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We've found the 8th continent...and it isn't pretty

By Rain Noe - February 7, 2008

in Object Culture

It's not exactly a Leif-Ericson-class discovery in terms of positivity, but it's important nonetheless. Oceanographer Charles Moore was on the high seas between Hawaii and the US mainland when he drifted into the "'North Pacific gyre'--a vortex where the ocean circulates slowly because of little wind and extreme high pressure systems. Usually sailors avoid it. What he found was revolting:

He was astonished to find himself surrounded by rubbish, day after day, thousands of miles from land. "Every time I came on deck, there was trash floating by," he said in an interview. "How could we have fouled such a huge area? How could this go on for a week?"

This "garbage continent" is apparently twice the size of the US landmass, and was formed from garbage both shipborne and dumped from land. Even worse, it's more malevolent than just a bunch of floating rubbish--it's decomposing into a kind of toxic soup, and it's due to double in size over the next decade. Read the unbelievable tale here.

via the independent

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John Evans

16 years ago

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This is the most horrific thing i've seen yet in my life that has been done intentionally to this planet. Instead of one country "takeing the blame". Why don't all the countries collectively attack this growing monster and destroy it, before it destroy's us, or our children, or our children's children. It is inevitable that this will undoughtably destroy our future. Question? Why are the companiies that produce these plastic's that are going to be the demise of mankind not held liable, or at least monitored? Do you think they feel bad? Question? Why is this happening? Is it greed? Is it laziness? Is it ignorance? Is it stupid to destroy the only place you can survive? My answer is yes to all the above. Question? How come this "8th continent" has been known about for year's and i've not seen anything about it on the new's, or read anything about it in the paper? How can this be? Something as globally significant as this is kept from the public. Is that a slap in the face or what? If anyone read's this, please, please try something. Stop useing so much plastic, somehow. We have got to try. We obviously can't rely on our government, the very people that won't admit that there is a problem. No one want's to admit that it's their fault. Whatever, this is childish. Listen, i've got two kid's and i want them to see the world as a beautiful place, not a toxic, uninhabitable wasteland. I pray for us all.
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tim

16 years ago

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This story has been around a long time, but no one seems to have any photos of it. Greenpeace actually went looking for it in 2006 (http://oceans.greenpeace.org/en/the-expedition/news/trashing-our-oceans)but even they don't have any photos. I'm not saying there isn't a whole heap of rubbish floating in the worlds oceans. But i find it a stretch of the imagination that an area twice the size of america exists and theres not a single photo.
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MINIX

16 years ago

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this is horrific.. we need to do something about this..
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abigail higgins

16 years ago

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this flotsam gyre, harvested by "fishing" it, could then be recycled to oil using the recovery process of alka zadgaonkar, see http://www.goodnewsindia.com/index.php/Magazine/story/alkaz/
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