The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

[real6]

WHat do you think of this???

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v517/REAL6/Misc/Pacific-Garbage-Patch30oct07.gif

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_Garbage_Patch

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also described as the Eastern Garbage Patch is an area of marine debris in the central North Pacific Ocean located roughly in an area between 135° to 155°W and 35° to 42°N. The patch is characterised by exceptionally high concentrations of suspended plastic and other debris that have been trapped by the currents of the North Pacific Gyre.



Definition

The existence of the Eastern Garbage Patch was predicted in a 1988 paper published by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). This was based on experimental results obtained between 1985 and 1988 that measured accumulating neustonic plastic in the North Pacific Ocean by several Alaska-based researchers.[1] Their findings suggested the incidence of high accumulations of marine debris, especially plastics, in the neuston governed by the pattern of prevailing ocean currents. Extrapolating from their findings in the Sea of Japan, the researchers postulated similar conditions in other parts of the Pacific Ocean where prevailing currents were favourable to the creation of a relatively stable body of water, specifically naming the North Pacific Gyre.[2]

The existence of the garbage patch received wider public and scientific attention after several articles appeared written by Charles Moore, a California-based sea captain and ocean researcher. Moore, returning home through the North Pacific Gyre after competing in the Transpac sailing race, came upon an enormous stretch of floating debris:

As I gazed from the deck at the surface of what ought to have been a pristine ocean, I was confronted, as far as the eye could see, with the sight of plastic. It seemed unbelievable, but I never found a clear spot. In the week it took to cross the subtropical high, no matter what time of day I looked, plastic debris was floating everywhere: bottles, bottle caps, wrappers, fragments.[3]

Moore alerted the oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer to the existence of the phenomenon, who subsequently dubbed the region the "Eastern Garbage Patch" (EGB). Since 2000, the area has been the subject of several scientific studies, which have focused on the accumulation of plastic waste in the upper part of the water column. The area has also subsequently featured in media reports as an exceptional instance of marine pollution.[4]

[edit] Formation

Like other areas of concentrated marine debris in the world's oceans, the Eastern Garbage Patch has formed gradually over the last decades as a result of sharply higher levels of marine pollution and the action of prevailing oceanic currents. The garbage patch occupies a large and relatively stationary region of the North Pacific Ocean bound by the North Pacific Gyre, a remote area commonly referred to as the horse latitudes. The rotational pattern described by the North Pacific Gyre draws in waste material from the extremities of the North Pacific Ocean, including the coastal waters off North America and Japan. As material circulates in the current, the centripetal tendency gradually moves debris toward the the center, trapping it in the circumscribed oceanic region. This action has produced unusually high levels of marine debris in the area. The size of the affected region is unknown, but estimates range from 700,000 km2 to more than 15 million km2 - greater than twice the size of the continental US. It has also been suggested that the patch may represent two areas of debris that are linked.[5].

[edit] Sources of pollutants

Charles Moore estimates that 80% of the garbage comes from land-based sources, and 20% from ships at sea.[6] He says that currents carry debris from the east coast of Asia to the center of the gyre in a year or less, and debris from the west coast of North America in about five years.[6]

[edit] Plastic Photodegradation in the Ocean

Main article: Photodegradation

The Eastern Garbage Patch has one of, if not the highest level of plastic particulate suspended in the upper water column. As a result, it is one of several oceanic regions where researchers have studied the effects and impact of plastic photodegradation in the neustonic layer.[7] Unlike debris which biodegrades, the photodegraded plastic disintegrates into ever smaller pieces while remaining polymers, even down to the molecular level.

As the plastic flotsam photodegrades into smaller and smaller pieces, it concentrates in the upper water column. As it disintegrates, the plastic ultimately becomes small enough to be ingested by aquatic organisms which reside near the ocean's surface. Plastic waste thus enters the food chain through its intense concentration in the neuston.

[edit] Density of Neustonic Plastics

Despite Charles Moore's description above, the eastern garbage patch cannot be characterised as a continuous visible field of densely floating marine debris. The process of disintegration means that the intensity of plastic particulate in much of the affected region may be too small to be seen. Instead, researchers have estimated the overall extent and intensity of plastic pollution in the patch by taking samples. In a 2001 study, researchers (including Moore) found that in certain areas of the patch, concentrations of plastic reached one million pieces per square mile.[8] The study found concentrations of plastics of 3.34 pieces with a mean mass of 5.1 milligrams per square meter. In many areas of the affected region, the overall concentration by mass of plastics was greater than the concentration of zooplankton, the principal neustonic organism. Samples collected at deeper points in the water column found much lower levels of plastic debris (primarily monofilament fishing line), confirming earlier observations that most plastic waste concentrates in the neuston.


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[fenriswulf]

Now that we have created plastic it will be with us forever, is it possible to uncreate it?

[talkingchimp]

i believe this has been dumped there on purpose to further the greening agenda

[real6]

Now that we have created plastic it will be with us forever, is it possible to uncreate it?

It will last forever i believe...


