When you're walking along the beach and you notice trash, please pick it up and throw it away, or better yet, recycle it!!
Plastic cannot biodegrade!!!
"The National Academy of Sciences estimates that 6.4 million tons of litter enter the world's oceans each year. Globally, plastic accounts for 60 to 95 percent of that waste, according to a 2002 report in the "Marin Pollution Bulletin," by J.G.B. Derriak. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, 5.5 percent of the plastic consumed int he US in 2001 was recycled.
Hannah Nevins, beachcomber coordinator with Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, has found many dead seabirds' stomachs stuffed with plastic. Scientists don't know whether the plastic is poisoning the birds or if they're simply starving to death because the material is blocking their access to pray. Moore said laysan albatross chicks are also frequent victims of plastic-bounty starvation. "They die from false feelings of satiation, which result from being fed bottle caps, cigarette lighters, and toys, which they cannot regurgitate so they stop begging their parents for food." There are a whole bunch of chemicals in plastics that mimic estrogen," Ebbesmeyer said. "If a male mammal ingests them, you're altering the balance between testosterone and estrogen and you wind up with populations worldwide where the males are becoming less male." Marine debris has adversely affected at least 267 species worldwide including 86 percent of sea turtle species, 44 percent of sea bird species and 43 percent of marine mammal species, primarily through ingestion, starvation, suffocation and entanglement, according to D.W. Laist in the book "Marine Debris-Sources, Impacts and Solutions."
In the ocean, where the plastic rises to the surface, there are gyres - where high pressure zones swirl currents together "like a toilet that never flushes", according to Moore. Scientists have given gyres nicknames, like "Eastern Garbage Patch." One such gyre is reported to span 10 million square miles, which makes it as large as Africa.
Excerpts taken directly from the Richmond Review Press, September issue 2005 - www.sfrichmondreview.com
PLEASE CLEAN UP OUR BEACHES!!!
Plastic cannot biodegrade!!!
"The National Academy of Sciences estimates that 6.4 million tons of litter enter the world's oceans each year. Globally, plastic accounts for 60 to 95 percent of that waste, according to a 2002 report in the "Marin Pollution Bulletin," by J.G.B. Derriak. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency, 5.5 percent of the plastic consumed int he US in 2001 was recycled.
Hannah Nevins, beachcomber coordinator with Moss Landing Marine Laboratories, has found many dead seabirds' stomachs stuffed with plastic. Scientists don't know whether the plastic is poisoning the birds or if they're simply starving to death because the material is blocking their access to pray. Moore said laysan albatross chicks are also frequent victims of plastic-bounty starvation. "They die from false feelings of satiation, which result from being fed bottle caps, cigarette lighters, and toys, which they cannot regurgitate so they stop begging their parents for food." There are a whole bunch of chemicals in plastics that mimic estrogen," Ebbesmeyer said. "If a male mammal ingests them, you're altering the balance between testosterone and estrogen and you wind up with populations worldwide where the males are becoming less male." Marine debris has adversely affected at least 267 species worldwide including 86 percent of sea turtle species, 44 percent of sea bird species and 43 percent of marine mammal species, primarily through ingestion, starvation, suffocation and entanglement, according to D.W. Laist in the book "Marine Debris-Sources, Impacts and Solutions."
In the ocean, where the plastic rises to the surface, there are gyres - where high pressure zones swirl currents together "like a toilet that never flushes", according to Moore. Scientists have given gyres nicknames, like "Eastern Garbage Patch." One such gyre is reported to span 10 million square miles, which makes it as large as Africa.
Excerpts taken directly from the Richmond Review Press, September issue 2005 - www.sfrichmondreview.com
PLEASE CLEAN UP OUR BEACHES!!!
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SF Bay Area
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Re: PLEASE CLEAN UP OUR BEACHES!!!
Fri, January 6, 2006 - 12:16 PMAnyone in Montego Bay? We are having a beach cleanup on Sat. Jan 14. I can give you info. The beaches in Jamaica are so nasty unless they are right in front of a resort. It's sad how little is thought of this beautiful island at times.
