Welcome to Environmental Pollution Guide
Problem Environmental Pollution Article
. For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for further reading, click here.
Industrial Pollution & Environmental Degradation On Display In The Pacific Gyre's "Sea Of Trash"
from:Industrial pollution & environmental degradation are widely--and rightly--considered one of the largest problems facing our late-capitalist society. The continued effects of industrial pollution & environmental degradation make our factories less efficient (believe it or not), poison our groundwater, poison our air, use up natural resources and generally make the world filthier, deadlier, and less pleasant to be a part of.
And nowhere is this more evident than in the mysterious "Sea of Trash", one of the saddest legacies of industrial pollution & environmental degradation currently on display anywhere in the world.
The Sea of Trash is exactly what it sounds like. Plastic refuse and improperly-disposed-of trash is often dumped offshore, even in comparatively environmentally-conscious states like California and Oregon. In the minds of the illegal dumpers, this plastic refuse just drifts away somewhere out of sight and therefore out of mind, eventually probably becoming waterlogged and sinking into the Pacific, someone else's problem. In reality, plastic trash almost never degrades naturally, nor does it simply sink into the water, out of sight. It continues to float on the surface of the ocean until it's picked up on the neck of an animal--contributing to extinction and the pollution of animal habitats--or until it reaches its final goal, the dark legacy of industrial pollution & environmental degradation: the Sea of Trash.
Refuse tends to come to the Sea of Trash because of its position in the North Pacific Gyre. The Coriolis Effect causes ocean currents to swirl, forming massive vortexes in the sea. These vortexes slowly draw water into them from all bordering regions. The water will slowly leave the area through evaporation and the standard weather cycle. Anything carried along in that water, however, will remain trapped in the vortex forever: the prisoner of industrial pollution & environmental degradation.
The Sea of Trash is the largest complex of trapped industrial refuse in the world, with an estimated surface area anywhere from 700 thousand to one million square kilometers, nothing but floating plastic refuse virtually the size of Texas. It didn't get that way overnight, of course. According to official estimates, trash takes roughly a year to reach the Sea of Trash from the east coast of Asia and five years to reach the Sea from the west coast of the United States. Reach the Sea it does, however, leaving the world just a little bit more ravaged by industrial pollution & environmental degradation than it was before.
So what can be done about the Sea of Trash? The only thing we can do, it seems, is to try not to make the Sea any larger than it already is. Beyond that, all we can do is float amidst the plastic bottles and milk jugs--and hope that we haven't already pushed the planet too far.
Problem Environmental Pollution Specific links
Problem Environmental Pollution News
BP to spend $400 million in air pollution settlement - Boston Herald
 Globe and Mail | BP to spend $400 million in air pollution settlement Boston Herald By Michael Hawthorne / Chicago Tribune CHICAGO - In a move that promises cleaner air throughout the Chicago area, BP on Wednesday agreed to spend more than $400 million to settle legal complaints about chronic pollution problems at the oil company's ... BP agrees to spend $400 million to reduce pollution at Whiting refinery BP agrees to pay BP agrees to cut air pollution at refinery, pay $8-million fine |
Environmental group tags Cowell Beach a 'bummer', again - San Jose Mercury News
Environmental group tags Cowell Beach a 'bummer', again San Jose Mercury News County monitors speculate that decaying kelp and the presence of a nearby wharf, which tends to contribute to water quality problems, are factors in its consistently poor rating. A Stanford University-led study to determine the source of the pollution ... |
Environmentalists Urge Oil Pollution Safeguards in Uganda - Voice of America
 Voice of America | Environmentalists Urge Oil Pollution Safeguards in Uganda Voice of America “But we are pushing for proactive way to deal with this issue [environment]. Mukitale said a legal framework should be created that provides the institutions and regulations to deal with oil-related environmental issues. “We cannot depend on the good ... |
Weather sponsored by: - Brainerd Daily Dispatch
 French Tribune | Weather sponsored by: Brainerd Daily Dispatch ... head of the Minnesota Pollution Control Agency on Wednesday deflected criticism of draft standards for cleaning up the Mississippi and Minnesota rivers, saying the agency can't compel farmers to cut the runoff that plays a big part in the problem. Minnesota's New Pollution Watchdog Takes Control Billboards along I-35 poke copper mining |
Steffy: Coal plant operators find a convenient scapegoat in the EPA - Houston Chronicle
 National Council of Churches USA | Steffy: Coal plant operators find a convenient scapegoat in the EPA Houston Chronicle The latest example is the White Stallion Energy Center, a planned coal-fired power plant in Matagorda County, which claims it can't find the $2.5 billion in financing it needs because of stricter anti-pollution laws, the Chronicle's Matthew Tresaugue ... Jewish Leader Testifies in Support of Carbon Standards Tell the EPA You Support Carbon Pollution Protections Faith leaders applaud carbon pollution rule |