Comments on: Ships Set Sail to Examine the Vast Patch of Plastic in the Pacific Ocean

By: Timmy

Timmy — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 16:43:20 +0000

This makes me a sad panda…

By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 01:55:33 +0000

If all this plastic had been made with d2w Controlled-life technology it would have harmlessly degraded long before it reached the North Pacific. Don’t ban plastic – it’s much too useful – just make it with d2w.

By: YouRang

YouRang — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 14:11:08 +0000

There probably isn’t enough existing data to say what the temperature was there before. but surely the currents are going clockwise. The air currents entrained above it would be a high. So the differing light absorption and heat capacity nature of plastic compared to water would modify the perennial high that pretty certainly has existed above it. IOW either increasing or decreasing global warming or at least modifying the effects of GW on the countries most closely downstream of it–US and Mexico and Canada. The people most affected probably are the nuts who deny GW in Arizona and Texas. (Despite all the record highs in Arizona this year they still will refuse to see.)

By: Maggie

Maggie — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 13:59:51 +0000

I was wondering if anyone ever thought about the other sources of all this waste? When I was in the military, stationed on a cutter, we would just “float test” our trash. Cans and glass were saved for in-port dumps, plastic was melted down or dumped in-port as well. But metal and food was dumped over the side as well as raw sewage that was not filtered in any way. When a storm hit, most of the garbage would blow over the side as well. It was tied down but not well enough to prevent any of it from blowing over. We would lose tons of trash in one trip. That always bothered me and there was nothing I could do or say as I was the lowest on the totem pole. No one seemed to bat an eye at the things we dumped over the side. I know this is common practice for ships today. We once chased a “mass” for tens of miles until we discovered it was Navy junk. Basically, it was a large net, some life rings, and a lot of garbage (plastics, cans, glass, food), that was dumped off a Navy cutter. We pulled it on board and sent it back to them. Ironically. I’d love to see someone challenge the military and their “environmentally friendly” practices. Many of the small boat stations in the Coast Guard don’t even recycle. That’s just sad. Thanks, had to have my say.

By: Tom Lucas

Tom Lucas — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 13:14:29 +0000

Proof that the earth is infested with humans as opposed to inhabited. The human race is a pestilence upon the planet.

By: JD

JD — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 13:05:57 +0000

I’m still trying to wrap my mind around the fact that its ‘twice the size of Texas’. Wow. Hard to look at that and maintain hope for our collective future.

By: April Dyer

April Dyer — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 11:38:58 +0000

Forget commercially viable. What about the health of our oceans? If the ocean health dies; kiss the health of other wildlife goodbye. What about volunteer cleanup before this gets any worse and something other than plastic or even less plastic in our lives. Instead of having convicts sitting in jail; why not have them clean up this wretched mess. This is horrible. I know that ocean liners were dumping garbage into our oceans too. I am slowly removing plastic from my life.

By: robot makes music

robot makes music — Tue, 04 Aug 2009 04:34:59 +0000

No way to sort the plastic, not able to recycle a mush, unfortunately, at this time. At least, no way that’s commercially viable.

By: Paul OFlaherty

Paul OFlaherty — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 20:35:26 +0000

I wonder if there would be much commercial value in simply trawling all this plastic for recycling?

By: Windows 8 forums Beta Master

Windows 8 forums Beta Master — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 19:53:17 +0000

thats sad that so much trash is out there.