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-512424/Rubbish-dump-floating-Pacific-Ocean-twice-size-America.html;jsessionid=AB29379F2D93910216AD8B0691 88FA3F




Alphabet Soup- A Look at Pollution in the Ocean #1

http://www.youtube.com/v/NJjWWedHbeM


Alphabet Soup- A Look at Pollution in the Ocean #2

http://www.youtube.com/v/SULM96XL2ns

[real6]

Huge blob of Arctic goo floats past Slope communities

http://www.adn.com/2835/story/864687.html

IT'S NOT OIL: No one in the area can recall seeing anything like it before.


Something big and strange is floating through the Chukchi Sea between Wainwright and Barrow.


Hunters from Wainwright first started noticing the stuff sometime probably early last week. It's thick and dark and "gooey" and is drifting for miles in the cold Arctic waters, according to Gordon Brower with the North Slope Borough's Planning and Community Services Department.

Brower and other borough officials, joined by the U.S. Coast Guard, flew out to Wainwright to investigate. The agencies found "globs" of the stuff floating miles offshore Friday and collected samples for testing.

Later, Brower said, the North Slope team in a borough helicopter spotted a long strand of the stuff and followed it for about 15 miles, shooting video from the air.

The next day the floating substance arrived offshore from Barrow, about 90 miles east of Wainwright, and borough officials went out in boats, collected more samples and sent them off for testing too.

ADVERTISEMENT
Nobody knows for sure what the gunk is, but Petty Officer 1st Class Terry Hasenauer says the Coast Guard is sure what it is not.

"It's certainly biological," Hasenauer said. "It's definitely not an oil product of any kind. It has no characteristics of an oil, or a hazardous substance, for that matter.

"It's definitely, by the smell and the makeup of it, it's some sort of naturally occurring organic or otherwise marine organism."

Something else: No one in Barrow or Wainwright can remember seeing anything like this before, Brower said.

"That's one of the reasons we went out, because in recent history I don't think we've seen anything like this," he said. "Maybe inside lakes or in stagnant water or something, but not (in the ocean) that we could recall ...

"If it was something we'd seen before, we'd be able to say something about it. But we haven't ...which prompted concerns from the local hunters and whaling captains."

The stuff is "gooey" and looks dark against the bright white ice floating in the Arctic Ocean, Brower said.

"It's pitch black when it hits ice and it kind of discolors the ice and hangs off of it," Brower said. He saw some jellyfish tangled up in the stuff, and someone turned in what was left of a dead goose -- just bones and feathers -- to the borough's wildlife department.

"It kind of has an odor; I can't describe it," he said.

Hasenauer said he hasn't heard any reports of waterfowl or marine animals turning up.

Brower said it wouldn't necessarily surprise him if the substance turns out to be some sort of naturally occurring phenomenon, but the borough is waiting until it gets the analysis back from the samples before officials say anything more than they're not sure what it is.

"From the air it looks brownish with some sheen, but when you get close and put it up on the ice and in the bucket, it's kind of blackish stuff ... (and) has hairy strands on it."

Hasenauer said the Coast Guard's samples are being analyzed in Anchorage. Results may be back sometime next week, he said.

The two Coast Guard experts sent up to overfly the area with the borough said they saw nothing that resembled an oil slick, Hasenauer said.

"We brought back one sample of what they believe to be an algae," he said, and a big algae bloom is one possibility.

"It's textbook for us to consider algae because of all the false reports of oil spills we've had in the past. It's one of the things that typically comes up" when a report turns out not to be an oil spill after all.

But, he said, "there's all types of natural phenomena that it could be."

Meanwhile, the brownish-blackish gunk is drifting along the coast to the northeast, Brower said.

"This stuff is moving with the current," he said. "It's now on beyond Barrow and probably going north at this point. And people are still encountering it out here off Barrow."

For the most part, the mystery substance seems to have stayed away from shore.

"We did get some residents saying it was being pushed against the shoreline by ice in some areas," Brower said, "but then we get another east wind and it gets pushed back out there."

Find Don Hunter online at adn.com/contact/dhunter or call 257-4349.

[candykorn_85]

Oh my god...

I remember a few years ago, while eating my breakfast before school I was watching some news programme and they were talking about refrigerators etc and how they can't be recycled..

I remember thinking ''wtf? Why've you spent the last god knows how many years mass producing this crap with a limited life span so people have to buy a new one every few years, and you can't even recycle or dispose of it?''

Makes me think of all the people out there who go on about saving the environment by not using so many plastic bags for their shopping, yet you always get those people who want to put things in bags to put in their bags in their bags etc etc...

[whiterain]

yet if we made hemp legal and used it to make plastics, they would degrade and this would not exist

[deafbred]

my sister & parents are asking me to go to the beach today with them

i didn't go the last 2 times.


kinda makes me think twice, this thread

beach sand will be good on the feet though and relaxing

it may be good to hear the beach water waves roll in though to

i won't wear sun screen, i'll cover up here and there with towel or shirt

i guess im going...... it will be good for me. ...just to think.. they shut down beaches here and there sometimes because of high levels of waste in the water

shame. such a shame. i feel like im bout to go to a garbage dump. god be with me.

