[via MeFi] I've talked about the the starving ocean here before, but I just saw a very disturbing story about something that's going on in the central Pacific Ocean. It's a region that not a lot of people travel through, but is unique because it's one of those places that ocean currents swirl… if you drop something in the ocean, the Pacific Gyre is where it eventually ends up.
If plastic — which is not biodegradable — is thrown in the ocean, it breaks down into smaller pieces, but never fully disappears. If you are sailing around the world and take a swim out in the middle of the ocean, thousands of miles away from land (the Pacific Gyre is about half way between Hawaii and California), even after a few minutes in the ocean you will emerge covered in small bits of plastic.
Currently these regions contain about five times as much plastic as they do plankton. Conservative estimates suggest that this could go as high as a sixty to one ratio over the next decade, with the rest of the ocean being affected as well. The end result of this is significant damage to the entire ocean ecosystem, which is what the rest of the planet relies on as a buffer.
Drain a man of his blood, and you destroy his flesh. Watch this video and understand something important.
Post a Comment