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Floating rubbish dump 'bigger than US' »

Posted by: Aidenag 1 year, 11 months ago

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It has been described as the world's largest rubbish dump, or the Pacific plastic soup, and it is starting to alarm scientists. Historically, flotsam in the gyres has biodegraded. But modern plastics do not break down like other oceanic debris, meaning objects half a century old have been found in the North Pacific Gyre.

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Aidenag

Photographer by day, news junkie by night. My main areas of interest are politics and the environment.

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Comments: 60

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ETproductions
Feb. 4, 2008, 12:05 a.m.
FTA: "Professor David Karl, an oceanographer from the University of Hawaii, said the garbage patch represented a new habitat, and more studies were needed to find out what impact it was having on the ocean's eco-system."
What percentage of his funding do you reckon comes from the Plastics industry?
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Amazing1
Feb. 4, 2008, 6:47 a.m.
Appalling. A garbage dump as large as the continental U.S? It just boggles the mind to think of this vast expanse of flotsam floating out there in the ocean. How can it possibly be cleaned up?
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BoxMonkey
Feb. 4, 2008, 7:30 a.m.
If they can find a way to use plastic for fuel , this will get cleaned up fast .
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Dicax_Maximus
Feb. 4, 2008, 8:01 a.m.
The ability of mankind to destroy it's home is boundless....
mishandledComment has been removed: Retracted by user
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flyonthewallzz
Feb. 4, 2008, 11:13 a.m.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/pages/live/articles/...
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crespi
Feb. 4, 2008, 11:14 a.m.
When we talked about this a few months ago Conservatives and Fundamentalist Christians vociferously denied it and threw the term liar around.
I'm getting REAL tired of Conservatives and Fundamentalist Christians putting out false information (like Exxon funding millions to global warming deniers) and environmental obstruction so they can fulfill their End Of the World wet dream they all seem to continuously have...
Just GO TO HEAVEN and let the rest of us work on these problems.
REAL God*amn tired.
In fact, the next neocon I see on Propeller spreading anti-environmental lies I will tear a new one.
(It's good to have goals...)
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joeblowe
Feb. 4, 2008, 11:44 a.m.
Anyone who doesn't think there is a lot of human garbage in the oceans clearly is NOT a certified diver. You can't dive ANYWHERE (that I am aware of or have been) that you don't find human trash on the bottom of the ocean. Since plastic IS recyclable, shouldn't someone go out there with some fine nets, pick all that plastic up, and make decking and/or siding out of it?
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Wolfie2007
Feb. 4, 2008, 11:56 a.m.
crespi
So okay, tear me a new one. I'll give you some ammo. There is no such thing as human caused global warming/climate change or whatever you're calling it today. Also, I've written about this swirling mass of plastic in the Pacific Ocean a number of times in the past few months. It's possibly caused by your recycling of plastics bottles that go to third world countries to be used for fuel if not they are just dumped, yeah into the ocean. ninety-nine percent of the things you moonbats advocate turn into disasters, this is just the latest to be exposed.