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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.'"
I have looked through all the links. If this "island" is that big, it should be easy to get satellite images.
Anyone care to provide them?
I read Slashdot for the headlines, because the headlines, unlike the articles, are usually original and never duplicated
Oh come on, in this day and age of mass hysteria and chickenlittlism (new word), scientists don't have to provide proof of anything any more. If they say it, it's gospel, and no one better disagree, or they will get flogged as a heretic.
Although I do like your explanation on why no one has seen it yet except scientists. Very creative.
I read Slashdot for the headlines, because the headlines, unlike the articles, are usually original and never duplicated
My God, I said I read the articles and I cannot find ONE image. Not even from a dude on a canoe floating past. Someone has to have taken a picture of this somehow. And i find it hard to believe that the infrared signature of that section of ocean matches the unpolluted sections. There has to be some way to come up with some kind of image to prove that it's there.
I read Slashdot for the headlines, because the headlines, unlike the articles, are usually original and never duplicated
I say, hope all that crap ends up on USA doorstep, then at least they will have to clean it up.
USA is worlds biggest polluter, plastic bags belong there.
bullshit, there is no island, there are no photos of mid ocean plastic "island" only photos of garbage found inland or in dumps or staged photos in small bodies of water. Another lefty lib lie aimed at destroying our economy.
"It's so convenient to have a system where everyone is a criminal" - A. Hitler
If a powerful minority of people continue to act selfishly, we will fail
Fixed that fer ya ;)
SB
It's old. The more humans I meet, the more I like my cats. At least they are honest.