...im amazed the trash has all built up in certain areas. what a shame. if ever i got caught stranded in the middle of the ocean.. i think i will be more worried of plastic coke can holders getting caught up on my feet, than i would be of sharks.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3098/2831705714_fd370177cf.jpg?v=0

[lizzy]

I think they need to build robots that eat plastic.........:cool:

......the suffering of wildlife really is horrible......tptb degrade the planet on purpose.

[elixirsoo]

It will last forever i believe...


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-512424/Rubbish-dump-floating-Pacific-Ocean-twice-size-America.html;jsessionid=AB29379F2D93910216AD8B0691 88FA3F




Alphabet Soup- A Look at Pollution in the Ocean #1

http://www.youtube.com/v/NJjWWedHbeM


Alphabet Soup- A Look at Pollution in the Ocean #2

http://www.youtube.com/v/SULM96XL2ns

Hi real6 :)

Thanks for posting links to the You Tube videos. I think I'll be giving seafood a miss from now on. :eek:
The same thing is happening on land with plastic breaking down into the soil. I'm currently sieving soil in my garden to try and get out as much as I can, but it's a real nightmare. :(

[deafbred]

Hi real6 :)

Thanks for posting links to the You Tube videos. I think I'll be giving seafood a miss from now on. :eek:
The same thing is happening on land with plastic breaking down into the soil. I'm currently sieving soil in my garden to try and get out as much as I can, but it's a real nightmare. :(

omg, dude, lol, :\ :S, i to have been raking out the small bits of plastic from my garden to

http://www.davidicke.com/forum/showthread.php?t=73039

[ronisron]

There is a US based company that has the capability of returning plastic back to petroleum. They could take that mass, park some vessels nearby, and start taking it out of the ocean to be processed. They could turn that mess into fuel.

Why stop there?? They could take all of the plastic on the planet, turn it all into raw petroleum, and use it as fuel. Glass and porcelain are much better containers. Hemp has already been mentioned. The positive possibilities are endless.

[curtaincat]

Years and years ago, when I heard they were going to phase out plastic shopping bags, I kept heaps of them in bags, in the garage out the back.
Then summer came along, and a few months later, they had just about turned into dust.
I tried to pick them up and they fell apart! Just disolved into dust!

So, has anyone ever stopped to think that this 'great garbage' crap might possibly be a lie?

There is such a thing as green screen, photoshop, I know you all know that.
Dont believe everything you see on a screen in front of you.

A hot summer will disolve a bag in no time.

I know! I keep used plastic bags for garbage, but dont keep them anywhere too hot or they just disintigrate into nothing. !!!

It is total lies that they dont break down.

As Forrest Gump would say: " Rubbish is as rubbish does" ;)

[real6]

But even they say this is going on, and i know how much trash can be in the ocean. How come no one has one picture of this patch? People claim to pass this or see it, but where are the pics?

Till then i dont trust it, but you never know...

[gripit]

There is a US based company that has the capability of returning plastic back to petroleum. They could take that mass, park some vessels nearby, and start taking it out of the ocean to be processed. They could turn that mess into fuel.



Yep. All garbage/plastic should be burned in high efficiency furnaces. The only things that should ever be recycled are aluminum and steel, as we need less energy to recycle those than to produce them from scratch.

[real6]

http://www.reuters.com/article/newsOne/idUSTRE5730ET20090804

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Marine scientists from California are venturing this week to the middle of the North Pacific for a study of plastic debris accumulating across hundreds of miles (km) of open sea dubbed the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch."

A research vessel carrying a team of about 30 researchers, technicians and crew members embarked on Sunday on a three-week voyage from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, based at the University of California at San Diego.

The expedition will study how much debris -- mostly tiny plastic fragments -- is collecting in an expanse of sea known as the North Pacific Ocean Gyre, how that material is distributed and how it affects marine life.

The debris ends up concentrated by circular, clockwise ocean currents within an oblong-shaped "convergence zone" hundreds of miles (km) across from end to end near the Hawaiian Islands, about midway between Japan and the West Coast of the United States.

The focus of the study will be on plankton, other microorganisms, small fish and birds.

"The concern is what kind of impact those plastic bits are having on the small critters on the low end of the ocean food chain," Bob Knox, deputy director of research at Scripps, said on Monday after the ship had spent its first full day at sea.

The 170-foot vessel New Horizon is equipped with a laboratory for on-board research, but scientists also will bring back samples for further study.

Little is known about the exact size and scope of the vast debris field discovered some years ago by fishermen and others in the North Pacific that is widely referred to as the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch."

Large items readily visible from the deck of a boat are few and far between. Most of the debris consists of small plastic particles suspended at or just below the water surface, making it impossible to detect by aircraft or satellite images.

The debris zone shifts by as much as a thousand miles north and south on a seasonal basis, and drifts even farther south during periods of warmer-than-normal ocean temperatures known as El Nino, according to information from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

Besides the potential harm to sea life caused by ingesting bits of plastic, the expedition team will look at whether the particles could carry other pollutants, such as pesticides, far out to sea, and whether tiny organisms attached to the debris could be transported to distant regions and thus become invasive species.

[mrindigo]

There is a US based company that has the capability of returning plastic back to petroleum. They could take that mass, park some vessels nearby, and start taking it out of the ocean to be processed. They could turn that mess into fuel.

