The pacific garbage patch

[Emperor of the Titan Squid]

18 hours ago, OzEtkin said:

The Ocean Cleanup seems like a viable plan to clean up the Pacific Garbage Patches. It requires very little energy to operate, and is designed so that wildlife is not harmed in the cleanup process.

That is s very interesting idea, however, it could be hard to work on a large scale.

[Snark]

Hi gang,

Some posts have been pruned from this thread.  There was a heated digression into a discussion about the motivations and purported ulterior motives of organizations concerned in this matter, which then started heading into flamewar territory.

Folks, I know we've all read the forum guidelines (right?), and therefore I don't really need to tell you this, but perhaps it's worth reiterating the relevant bits here:

• Please stay on-topic (rule 2.3.d).
  • If you've got something to post that pertains directly to the thread's topic, great!
  • In this case, that means the pacific garbage patch.  (What to do about it, how to fix it, how not to fix it, what would or wouldn't work, what did or didn't cause it, etc.)
  • But accusations of organizations' supposed ulterior motives are off topic.
• Please avoid political content (rule 2.2.b).
  • "We have to do do something about the darn <problem>" is fine.
  • "It's all the fault of the darn <politically active group>, who are <doing bad things> because <assumed reason>" is politics.
• Please be respectful and avoid flamebaiting (rule 2.3.b).

Furthermore, there were also some reaction posts criticizing the above as being inappropriate.  Please be careful about "backseat moderating" (rule 3.2).  It's perfectly fine to debate someone's posts (e.g. a rebuttal of a point of view), but please avoid debating a person's behavior.  Argue the post, not the poster.  If someone is behaving in a way that seems to you to be inappropriate for the forum, please just report the post and let the moderator team address the matter.  It's what we're for.  Trying to correct people accomplishes nothing other than stir up angry flame-wars, which is why we have rule 3.2.

Okay, unlocking the thread now, in the hope that we can continue to discuss the topic in civil fashion.  Thanks for your patience.

[Dispatcher]

It would be neat if we could engineer microorganisms which would feast on the plastic trash and generate a biofuel byproduct and bind it so as to float in an easily collected mass.  (And not eat the collection craft.)

 

[Green Baron]

From an archaeologist:

Since humankind wins resources (since the neolithic) from the environment it does so without respect to the following generations. In contrary, the following generations always become competitors once they were and are able to do the same. Individuals might think different, but larger groups have rather simple dynamics, they exploited until there is nothing left and then move on or until interfering with the interest of other groups. Written history since the iron age is full of examples (*).

[/archaeologist]

The garbage patch has grown in just a few decades to subcontinental size (reported, haven't seen it). And i have seen the garbage in the Atlantic ocean and Mediterranean sea, it's getting more every year and the growth rate accelerates. It is out of question that microbes or mechanical means could fight that since hundreds of millions of residents throw things in. Since so many societies are careless with their remnants even if that means death to others (or to oneself) by pollution, by infection or by poisoned water/food chain i have the feeling that things will get much worse.

 

(*) Edit: Earth overshoot day is today (8th of august 2016). It was the 13th of august last year. Anyone need more proof ?

 

Edited August 8, 2016 by Green Baron