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Trillions of plastic pieces found in Arctic ice

usatoday.com

1–10 of 52 posts

Re: Trillions of plastic pieces found in Arctic ice

#3
I wonder how all these pieces of plastic in the ice will affect its melting temperature and it's strength. There is a good research paper there with data that could affect estimates on freeze and melt rates of winter ice, formulas used to calculate when ice packs start to break up, ship hull strength requirements for different depths of ice, etc.

Re: Trillions of plastic pieces found in Arctic ice

#4
What's terrifying to me is that the more our science moves forward, the more we're realizing that we've fucked up the Earth in ways we had no clue about. It's likely going to get worse and worse as time goes on, and it's reaching a scope where undoing the damage is more and more unlikely.

It'll be interesting to read follow up studies about the impacts this has on the ecosystems. It's freaky how interconnected oceans are.

Re: Trillions of plastic pieces found in Arctic ice

#6
Leaded gasoline, testing nuclear bombs in the atmosphere, plastic everywhere, chemicals in plastic that interfere with the endocrine system, massive use of antibiotics in farming, Roundup-resistant weeds... All these malpractices have large, measurable, global impacts. It's a wonder we have not caused a mass-poisoning crises or disease outbreak that has an obvious effect on lifespan or fertility.

Re: Trillions of plastic pieces found in Arctic ice

#7
post #5

Not to mention the Great Pacific Garbage patch: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Pacific_garbage_patch

The article makes mention to the Pacific Garbage patch as a comparison

"The concentration of plastic debris [estimated from core samples of arctic ice] is 1,000 times greater than that floating in the so-called Great Pacific Garbage Patch."

Re: Trillions of plastic pieces found in Arctic ice

#8
post #6

Leaded gasoline, testing nuclear bombs in the atmosphere, plastic everywhere, chemicals in plastic that interfere with the endocrine system, massive use of antibiotics in farming, Roundup-resistant weeds... All these malpractices have large, measurable, global impacts. It's a wonder we have not caused a mass-poisoning crises or disease outbreak that has an obvious effect on lifespan or fertility.

It just means that sooner or later we will have mutations occurring in the general population.

Re: Trillions of plastic pieces found in Arctic ice

#10
post #6

Leaded gasoline, testing nuclear bombs in the atmosphere, plastic everywhere, chemicals in plastic that interfere with the endocrine system, massive use of antibiotics in farming, Roundup-resistant weeds... All these malpractices have large, measurable, global impacts. It's a wonder we have not caused a mass-poisoning crises or disease outbreak that has an obvious effect on lifespan or fertility.

Haven't we?
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