Why stop there?? They could take all of the plastic on the planet, turn it all into raw petroleum, and use it as fuel. Glass and porcelain are much better containers. Hemp has already been mentioned. The positive possibilities are endless.

This is a pretty good solution if that patch is actually there or not.

Why don't they just drop those mega nets that take in entire schools of fish in one haul? They could clean that all up in a matter of weeks. No they can't do that though. They need to bitch and moan about it, rather than do something rational and sane. :rolleyes:

[motleyhoo]

i believe this has been dumped there on purpose to further the greening agenda

It was dumped there on purpose, alright - by billions of people who think the Earth is their own personal garbage pit. We even have people on these forums who believe this planet is much too vast to ever be affected by the trivials of man.

.

[mrindigo]

It was dumped there on purpose, alright - by billions of people who think the Earth is their own personal garbage pit. We even have people on these forums who believe this planet is much too vast to ever be affected by the trivials of man.

.

I guess I'm one of them, because humans are peons compared to the events Earth has gone through in the past. What IS effected is other animals species and their ecosystems, as well as us since we too depend on those. The planet though, is largely unaffected by man. Man has been here for but a blink of an eye compared to the length at which this planet has been here. It's weathered massive asteroid bombardments, solar flares, massive volcanic activity, and huge shifts in plate tectonics. It's still here isn't it?

[surfer91]

I think the only answer to your ridiculous statement is to maybe remind you as to what a tosser your actually are..

[surfer91]

Typical brain washed American..Do you even know where the Pacific Ocean is..I worked with a few Americans a while back and they thought Australia was part of the UK..

[fallensoul]

Typical brain washed American..Do you even know where the Pacific Ocean is..I worked with a few Americans a while back and they thought Australia was part of the UK..

So hostile, its true tho, earth wont die out cuz of our garbage, but it definitely will affect it in a negative way and will take long time to regain its health. And to my understanding the Crown has something to do with Australia, and if you look into history...

[motleyhoo]

I guess I'm one of them, because humans are peons compared to the events Earth has gone through in the past. What IS effected is other animals species and their ecosystems, as well as us since we too depend on those. The planet though, is largely unaffected by man. Man has been here for but a blink of an eye compared to the length at which this planet has been here. It's weathered massive asteroid bombardments, solar flares, massive volcanic activity, and huge shifts in plate tectonics. It's still here isn't it?

Maybe you should visit the state of West Virginia to see what the new form of coal mining is doing to the mountains. Miles and miles of mountains have been turned into rubble and hundreds of miles of streams destroyed by the toxic runoff. It has only taken them 10 years to do this since the law was changed allowing them to basically blow whole mountains in half to get at the coal. Maybe take a look at what has happened to the planets coral reefs over the last 20 years. Nearly every one of them is already dead or is in the process of being leached and killed by carbonic acid created by man. Or maybe take a trip to South America to see the acre upon acre of land and water sources now completely destroyed by the oil companies. Or how about a trip to the oil sands of Canada that have now become the filthiest manufacturing sites in the entire world. Don't even get me started on what the military is trying to do to the atmosphere using HAARP. The list goes on and on, and these ravages are not things that will heal in short order. Even cats are smart enough not to shit where they eat. Too bad mankind is not that intelligent.

.

[mrindigo]

Maybe you should visit the state of West Virginia to see what the new form of coal mining is doing to the mountains. Miles and miles of mountains have been turned into rubble and hundreds of miles of streams destroyed by the toxic runoff. It has only taken them 10 years to do this since the law was changed allowing them to basically blow whole mountains in half to get at the coal. Maybe take a look at what has happened to the planets coral reefs over the last 20 years. Nearly every one of them is already dead or is in the process of being leached and killed by carbonic acid created by man. Or maybe take a trip to South America to see the acre upon acre of land and water sources now completely destroyed by the oil companies. Or how about a trip to the oil sands of Canada that have now become the filthiest manufacturing sites in the entire world. Don't even get me started on what the military is trying to do to the atmosphere using HAARP. The list goes on and on, and these ravages are not things that will heal in short order. Even cats are smart enough not to shit where they eat. Too bad mankind is not that intelligent.

.


I'm not disputing the devastation of ecosystems, or trying to justify them, what I am disputing is your claim that man actually has any effect on Earth. How is any of that even comparable to say...several asteroids the size of Texas crashing into it, the massive die offs caused by volcanic activity like the Guadalupian mass extinction, or the solar flares which ravaged the planet before (and still do)? They don't compare, even remotely. The Earth has gone through much worse than what man is currently doing, and will shrug us off like it has other minor inconveniences. Again, the planet is still here.

I'm not saying man should continue strip mining places, or polluting, but I am saying that claims like "The planet is in danger, we need to save it!" are over hyped. The planet isn't screwed, we are, and the many other creatures here. It's a bit comical and egotistical to liken humanity to the destructive forces of a star, asteroids, or a planet's own destructive activity. It's that mentality which is being instilled and programmed into the minds of people to further the agendas of the ptb and their 'green' schemes. Countless species come and go all the time, eventually humanity will fade into the annals of history as well. When that happens, guess what...the Earth will still be here despite pollution, war, and what ever else humanity can throw at it.

