"Afloat in the Ocean, Expanding Islands of Trash"

That's the title of a recent article by Lindsey Hoshaw on the New York Times about the infamous Pacific garbage patch. I hope it will raise awareness amongst the masses for the problem of plastic debris in the oceans. If research will convincingly show that toxic chemicals in the debris enter the chain food and eventually end up in the human body, people will finally realize the magnitude of this ecological disaster. At that point, more strict rules and regulations concerning plastic production, recycling and disposal will be put in place. Global warming alike, this problem is planetary and it can be seriously faced only by defining and adopting international environmental treaties. Frankly, I don't think that asking people to drink less soda or recycle their shopping bags is going to change anything.


"Light bulbs, bottle caps, toothbrushes, Popsicle sticks and tiny pieces of plastic, each the size of a grain of rice, inhabit the Pacific garbage patch, an area of widely dispersed trash that doubles in size every decade and is now believed to be roughly twice the size of Texas." Photo and caption : Lindsey Hoshaw for The New York Times