Plastic waste in Antarctica reveals scale of global pollution - Greenpeace

[webfact]

Plastic waste in Antarctica reveals scale of global pollution - Greenpeace

By Alister Doyle

 

Greenpeace activist Grant Oakes shows a water sample collected using a manta trawl in Neko Harbour, Antarctica, February 16, 2018. Picture taken February 16, 2018. REUTERS/Alexandre Meneghini

 

OSLO (Reuters) - Plastic waste and toxic chemicals found in remote parts of the Antarctic this year add to evidence that pollution is spreading to the ends of the Earth, environmental group Greenpeace said on Thursday.

 

Microplastics - tiny bits of plastic from the breakdown of everything from shopping bags to car tyres - were detected in nine of 17 water samples collected off the Antarctic peninsula by a Greenpeace vessel in early 2018, it said.

 

And seven of nine snow samples taken on land in Antarctica found chemicals known as PFAs (polyfluorinated alkylated substances), which are used in industrial products and can harm wildlife.

 

"We may think of the Antarctic as a remote and pristine wilderness," Frida Bengtsson of Greenpeace's Protect the Antarctic campaign said in a statement about the findings.

 

"But from pollution and climate change to industrial krill fishing, humanity's footprint is clear," she said. "These results show that even the most remote habitats of the Antarctic are contaminated with microplastic waste and persistent hazardous chemicals."

 

The United Nations' environment agency says plastic pollution has been detected from the Arctic to Antarctica and in remote places including the Mariana Trench, the deepest part of the world's oceans in the Pacific.

 

On Tuesday, it said that less than a 10th of all the plastic ever made has been recycled, and governments should consider banning or taxing single-use bags or food containers to stem a tide of pollution.

 

CROSSING OCEANS

Last year researchers at the University of Hull and the British Antarctic Survey found that levels of microplastic in Antarctica were five times higher than expected only counting local sources such as research stations and ships.

 

That means that the pollution is crossing the Southern Ocean, often considered as a barrier to man-made pollution. Scientists say the long-term impacts on marine life are unknown.

 

At the other end of the world, researchers in Germany reported in April that sea ice floating on the Arctic Ocean contains large amounts of plastic waste, which could be released as the ice thins because of global warming.

 

"Plastic stays around for hundreds of years," said author Ilka Peeken of the Alfred Wegener Institute for Polar and Marine Research.

 

In trying to understand the spread of pollution, she told Reuters that new areas for research could include how far tiny bits of plastic are getting blown on winds to the Arctic and how much is swept by ocean currents.

 

(Reporting By Alister Doyle; Editing by Gareth Jones)

 

-- © Copyright Reuters 2018-06-07

[nobodysfriend]

If the world's politicians , ( after all it is them who make the rules ...) , would take a little responsability for the condition of our planet , they should make the production of non bio degradable plastic illegal , and this right now ! But do you think that they will do that ? No , they will not ...!

It's very sad to see our planet ruined ... 

 

Please look at this :

 

Edited June 7, 2018 by nobodysfriend

[lovelomsak]

1 hour ago, webfact said:

At the other end of the world, researchers in Germany reported in April that sea ice floating on the Arctic Ocean contains large amounts of plastic waste, which could be released as the ice thins because of global warming.

I believed this article till I read this. 

  I spent 2 years in the high arctic and will be damn confident that the ice flows melting are hundreds if not centuries old. 

 For  Germany to make this statement is foolish at best and a lie at the worst. The artic ice flows were created hundreds of years before plastic was even present in the world.

  Why did they take a credible article and add this lie.

  A daily job well there was to auger down in the ice to measure depth.a daily reading was never less than 6 feet no matter where we went. Most of the ice I measured is still there.Ice flows melting are like I said before plastic.

Edited June 7, 2018 by lovelomsak

[Emster23]

We had an old saying, usually used regarding office romances, "You don't sh*t where you eat".  Humans are doing this to the only planet we have

[timendres]

4 hours ago, lovelomsak said:

I believed this article till I read this. 

  I spent 2 years in the high arctic and will be damn confident that the ice flows melting are hundreds if not centuries old. 

 For  Germany to make this statement is foolish at best and a lie at the worst. The artic ice flows were created hundreds of years before plastic was even present in the world.

  Why did they take a credible article and add this lie.

  A daily job well there was to auger down in the ice to measure depth.a daily reading was never less than 6 feet no matter where we went. Most of the ice I measured is still there.Ice flows melting are like I said before plastic.