[arty2000]

I think they need to build robots that eat plastic.........:cool:

......the suffering of wildlife really is horrible......tptb degrade the planet on purpose.

they have nanotech to clean up oil spills...I believe

careful what you wish for thats how they started out in the terminator movies:eek::D

[mrindigo]

Typical brain washed American..Do you even know where the Pacific Ocean is..I worked with a few Americans a while back and they thought Australia was part of the UK..

Typical that you would attempt to stereotype me for my nationality. Who is the ignorant one now? The hip thing to do in the world is have unjustified hatred for anyone and anything American. I don't control what the government here does, or how others choose or choose not to educate themselves. Fact of the matter is, I made a good point and you have nothing intelligent to add to it other than petty insults. Do yourself a favor, grow up, and save yourself the embarrassment next time.

[surfer91]

Im sorry I shouldnt have directed that at you personally..I must admit though that nearly all the Americans I have ever met,dont give a monkeys about the environment or anything to do with it...

[kgone]

There is a US based company that has the capability of returning plastic back to petroleum. They could take that mass, park some vessels nearby, and start taking it out of the ocean to be processed. They could turn that mess into fuel.

Why stop there?? They could take all of the plastic on the planet, turn it all into raw petroleum, and use it as fuel. Glass and porcelain are much better containers. Hemp has already been mentioned. The positive possibilities are endless.

Ron, I was just enjoying the beach today and this thread reminded me of what was under the surface. It made me feel sad, until I read your post. Thanks for reminding us that the positive possibilities are indeed endless. Truer words were never spoken.
"Time is an ocean and it ends at the shore. You may not see me tomorow" ;)

[mrindigo]

Im sorry I shouldnt have directed that at you personally..I must admit though that nearly all the Americans I have ever met,dont give a monkeys about the environment or anything to do with it...

That's okay, I accept your apology. :)
Many don't care about it in this country, but that's usually a regional thing. In the area of the US I live in, there are usually constant protests and hearings regarding ecological issues. Several nuclear power, coal, and gas plants have been shut down by activism. I do care about the environment and pollution. I enjoy hiking, fishing, drawing and painting naturistic themes, etc. How could I not if I enjoy those?

My issue is having facts diluted and fabricated to support the financial backings of greedy nefarious people like Al Gore and his consorts. They have vast amounts invested in these green technologies, and embellish things quite frequently. One of those things is man is having this massive impact on the Earth itself, which isn't true. He flies around in a private jet, which aren't exactly known to be Eco-friendly. He's complained about the pacific garbage patch too, but failed to touch on the fields of plastic water bottles left behind at his green concerts. Those get blown into water ways, which then end up there in the very patch that he and others complain about.

[arty2000]

Im sorry I shouldnt have directed that at you personally..I must admit though that nearly all the Americans I have ever met,dont give a monkeys about the environment or anything to do with it...

you must have a small circle of friends;)

just as in medicine we have the capacity to cure dis ease imo but the money for tptb is in the treatment not the cure;)the same goes for cleaning the planet and that is not a license for continuing destructive behavior;) ...we should have respect for all things but when I hear words as peril and danger comming from the very same people who withhold the means to eradicate the problems at hand red flags start going off in my mind...namely that some new draconian law is comming our way...see carbon tax credits....and as mrindigo so aptly put it gaia has been here before us and will be when we are gone...again this is not a license to be destructive:)

[morjo]

It was dumped there on purpose, alright - by billions of people who think the Earth is their own personal garbage pit. We even have people on these forums who believe this planet is much too vast to ever be affected by the trivials of man.

.

Finally a sane person on here. To think that the way many humans today live isn't causing environmental harm is down right silly. The materialistic societies of the west and the pointless waste it brings is horrible, I wish things would change.
If garbage isn't recycled then it has to go somewhere if it doesn't end up in land fill. Just think about it, how could any sane person want to litter the earths beautiful lands and oceans.

It makes me think that some of the people on here are the type who would throw their chip packets or soda can onto the street after consuming it.

Oh no I'm constipated, it must be part of the agenda!

[whitewolf]

There is a US based company that has the capability of returning plastic back to petroleum. They could take that mass, park some vessels nearby, and start taking it out of the ocean to be processed. They could turn that mess into fuel.

Why stop there?? They could take all of the plastic on the planet, turn it all into raw petroleum, and use it as fuel. Glass and porcelain are much better containers. Hemp has already been mentioned. The positive possibilities are endless.

I was told by someone the other day that that is exactly what's going to happen. Ships will park nearby to process this garbage.

As for some posters alluding to tptb dumping it there on purpose, what rubbish!! (pun intended!) they don't need to. There are plenty of gormless humans who think the sea and in fact anywhere outside thier immediate enviroment is their own personal rubbish bin.

