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Expedition To Explore an Alaska-Sized Plastic "Island"
Peace Corps Online writes "An expedition called Project Kaisei has departed bound for the Great Pacific Garbage Patch — a huge 'island' of plastic debris in the Pacific Ocean estimated to be the size of Alaska (some estimates place it at ten times that size). The expedition will study the impact of the waste on marine life, and research methods to clean up the vast human-created mess in the Pacific. The BBC quotes Ryan Yerkey, the project's chief of operations: 'Every piece of trash that is left on a beach or ends up in our rivers or estuaries and washes out to the sea is an addition to the problem, so we need people to be the solution.' 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 created by the North Pacific Gyre draws in waste material from across the North Pacific Ocean, including the coastal waters off North America and Japan. As material is captured in the currents, wind-driven surface currents gradually move floating debris toward the center, trapping it in the region. 'You are talking about quite a bit of marine debris but it's not a solid mass,' says Yerkey. 'Twenty years from now we can't be harvesting the ocean for trash. We need to get it out but we need to also have people make those changes in their lives to stop the problem from growing and hopefully reverse the course.'"
See, everyone assumes you need satellite photos. I mean this is the ocean, not deep space. And it's the surface of the ocean. Someone could just drive their boat up to the edge of this "island". Snap a few shots, and bam, instant funding for clean up. But let me know when your satellite is ready. :)
I read Slashdot for the headlines, because the headlines, unlike the articles, are usually original and never duplicated
Normally I don't get all riled up, but every one of you idiots has mentioned the wikipedia article that says "satellite and arial" photos. Is that the only method of taking pictures of something on the surface of the ocean?
Time to step away from /. before I wreck my karma.
I read Slashdot for the headlines, because the headlines, unlike the articles, are usually original and never duplicated
I read my original post and I do see that I did say "satellite" images. I didn't mean "satellite", and I am sorry I flew off the handle and insulted your intelligence level.
I read Slashdot for the headlines, because the headlines, unlike the articles, are usually original and never duplicated
Because most of that pollution has come from western society, dumbass. Just how many Chinese and Indians do you think are chucking milk jugs and water bottles into the ocean?
Maybe that's why in the summary and the title it is written "island". Does the inclusion of quotation marks mean anything to you, or were you expecting fucking palm trees growing on it ?
shit for brains.
They should collect this in barges and burn it for fuel.
If you wanted to do that, pretty much any municipal solid waste dump would be a better bet.
If it costs less than the prevailing price of crude, then it's a go - hassles be damned!
Hmmm, first three posts on a supposedly smart and generally environmentally leaning website can think of doing nothing but burning it.
Yup, as a planet, we're fucked.
Moved to http://soylentnews.org/. You are invited to join us too!