Mike Mongo reveals the worlds of marine, shoreline, and in-land eco-biology

Saturday, August 19, 2006

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

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Did you know the planet earth now has a floating garbage "patch" at least the size of Texas, floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean? Well, we do.

Here is the link from reddit which led me to research the story in the first place. One of the comments on the hyper-linked piece stated that the above was an "urban myth," and I became interested enough to follow up. I found out the report originates from this piece in the LA Times (specifically this report), and is anything but urban myth.

There is really a massive swirling amassment of man-made refuse in the center of the Pacific Ocean. Unbelievable!

I tracked the source of all of the above to this piece in Natural History magazine. Worse, I located this entry in Wikipedia, and the true name of this developing challenge. It is The Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Now you know.

2 comments:

Carolyn Allen said...

Plastic is the eco-toxin of our age -- we can't live with it and can't live without it. It will take creative thinking as well as heartfelt conservation to solve the plastic riddle. Reminds me of the ancient riddles handed out by oracles!

Unknown said...

Ej the Male.

The problem is that we are a "Disposable" society. I use plastics for my bicycle water bottles, to protect things in my backpack from getting wet or otherwise damaged, and on those rare occasions when I forget my shopping bags I sometimes have to get plastic bag. I try my best to not dispose of these but to recycle instead.