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Plastic Bag Found at the Bottom of World's Deepest Ocean Trench (nationalgeographic.com)
The Mariana Trench -- the deepest point in the ocean -- extends nearly 36,000 feet down in a remote part of the Pacific Ocean. But if you thought the trench could escape the global onslaught of plastics pollution, you would be wrong. From a report: A recent study revealed that a plastic bag, like the kind given away at grocery stores, is now the deepest known piece of plastic trash, found at a depth of 36,000 feet inside the Mariana Trench. Scientists found it by looking through the Deep-Sea Debris Database, a collection of photos and videos taken from 5,010 dives over the past 30 years that was recently made public.
But if you thought the trench could escape the global onslaught of plastics pollution, you would be wrong.
Why would I, or anyone, think that?
That's the important takeaway here. Even at crushing depths and pressures, gravity will still pull a plastic bag all the way to the bottom.
Probably like most people they commented about it but left it there for someone else to deal with.
taking samples much easier since paper bags would get waterlogged and tear.
Sig Follows: "Suppose you were an idiot. And suppose you were a member of Congress. But I repeat myself." -- Mark Twain
Will it take to fill the trench?
But gravity, it's only a theory !
Teach the controversy!
#IntelligentFalling
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(Sorry couldn't resist to make the joke)
"Sufficiently advanced satire is indistinguishable from reality." - [Tips: 1DrYakQDKCQ6y52z6QbnkxHXAocMZJE61o ]
My personal edification proceeded in the following increments:
1. There is a data base of undersea debris.
2. We have submersibles that can operate and take photos at 36,000' down. And for 30 years?
What I didn't learn is that there are artifacts down there. And regardless of the buoyancy/density of plastic material and how it changes under descent it would make sense it could be dragged down by something it was containing. I am sure you can find human made items down there from hundreds of year ago.
I've been looking all over for my Zune receipt. Is it in that bag?
Table-ized A.I.
I wonder how long some of this plastic will survive? It's going to be weird when millions of years from now, our layer in the geologic records is marked by plastics, chemicals and a mass extinction.
Whose life hinges on this exactly?
At what point does this not matter? If it were a hypothetical trench at the bottom of the world's deepest ocean? Or if it were on an exoplanet ?
You can find trash everywhere, but in some places you can't even find traces of significance.
Because their delivery service is AWESOME!
Care killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.
Which story's logo was on that bag?
Its already a natural landfill. Let's just continue that, it can probably hold all of our plastic waste.
If I had mod points right now I'd give that an "insightful". Oceanic trenches ARE the planet's landfill, sucking the seabottom debris under the mantle, to be melted and perhaps eventually released via volcanism.
(They'd be a GREAT place to dispose of radioactive waste if one could be sure it wouldn't get loose before being sucked under.)
Bantam Dominique roosters crow a four-note song. Once you've heard it as "Happy BIRTHday" you can't NOT hear it that way
Like... whatever happened to the paper bags we used to get out groceries in? You know, environmentally friendly, renewable, cheap, QUICKLY biodegradable, strong, reusable paper bags.
Those paper bags are still there, in every supermarket. You just have to ask for them.
The Earth + Plastic is now scientifically proven. When does George Carlin get his posthumous Nobel Prize?
Harrison's Postulate - "For every action there is an equal and opposite criticism"
Not at the supermarkets where I live. Plastic or carry it yourself. I bring my own cloth reusable bags.
I really hate how this world has gone plastic crazy, plastic bags and bottles. I would much rather us return to paper bags and glass bottles. To me drinks just taste better out of glass bottles. An glass is infinity recycle. An even if glass gets in the environment it is not as big a deal as plastic. Glass will eventually get broken down into is components, sand, much more quickly than plastic.
I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
Because we had to think of the trees! When did you ever see a beautiful plastic bush? Nobody wants to save those! Also, it costs less for a stack of more bags, which saves even more money by not needing to bring more bags to the register as often.
I prefer cloth bags for grocery shopping anyhow, because I would rather not have the temptation to save a bunch of crappy little plastic bags. Those things just love to rip once you try to use them for anything serious.
#naabhaprzrag, #sverubfr-000, #agi-fcbafberq, negvpyr[pynff*=' negvpyr-ary-'] { qvfcynl: abar !vzcbegnag; }
the poor, hard working octopus dad is going to get supper home to the kids without a plastic bag? You use them so why should these critters not do as well? :-)
There are a few of them, here and there in the what-if section, and two also in the main section, and also there, if you hover with the mouse. I wouldn't be surpised if others appear, however: it is such a deep argument, after all.
Accidentally dropped it overboard. Had a 6 pack of diet Coke (plastic bottles) and a styrofoam pod of humpback whale sushi.
The Russians have won. They have made the world a cesspool of distrust, greed, fear and hate.
