Archive for category science
a floating Sargasso Sea of plastic waste?
Posted by Roger Brown in environment, science on May 25th, 2009
No way — check this out — instead of a big floating patch of seaweed, imagine a big floating patch of plastic waste that is bigger than Texas!!
… around 13,000 pieces of plastic litter are found in every square kilometre of sea, but the problem is worst in five ocean gyres, or spiralling ocean currents, the worst of which is in the North Pacific.
The plastic has become so small most of it cannot be seen by satellite pictures, but the volume means the poisonous soup is being unknowingly vacuumed up by marine life and birds, and much of it is heavy with toxic chemicals, organisers of the trip say.
“That means the little piece of plastic the fish eats is actually a little toxic bomb,” said Doug Woodring, an entrepreneur and conservationist who lives in Hong Kong and will lead the expedition.
source: http://www.physorg.com/news162454033.html
No way! Just another reminder of how important is to clean up after yourself at the beach and to try to reuse bags and bottles — try to reuse them first before you recycle!
Or maybe too many people have been sending a “message in a bottle”!