birds, turtles, seals, sealions, whales and fish, have suffered from entanglement or ingestion of debris in the swirling mess. Eighty per cent of it comes from land and 20% from the oceans, the report says, with four main sources: tourism, sewage, fishing and waste from vessels.

The report comes days after the journal Science forecast that global fish and seafood stocks would collapse by 2048 if trends in overfishing and pollution continued.

(more at link) <http://www.guardian.co.uk/international/story/0,,1940366,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=12>

[mom cat]

1. Another reason that we need Gore!

[AlienGirl]

2. This is just heartbreaking. nt

[sandnsea]

3. If it's floating

clean it up. Can someone explain why we can't do this?

[minnesota_liberal]

5. can't vs. won't

Even if it were technically feasible it would never happen. Not enough will to do so, nor financial resources.

[sandnsea]

6. We can clean up oil spills

We can clean up crap in the ocean. Some kind of vacuum that filters junk from water. Not hard. Not expensive. It just won't get done until the people demand it.

[Tyrone Slothrop]

8. It's the size of Texas

What would you pick it up with?

And where would you put it???

(Maybe on top of Texas????)

[progressoid]

10. It's not all in one neat area.

It would require a lot of money and/or a lot of volunteers to clean up. Two things that are hard to come by lately.

Watch:

http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/campaigns/oceans/follow-the-journey/ocean-defenders-tv

[Up2Late]

13. It's because it's in international waters, so nobody wants to pay for...

...and take the lead in cleaning it up. You have to sail for a week to get to these areas.

This garbage collects in, what most call "the middle of nowhere," hundreds of miles from any land areas. Mostly in areas that sailors call "The Doldrums" because of the lack of winds and currents in these areas.

Here's the link to the audio of the "This American Life" radio show, in which they talk about this (the rest of this show is well worth listening to to, if you have a free hour):

<http://www.thislife.org/pages/descriptions/03/253.html>

The Middle of Nowhere

12/5/03
Episode 253

Stories from far away, hard-to-get-to places, where all rules are off, and nefarious things happen because no one's looking, and there's no one to appeal to.

Prologue. Ira talks with sailor and researcher Captain Charles Moore about a gigantic area in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, as far away from land as you can get, that's filling with plastic trash. There are five spots like this on the world's oceans. For more, check out Captain Moore's website. (3 minutes)

Act One. No Island Is An Island. Nauru is a tiny island, population 12,000, a third of the size of Manhattan, far from anywhere, yet at the center of several of the decade's biggest global events. Jack Hitt tells the untold story of this dot in the middle of the Pacific and its involvement in the bankrupting of the Russian economy, global terrorism, North Korean defectors, the end of the world, and the late 80's theatrical flop of a London musical based on the life of Leonardo da Vinci, called Leonardo, A Portrait of Love. (30 minutes)

Act Two. On Hold, No One Can Hear You Scream. This American Life Senior Producer Julie Snyder found herself in a ten-month battle with her phone company (MCI Worldcom), which had overcharged her $946.36. She spent hours on hold, in a bureaucratic nowhere. No one seemed able to fix her problem, and there was no way she could make the company pay her back for all her lost time and aggravation. Finally, she enlists the aid of the national media. Specifically, This American Life host Ira Glass. You can register a complaint about the phone company at the Better Business Bureau or at the FCC. To reach Jim Myers, the MCI executive interviewed in the story, email him at [e-mail]. (22 minutes)
Song: The Platters, "Washed Ashore (On a Lonely Island in the Sea)"

<http://www.thislife.org/>

[FernBell]

4. and the world yawns, typical

[bleedingheart]

7. When I take my morning walks during vacation...I always take a trash bag

because I find so much trash.

People who come to enjoy the beauty always leave behind crap.

Cups, toys, junk junk junk....

and like complete pigs...they leave it behind.

Now if all of us did this...imagine how much cleaner the ocean might be.

[JudyM]

9. Folks just don't get that their individual actions have a real cumulative effect.

I've had so many conversations with people who really don't think what they do matters... "it's just a damned (whatever), like that's going to really make a difference..." And that goes for landfills, too, where plastic doesn't degrade. We've got to start building incentives into alternative packaging materials to limit the plastic that goes into our waste stream. We do need Gore or someone of his ilk to lead the way in goveernment.

[caligirl]

11. after moving to our new home we decided to take all the moving boxes

to the recycling center minus the tape. we decided this after making a few trips to the landfill in our former town and saw so many plastic bags and soda cans along the landfil roadway. Really drove home how many people don't see the bigger picture. Made me sad and worried.

[NVMojo]

12. humans need to be put on trial ...