Here in Greece I see it EVERYDAY. The selfish stupidity breaks my heart for the beautiful nature and the lovely creatures that we share this planet with.:o

[olas]

It will last forever i believe...


http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-512424/Rubbish-dump-floating-Pacific-Ocean-twice-size-America.html;jsessionid=AB29379F2D93910216AD8B0691 88FA3F




Alphabet Soup- A Look at Pollution in the Ocean #1

http://www.youtube.com/v/NJjWWedHbeM


Alphabet Soup- A Look at Pollution in the Ocean #2

http://www.youtube.com/v/SULM96XL2ns



...rubbish.
Did you watch the videos? It´s all pose.
They got a bit of plastic from the sea, killed a fish and enjoyied the beatfull day. The real impact images was done at channel, and was a machine CLEANING the sea.
I want to see this "Garbage Patch". Where it is?

[edelweiss pirate]

Me too Olas.

Has anyone actually seen these garbage patches?

Surely they'd be visible from an airliner or google earth...

Could be an enviro-guilt-hoax....

Wanna see it for myself.... not just some computerised graphics.. and that SAME picture of the dead bird.

Anyone ever see that media spoof show from the UK called Drop the Dead Donkey?

It details the media's tactics of deception and how they can make a handful of extras look like a mob among other things.

This could be the same thing.

[ronisron]

Ron, I was just enjoying the beach today and this thread reminded me of what was under the surface. It made me feel sad, until I read your post. Thanks for reminding us that the positive possibilities are indeed endless. Truer words were never spoken.
"Time is an ocean and it ends at the shore. You may not see me tomorow" ;)

I'm glad it made you feel better! That's just one thing we can do. This kind of info (CONTINENT SIZED GARBAGE PATCH!!!) is meant to sink us even further into the belief that hell is right around the corner waiting for us. It seems to be inspiring good people to do something about it, rather than just accept it. We can be proactive about this.

Whitewolf, that ^ is great news. They should take all plastics and do the same with them, and just do away with plastics altogether. There are better alternatives. They could cease drilling for petroleum, and just use all the plastics we currently have for fuel. While we burn that away, they could use that time frame to implement a transition to other types of fuel. Hemp, corn, vegetable based oils that would truly be biodegradable. Then if folks are just tossing things away, it won't be so bad. It also stops those massive oil spills from tankers that destroy coastlines and wildlife.

Forestry workers could have jobs working in hemp fields, pulp and paper folks too. Hobby and commercial farmers could grow hemp in lieu of grain. Hemp makes a safer flour as a lot of people have gluten allergies. The possibilities are there.

[entrainment]

I'm glad it made you feel better! That's just one thing we can do. This kind of info (CONTINENT SIZED GARBAGE PATCH!!!) is meant to sink us even further into the belief that hell is right around the corner waiting for us. It seems to be inspiring good people to do something about it, rather than just accept it. We can be proactive about this.

Whitewolf, that ^ is great news. They should take all plastics and do the same with them, and just do away with plastics altogether. There are better alternatives. They could cease drilling for petroleum, and just use all the plastics we currently have for fuel. While we burn that away, they could use that time frame to implement a transition to other types of fuel. Hemp, corn, vegetable based oils that would truly be biodegradable. Then if folks are just tossing things away, it won't be so bad. It also stops those massive oil spills from tankers that destroy coastlines and wildlife.

Forestry workers could have jobs working in hemp fields, pulp and paper folks too. Hobby and commercial farmers could grow hemp in lieu of grain. Hemp makes a safer flour as a lot of people have gluten allergies. The possibilities are there.

And I can smoke whats left over - - Genius :D

[ronisron]

And I can smoke whats left over - - Genius :D

Hemp has next to no THC in it, it would be the same as smoking leaf or something.... however, it sure would be easy to grow the real thing in amongst the hemp plants. :D It's all good. Nice, organic, outdoor grown dynamite. We'll use the land that the House of Windsor is hoarding all over the world, just take a few million hecatres and start using it for positive things. Crown land... pfft. :rolleyes:

[tb303]

We'll use the land that the House of Windsor is hoarding all over the world, just take a few million hecatres and start using it for positive things.

Summed up the solution to virtually everything in one sentence.

Nice one! ;)

[morjo]

Me too Olas.

Has anyone actually seen these garbage patches?

Surely they'd be visible from an airliner or google earth...

Could be an enviro-guilt-hoax....

Wanna see it for myself.... not just some computerised graphics.. and that SAME picture of the dead bird.

Anyone ever see that media spoof show from the UK called Drop the Dead Donkey?

It details the media's tactics of deception and how they can make a handful of extras look like a mob among other things.

This could be the same thing.

Well I remember reading about this sometime ago, but I will have to again sometime to refresh my memory. But I imagine that most of the garbage isn't visible as it will be below the ocean surface, there will be of course some garbage that floats above the water. We have to remember that the water in this part of the Pacific can be 6-9 kilometers deep or more and the area in question is HUGE.
When someone litters their garbage sometimes ends up in the sewers, rivers and waterways which ends up taking the garbage out to sea if it gets that far, then through the ocean currents/gyres the garbage ends up in these huge garbage patches.
It's not fake, but could very well be overstated in size, there are islands in the surrounding area of these garbage patches and their beaches are just crammed full of plastic.

Some people on these forums have to stop thinking everything is part of the agenda. It's very sad to see people carelessly dismiss environmental issues.

