Just go ahead and piss on Mother Nature some more

Got to hand it to the naked primates running around bitching about the tree huggers threatening economic globalization and endangering corporate profits over silly things like recycling or being responsible for trash we all make. To hear some of the nice and pretty business pundits on the financial-religious shows talk its as if fundamental rights are being violated by promoting efforts to curb our relentless pollution of the planet.

A few weeks ago I was channel surfing and landed upon one of the business channels and due to my basic instincts stopped because one of the blonds on the show had big hooters and was gladly exposing the upper portion of said cleavage. During that segment the usual collective of little shits, twits, and bimbos were whining about how mandatory recycling of common plastics in certain urban areas was going to cost jobs and cost the consumer extra money resulting in some sort of dire consequences for Western Civilization. Now this whining is not unusual, more recently more or less the same group, while not coming out and saying it directly, were all having a minor spasm over how it was unfair for health insurance companies to be forced to take on the burden of people with preexisting conditions. Being even more vague they all agreed, from what I understood, that anyone with a preexisting condition was simply shit out of luck if they didn't have the money to pay for a doctor themselves.

So with such compassion about their fellow humanity you can imagine how little they care for the cheap plastics that we gleefully cast aside not giving a rat ass about where they end up. Of course, living in a closed system (the planet Earth y'all) the Greater Union of Marching Morons never realize that it will eventually find its way back to us in some manner.

Great Pacific Garbage Patch

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also described as the Eastern Garbage Patch or the Pacific Trash Vortex, is a gyre of marine litter in the central North Pacific Ocean located roughly between 135° to 155°W and 35° to 42°N and estimated to be twice the size of Texas.^[1] The patch is characterized by exceptionally high concentrations of suspended plastic and other debris that have been trapped by the currents of the North Pacific Gyre. Despite its size and density, the patch is not visible from satellite photography because it consists of very, very small pieces, almost invisible to the naked eye ^[2] and most of its contents are suspended beneath the surface of the ocean. ^[3]

Sources of pollutants

It has been estimated that 80% of the garbage comes from land-based sources, and 20% from ships at sea. An average 3,000 passenger cruise ship produces over eight tons of solid waste weekly, much of which is carried by currents to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. ^[13]Pollutants range in size from abandoned fishing nets to micro-pellets used in abrasive cleaners.^[14][15][16] An international project led by Dr. Hideshige Takada of Tokyo University studying plastic pellets, or Currents carry debris from the west coast of North America to the gyre in about five years, and debris from the east coast of Asia in a year or less.nurdles, from beaches around the world may provide further clues about the origins of pelagic plastic, including that of the Pacific garbage patch.^[17]

Plastic photodegradation in the ocean

The Eastern Garbage Patch has one of the highest levels of plastic particulate suspended in the upper water column. As a result, it is one of several oceanic regions where researchers have studied the effects and impact of plastic photodegradation in the neustonic layer of water.^[18] Unlike debris which biodegrades, the photodegraded plastic disintegrates into ever smaller pieces while remaining a polymer. This process continues down to the molecular level.

As the plastic flotsam photodegrades into smaller and smaller pieces, it concentrates in the upper water column. As it disintegrates, the plastic ultimately becomes small enough to be ingested by aquatic organisms which reside near the ocean's surface. Plastic waste thus enters the food chain through its intense concentration in the neuston.

Some plastics decompose in the ocean within a year of entering the water, leaching potentially toxic chemicals such as bisphenol A and derivatives of polystyrene.^[19]

Impact on wildlife

Some of these long-lasting plastics end up in the stomachs of marine birds and animals,^[21] including sea turtles, and the Black-footed Albatross.^[22] Besides the particles' danger to wildlife, the floating debris can absorb organic pollutants from seawater, including PCBs, DDT, and PAHs.^[23] Aside from toxic effects,^[24] when ingested, some of these are mistaken by the endocrine system as estradiol, causing hormone disruption in the affected animal.^[22] These toxin-containing plastic pieces are also eaten by jellyfish, which are then eaten by larger fish. Many of these fish are then consumed by humans, resulting in their ingestion of toxic chemicals. ^[25] Marine plastics also facilitate the spread of invasive species that attach to floating plastic in one region and drift long distances to colonize other ecosystems.^[14]