Floating Plastic Continents

It is clear from these reports that our use of plastic is having a tremendous impact on our oceans. Two articles, one in The Daily Kos and another in The Independent point to the almost unimaginable effects of plastic waste on our planet – every piece of plastic ever made is still here, and a lot of that is in the oceans.

For more information about what can be done locally about this global problem you can contact the Vineyard Conservation Society and can read more about this and other conservation issues in The Conservation Almanac.

Key Links:
The Daily Kos: Plastic Patch in Pacific Grows to Twice Size of U.S.
These plastic patches have profound implications for wildlife because birds tend to eat bits of plastic and marine mammals can be strangled by them. Moreover, the plastic can accumulate in areas where currents are forcing nutrients upward - zones of high biological activity. The consequences are deadly to a wide range of species.

The Independent: The world's rubbish dump: a garbage tip that stretches from Hawaii to Japan
A "plastic soup" of waste floating in the Pacific Ocean is growing at an alarming rate and now covers an area twice the size of the continental United States, scientists have said. (Image from The Independent.)

Altered Oceans is an excellent report by the LA Times. (Tracking the Trash image is from the LA Times)

You can find out more about the Pacific ocean trash gyre/currents at GreenPeace. (Circulation image/animation from GreenPeace.)