[curtaincat]

...rubbish, realsex.
Did you watch the videos? It´s all pose.
They got a bit of plastic from the sea, killed a fish and enjoyied the beatfull day. The real impact images was done at channel, and was a machine CLEANING the sea.
I want to see this "Garbage Patch". Where it is?


Yes, it is all bullshit. i am surprised that people on this forum get sucked into these downright lies.
I actually did post here earlier, but it is on page 2, i think, if anyone gives a damn.

[real6]

...rubbish, realsex.
Did you watch the videos? It´s all pose.
They got a bit of plastic from the sea, killed a fish and enjoyied the beatfull day. The real impact images was done at channel, and was a machine CLEANING the sea.
I want to see this "Garbage Patch". Where it is?

What did you say .....

Me too Olas.

Has anyone actually seen these garbage patches?

Surely they'd be visible from an airliner or google earth...

Could be an enviro-guilt-hoax....

Wanna see it for myself.... not just some computerised graphics.. and that SAME picture of the dead bird.

Anyone ever see that media spoof show from the UK called Drop the Dead Donkey?

It details the media's tactics of deception and how they can make a handful of extras look like a mob among other things.

This could be the same thing.

That's what i have said also. If there is such a so called thing, where are the pics? If no pics then it sounds like a crock of shit to me. But you never know ;)

[tb303]

Missed Concepts of Pacific Garbage Patch (http://greensurfing.blogspot.com/2009/06/missed-concepts-of-plastic.html)

[edelweiss pirate]

Good find synth guy! A small jar of little tiny bits of plastic from a one mile square area is a very different proposition from a huge trash island.

Although bad enough and dangerous for sea life it is hardly the marine apocalypse that the fake pictures seem to suggest....

[olas]

What did you say stupid idiot.....



That's what i have said also. If there is such a so called thing, where are the pics? If no pics then it sounds like a crock of shit to me. But you never know ;)

...just because you cann't understand what´ve said.
Thank you.
But we never know...

[gilly]

I've edited out a few unneccesary insults - please don't spoil the thread by resorting name calling.

Thanks.

[tb303]

Although bad enough and dangerous for sea life it is hardly the marine apocalypse that the fake pictures seem to suggest....

And if a lot of the plastic collects in one place then surely that's a good thing?

Easier to deal with.

So why isn't it being dealt with?

Why doesn't that little prick Rothschild spend some of his money helping to clear it up if he's so concerned about it, instead of sailing through it on his plastic boat :rolleyes:

[olas]

And if a lot of the plastic collects in one place then surely that's a good thing?

Easier to deal with.

So why isn't it being dealt with?

Why doesn't that little prick Rothschild spend some of his money helping to clear it up if he's so concerned about it, instead of sailing through it on his plastic boat :rolleyes:

...just you.

[tb303]

...just you.

just me, what?

[olas]

just me, what?

Just you.
I mean, just me.

[deafbred]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/us_sci_ocean_junk;_ylt=AlESQM..UXfCPwCElQ.sJlTmWMc F

http://d.yimg.com/a/p/ap/20090827/capt.9164da4734d242ef97c8d78b95dea17c.ocean_junk__ la106.jpg?x=213&y=141&xc=1&yc=1&wc=410&hc=271&q=85&sig=wfduB3eHyMJxmA2CbGmtzg--

[real6]

The Pacific Ocean: Now a pool of chemical soup

http://www.vbs.tv/newsroom/toxic-garbage-island-2-of-3--4

[rynath]

The Pacific Ocean: Now a pool of chemical soup

http://www.vbs.tv/newsroom/toxic-garbage-island-2-of-3--4


Plastic rubbish blights Atlantic Ocean
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8534052.stm

Scientists have discovered an area of the North Atlantic Ocean where plastic debris accumulates.

The region is said to compare with the well-documented "great Pacific garbage patch".

Kara Lavender Law of the Sea Education Association told the BBC that the issue of plastics had been "largely ignored" in the Atlantic.

She announced the findings of a two-decade-long study at the Ocean Sciences Meeting in Portland, US.

The work is the conclusion of the longest and most extensive record of plastic marine debris in any ocean basin.

Scientists and students from the SEA collected plastic and marine debris in fine mesh nets that were towed behind a research vessel.

The nets dragged along were half-in and half-out of the water, picking up debris and small marine organisms from the sea surface.

The researchers carried out 6,100 tows in areas of the Caribbean and the North Atlantic - off the coast of the US. More than half of these expeditions revealed floating pieces of plastic on the water surface.

These were pieces of low-density plastic that are used to make many consumer products, including plastic bags.

Dr Lavender Law said that the pieces of plastic she and her team picked up in the nets were generally very small - up to 1cm across.

"We found a region fairly far north in the Atlantic Ocean where this debris appears to be concentrated and remains over long periods of time," she explained.

"More than 80% of the plastic pieces we collected in the tows were found between 22 and 38 degrees north. So we have a latitude for [where this] rubbish seems to accumulate," she said.

The maximum "plastic density" was 200,000 pieces of debris per square kilometre.

