Scientists study huge plastic patch in Pacific

Watermark said:
Which would make sense if it were economically positive. I seriously doubt you've done your math there.

It may make more sense and be a lot cheaper to just throw some nets down there and scoop it up.
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if it is the size of texas...where are they going to get the nets and where are they going to haul it?
 
uscitizen said:
the next question for cons. Who would pay the hundreds of billions ? price tag?
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the UN.... :cof1:

oh wait, we pretty much fund them....

i think all the countries that border the pacific (that are subject to that zone and currents, so probably norhtern hemi) put in their share of the costs, as i have no doubt the trash came from more than one country
 
Actually it is a pretty common thought among the ones who do not believe in man contributing to global warming.

We should study it for another 30 years.
 
Demwit said:
Scientists study huge plastic patch in Pacific
By Steve Gorman Posted Tue Aug 4, 2009 5:42am PDT


LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Marine scientists from California are venturing this week to the middle of the North Pacific for a study of plastic debris accumulating across hundreds of miles (km) of open sea dubbed the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch."

A research vessel carrying a team of about 30 researchers, technicians and crew members embarked on Sunday on a three-week voyage from the Scripps Institution of Oceanography, based at the University of California at San Diego.

The expedition will study how much debris -- mostly tiny plastic fragments -- is collecting in an expanse of sea known as the North Pacific Ocean Gyre, how that material is distributed and how it affects marine life.

The debris ends up concentrated by circular, clockwise ocean currents within an oblong-shaped "convergence zone" hundreds of miles (km) across from end to end near the Hawaiian Islands, about midway between Japan and the West Coast of the United States.

The focus of the study will be on plankton, other microorganisms, small fish and birds.

"The concern is what kind of impact those plastic bits are having on the small critters on the low end of the ocean food chain," Bob Knox, deputy director of research at Scripps, said on Monday after the ship had spent its first full day at sea.

The 170-foot vessel New Horizon is equipped with a laboratory for on-board research, but scientists also will bring back samples for further study.

Little is known about the exact size and scope of the vast debris field discovered some years ago by fishermen and others in the North Pacific that is widely referred to as the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch."

http://green.yahoo.com/news/nm/20090804/us_nm/us_ocean_plastics.html
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No doubt it will be just another study from liberal scientists that humans are having a significant and detrimental impact on the ocean and atmosphere. :rolleyes:


LOL, I'll trust NewsMax to keep me informed of the facts, not some liberal Scripps Institute science geeks.
 
uscitizen said:
Actually it is a pretty common thought among the ones who do not believe in man contributing to global warming.

We should study it for another 30 years.
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nice try....affecting ecology around the globe is not the same thing as saying we are responsible for global warming....everytime we cut a tree down and it is repeated around the globe we are affecting global ecology...

global warming caca is in a class of its own.....i am all for conserving the planet, and i hate litterbugs becuase you ultimately get that stuff in the ocean.

C+ for effort
 
uscitizen said:
It is not only the unsightly stuff we can see that cause problems in the world ecology.
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wtf does that have to do with what i said and what you claim i don't understand?

are you talking about global warming or that humans have in fact fucked the environment by dumping stuff down rivers, oceans...cutting to many trees, cars polluting the air....i mean what are you talking about

you're so criptic when you want to sound like you're smarter than others
 
Damocles said:
It has to be able to be seen in a photograph then. Shoot, satellites should be able to see a patch of plastic that large.
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Watermark said:
If you took a picture of it it would look like the ocean. :-/

That's why when you go to google images and search for it you don't see any floating piles of trash. The newspaper descriptions of the area were rather sensational.
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you guys never heard of Google search?....

pacific-gyre-plastic-garbage-patch-satellite-photo.jpg


http://www.treehugger.com/galleries/2009/05/great-pacific-garbage-patch.php?page=1
 
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Watermark said:
Which would make sense if it were economically positive. I seriously doubt you've done your math there.

It may make more sense and be a lot cheaper to just throw some nets down there and scoop it up.
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I'm assuming that the environmentalists aren't lying about its size and density. Granted that may be a bad assumption...
 
Watermark said:
Which would make sense if it were economically positive. I seriously doubt you've done your math there.

It may make more sense and be a lot cheaper to just throw some nets down there and scoop it up.
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Wouldn't it be easier to add the bacteria that eats plastics and let what has evolved take care of it?
 
Damocles said:
Wouldn't it be easier to add the bacteria that eats plastics and let what has evolved take care of it?
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would you really want to release something like that on such a scale....

of course it is fiction, but i wonder if there is some truth in the science behind it

[ame="http://www.amazon.com/Black-Monday-Novel-Bob-Reiss/dp/0743297644"]Amazon.com: Black Monday: A Novel (9780743297646): Bob Reiss: Books[/ame]
 
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