Polar Bears & the Trash Vortex

Polar Bears were recently added to the list of "threatened" species. Click here to see how the Oil Companies responded. Click here to see read what Canada thinks.

On another very sad note, I learned today that there is a HUGE vortex of trash (mostly plastic & sytrofoam) swirling around in the Pacific Ocean. It is located between California and Hawaii, and it is LARGER THAN THE STATE OF TEXAS. Horrible, just horrible. There is one group out of California actually researching the phenomenon and they found that the plastic actually outweighs the plankton at a ratio of 40:1 by weight. As if the trash just being out there isn't bad enough, what you must realize is that sea life is eating this garbage, putting them at great risk. Plus, the "garbage patch" is so large it is shading large areas, reducing the amount of light reaching the ocean floor to grow the kelp, and kelp in turn is a large contributer to removing carbon dioxide from our atmosphere. I learned all this from one of my favorite new shows: G Word on the new PlanetGreen channel.


So if you're as devastated as I am about the "Garbage Patch" news and wondering what you should do about it... one word: RECYCLE!

More links about this tragedy:
Article featuring Charles Moore, captain of the private research vessel Alguita
Continent-size toxic stew
Greenpeace article