"That's a maximum that is comparable with the Great Pacific Garbage Patch," said Dr Lavender Law.

But she pointed out that there was not yet a clear estimate of the size of the patches in either the Pacific or the Atlantic.

"You can think of it in a similar way [to the Pacific Garbage Patch], but I think the word 'patch' can be misleading. This is widely dispersed and it's small pieces of plastic," she said.

The impacts on the marine environment of the plastics were still unknown, added the researcher.

"But we know that many marine organisms are consuming these plastics and we know this has a bad effect on seabirds in particular," she told BBC News.

Nikolai Maximenko from University of Hawaii, who was not involved in the study, said that it was very important to continue the research to find out the impacts of plastic on the marine ecosystem.

He told BBC News: "We don't know how much is consumed by living organisms; we don't have enough data.

"I think this is a big target for the next decade - a global network to observe plastics in the ocean."

[real6]

http://beccagrawl.tumblr.com/post/92283509/zerogarbagechallenge-its-twice-the-size-of

http://24.media.tumblr.com/n6oqwzqwXlt6hdrtnlzmLGIMo1_500.jpg

[edelweiss pirate]

http://beccagrawl.tumblr.com/post/92283509/zerogarbagechallenge-its-twice-the-size-of

http://24.media.tumblr.com/n6oqwzqwXlt6hdrtnlzmLGIMo1_500.jpg


Who rows a kayak in the pacific? It's a fuggin' big place y'know.

That photo probably isn't from the so called Great Garbage patch.

I believe it was established that the whole thing is an eviro-fraud.

The patch apparently contains very small pieces of plastic. Not the huge bottles and bags seen in these scary photos.

[olas]

Who rows a kayak in the pacific? It's a fuggin' big place y'know.

That photo probably isn't from the so called Great Garbage patch.

I believe it was established that the whole thing is an eviro-fraud.

The patch apparently contains very small pieces of plastic. Not the huge bottles and bags seen in these scary photos.

...there is people that make good money with sensationalism.
Isn't it, Realsex?

[real6]

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/earth/earthnews/8241265/Great-Garbage-Patch-in-the-Pacific-Ocean-not-so-great-claim-scientists.html


'Great Garbage Patch' in the Pacific Ocean not so great claim scientists
Environmental scientists have been criticised for exaggerating the size of an "island" of plastic waste said to be swirling around in the Pacific Ocean after a study finds that it is 200 times smaller than claimed.


Claims that the "Great Garbage Patch" between California and Japan is twice the size of Texas is "grossly exaggerated" said the research which reckons it is more like one per cent the size.

Further reports that the oceans are filled with more plastic than plankton, and that the patch has been growing tenfold each decade since the 1950s are equally misleading, the new research claimed.

In reality it often cannot even be seen from the deck of a passing boat, said the latest analysts from the Oregon State University professor of oceanography Angelicque White.

The scientist took part in a recent marine expedition to examine the mass of plastic that is floating in the ocean and found there was a problem.

But genuine scientific concerns are undermined by scare tactics from those proclaiming the trash patch is so big that there is more plastic than plankton in the Pacific.

Related Articles

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Prof White said: "There is no doubt that the amount of plastic in the world's oceans is troubling, but this kind of exaggeration undermines the credibility of scientists.

"We have data that allow us to make reasonable estimates. We don't need the hyperbole.

"Given the observed concentration of plastic in the North Pacific, it is simply inaccurate to state that plastic outweighs plankton, or that we have observed an exponential increase in plastic."

One popular claim is that the size of the patch is twice that of the state of Texas – half a million square miles or the equivalent of 20 times the size of England.

But while the plastic stretches across the surface, its mass compared to the amount of water means it only takes up a tiny fraction of its proclaimed area, said Prof White.

"The amount of plastic out there isn't trivial," she said.

"But the patch ... is a small fraction of the state of Texas, not twice the size."

Prof White said plastic can be toxic to some marine life forms but it can absorb other toxins – there is evidence that some organisms are breeding on tiny plastic debris.

However, it is also a danger to seabirds and fish and she said: "Plastic clearly does not belong in the ocean."

Getting rid of it is too expensive and could damage the fragile ecology under the ocean, she said. Preventing more from entering the water should now be the main focus instead.

She added: "If there is a takeaway message, it's that we should consider it good news that the 'garbage patch' doesn't seem to be as bad as advertised.

"Since it would be prohibitively costly to remove the plastic, we need to focus our efforts on preventing more trash from fouling our oceans in the first place."

Recent research by scientists at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution found that the amount of plastic, at least in the Atlantic Ocean, hasn't increased since the mid-1980s – despite greater production and consumption of materials made from plastic, she pointed out.

[real6]

http://www.youtube.com/v/XxNqzAHGXvs

[real6]

Who rows a kayak in the pacific? It's a fuggin' big place y'know.

That photo probably isn't from the so called Great Garbage patch.

I believe it was established that the whole thing is an eviro-fraud.

The patch apparently contains very small pieces of plastic. Not the huge bottles and bags seen in these scary photos.

I will have to agree with you. I know there is countless heaps of trash in the ocean but I want to see some real pictures or real video of this huge patch. Where is it???