I am just speculating, but is it possible that just the very outer layers of these ice flows were added in the last few decades, and that these plastics could have been trapped in these outer layers?

[thaibeachlovers]

Everyone has known for decades that the oceans and every part of the planet is polluted. So GreenPeace has spent a lot of money to tell us what we already knew.

I used to respect them till they became a bunch of bureaucrats taking the easy way on donor's money.

 

They should be lobbying governments to ban non biodegradables and put money on every non biodegradable container to fund a refund scheme to support recycling.

When bottles were glass, most were returned for the refunds they used to have. In poor countries every refundable item would be returned by the poor people.

[spidermike007]

A change in consciousness must start at the most basic level. Most Thais think plastic is the best thing ever invented, and the percentage of Thais that even consider the negative ramifications of plastic is incredibly small. This requires some education. I always do two things to avoid the consumption of plastic.

 

1. I bring re-usable bags with me every time I go shopping. I use the larger shopping bags I buy in the US, which are made of recycled materials. Most of the clerks have to be dealt with. Even when they see my bag, they still start putting the stuff in plastic. I always mai sai toom. No plastic! Then they start loading up my bag. Most look at me like I am from Mars. Do I care? Not one iota. About 1% thank me, and get it. Not many do. My Thai wife does not like bringing the bags to the store. I force her to. By now, she expects it, and sometimes even asks if I have any bags in the car, or on the motorbike. Same with the water bottles. It used to embarrass her. Now, it is second nature, as I have been doing this for so long, she expects it. So, if a Thai can be conditioned to follow these simple principals, then anyone can. 

 

2. I bring a bottle of water with me, every time I go to a restaurant. I refill my plastic bottles from the 20 liter bottles at home. It is easy. I never buy bottled water at a restaurant. This saves 300-600 bottles a year. I use a plastic bottle dozens of times. I never get any flack from the restaurants. Only once did someone say something to me. She said you cannot bring you own water. My response was if you serve the water in a glass bottle, and I do not have to consume a plastic bottle, I am happy to pay for that. She was lost. I told her to leave and get me my food. She went away. 

 

We simply cannot say we are concerned about the environment, and then do nothing about it. Action demonstrates commitment. Lack of action demonstrates nothing. Lastly, restaurants can demonstrate their commitment, by serving drinking water from the 20 liter bottles. It saves alot of plastic. They lose a small amount of revenue, by not selling thousands of bottles of water. But, their operation is still profitable, and they are making a real difference. 

 

There really is no need to be consuming water in plastic bottles. At least not often. There are alternatives. Those damn bottles are a real culprit, when it comes to fouling the environment. What can we do, if we say we care? Are we committed, or just complaining? If we are not going out of our way to do our little part, then we are definitely part of the problem, not part of a solution. 

 

[lovelomsak]

1 hour ago, timendres said:

I am just speculating, but is it possible that just the very outer layers of these ice flows were added in the last few decades, and that these plastics could have been trapped in these outer layers?

Possible but highly improbable. There basically are no new outer layers. Otherwise the ice mass would not be shrinking. The ice is years and I mean years old.

 

[johnnytuc]

10 hours ago, thaibeachlovers said:

Everyone has known for decades that the oceans and every part of the planet is polluted. So GreenPeace has spent a lot of money to tell us what we already knew.

I used to respect them till they became a bunch of bureaucrats taking the easy way on donor's money.

 

They should be lobbying governments to ban non biodegradables and put money on every non biodegradable container to fund a refund scheme to support recycling.

When bottles were glass, most were returned for the refunds they used to have. In poor countries every refundable item would be returned by the poor people.

Totally agree, don't get me wrong I hate plastic and what it is doing to our world, but I clearly remember about 30 years ago being lectured by one of these loons basically that plastic containers etc was the answer as we were destroying the world by using paper and wood in all its forms...….the world will survive whatever...…..not so sure about the human race. Just saying!

[thaibeachlovers]

12 hours ago, johnnytuc said:

Totally agree, don't get me wrong I hate plastic and what it is doing to our world, but I clearly remember about 30 years ago being lectured by one of these loons basically that plastic containers etc was the answer as we were destroying the world by using paper and wood in all its forms...….the world will survive whatever...…..not so sure about the human race. Just saying!

Those that say we are destroying the planet are deluded. The planet will survive, but humans may join the dinosaurs in extinction if they keep polluting the environment.

[scorecard]

No doubt trump thinks it's fake news.