Now if we could just convince all the lawyers and politicians to get down there we'd be on our way to a better world.
The video in the linked article, on the National Geographic web site, does NOT show a plastic bag. It shows a diver collecting 2L plastic soda bottles, but no plastic bag. (Except for the very large sample collection bag that he brought.)
The diver appears to be using conventional SCUBA gear. Can you even dive in the Mariana Trench that way? He's in a regular wet suit, bare handed, etc. I thought that going deeper than about 200 feet required more sophisticated gear. And I thought you could only go about 2,000 feet down with that special gear. This cannot possibly be a video of someone diving 38,000 feet down. I always thought you needed to be in a super-high-pressure submarine to go down there.
Glass will eventually get broken down into is components, sand, much more quickly than plastic.
I don't think that's accurate. I haven't checked, but I know it's common to find very very old glass buried places and in wonderful condition. On the other hand, I've seen plastic bags of trash almost completely disappear from rot and other stuff tearing it apart.
Totally agree otherwise.
Like... whatever happened to the paper bags we used to get out groceries in? You know, environmentally friendly, renewable, cheap, QUICKLY biodegradable, strong, reusable paper bags.
Those paper bags are still there, in every supermarket. You just have to ask for them.
Paper bags are almost exclusively an American thing and aren't as environmentally friendly as you think because they are rarely made from recycled materials and often end up in landfills.
They're also terrible as carrier bags because they lack handles and have the arse fall out of them when wet (it rains a lot here in the UK). I'm a one trip kind of guy, that means I carry everything from the checkout to my car in one go, I presently do that with 2 large reusable bags.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
Our bags have handles and compost down just fine in landfills.
And yes, I remember rain.
Our bags have handles and compost down just fine in landfills.
And yes, I remember rain.
And the trees cut down to make new ones? I highly doubt they're from 100% sustainable sources.
The other problem with paper bags is that they aren't reusable. Here in the UK they've introduced a bag charge which has cut down on plastic waste significantly. Like I said, I have large reusable bags that I've had since I moved to the UK over 2 years ago. These two bags have literally saved me from using hundreds of bags (each weekly shop using 3-5 normal carrier bags, over 104 weeks, that's 312-520 bags). These reusable bags cost me the princely sum of £3 (50p each) and most stores will replace when broken for free.
We really do use that many bags. Now do you see why paper isn't really any better, the problem isn't the material, the problem is the wastage due to lack of re-use.
Now I'm no eco-mentalist, but it is a trivial issue to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle. Hell, I'm saving money by not buying stuff that just gets thrown out.
Calling someone a "hater" only means you can not rationally rebut their argument.
I do not like using plastic bags but not because of environmental concerns with their disposal; I prefer paper bags because I hate trees.
When I was young lad, as a part of Tikkun Olam, when we would stop alongside the road or after leaving a camping site, our parents required us to police the area in order to remove (1) all evidence of our having been there; and (2) a majority of evidence by the occupation of others. Even today I police my yard, street, local parks, etc. -- even as an old man. Given that ecology minded folks seem to think that the problem is with a government, corporation, or anyone else; I should not be surprised if we find cigarette butts and bear cans on Pluto. Furthermore, my wife and I are foodies. We produce 1/4 the amount of trash that our neighbors (with the same number of people in the home) do. Personal responsibility will clean a world -- not bigger government or increased tax dollars. I begin to wonder if common sense has become a modern superpower.
The paper bag may not be reusable once you have filled it with trash, but because they are made from trees, the usage is sustainable. Here in the US when we cut down a tree, we grow new ones to replace it. I know that in the UK after the trees were logged off, you just left the hills bare (I have hiked across it). That's why since you converted the Drax power plant in Yorkshire from coal to wood, you have had to burn American firewood in it, thereby allowing you to classify the plant as a sustainable operation, notwithstanding the fleet of diesel-burning container ships it takes to bring that wood to your shores.
On the other hand, I've seen plastic bags of trash almost completely disappear from rot and other stuff tearing it apart.
Just because you can't see it, doesn't mean its gone. Plastic molecules don't degrade so easy. They are finding molecules of plastic in soil bacteria. The longevity of some of the most dense plastics is measured in thousands of years. Glass exposed to the environment will eventually get broken down. Even glass on beaches will eventually be taken care of over time.
Some plastics are also poisonous, pure glass isn't.
I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.
I just read an article where some glass in the right conditions can last a million years. That condition being a landfill. That is actually pretty cool. I had no ideal that glass could last that long before breaking down.
But those where perfectly stable conditions. I still think that glass in the environment will break down a lot faster.
On another note. Does anyone else feel that in the future we will be mining our current landfills for valuable resources? So much shit we have tossed into landfills, steel, glass, gold, and other precious metals. Maybe in a few hundred years there will be a gold rush to the local dump.
I read at +2. If your post doesn't reach that level I will not see or respond to it.