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Fishing equipment feeding North Pacific Garbage Patch  - Canada shamefully contributes its share

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Scientific Report  A small number of industrialised fishing nations are contributing the majority of floating plastic waste in the North Pacific Garbage Patch, reports a new paper published in Scientific Report. The findings highlight the important role fishing industries play in both contributing to and solving the problem of oceanic plastic pollution. The North Pacific Garbage Patch (NPGP) is a large mass of plastics floating in the North Pacific subtropical gyre (a system of ocean currents). Previous expeditions have suggested that fishing nets, ropes and larger plastic fragments may form up to three quarters of the objects in the region. Plastic Research at The Ocean Cleanup, analysing the items caught by System 001/B in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, looking for clues on origin based on language and country codes. Credit: The Ocean Cleanup. Laurent Lebreton and colleagues analysed 573 kilograms of debris (consisting of 6,093 items larger than 5 centimetres) collected from the No

The graceful albatross - immortalized over the ages as a symbol of both good and ill - is under siege like never before.

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by Larry Powell This is the story of the "Grey-Head." It's but a single member of a large family of albatrosses called Diomedeidae. Major research studies published recently, warn of twin threats facing the already-endangered bird. Each is different. Each is insidious.  The grey-headed albatross (Thalassarche chrysostoma).  Photo by Lieutenant Elizabeth Crapo, NOAA. In general, the albatross carries higher burdens of mercury in its body than any other bird on earth. (In the marine environment, only some marine mammals carry more.)   Still, even those who measured levels of mercury in "Grey-Heads" at their largest breeding colony on South Georgia Island recently, must have been shocked by what they found. Photo credit: Richard Phillips. They discovered the highest amounts of that contaminant ever recorded in that species anywhere - a  threefold increase over twenty-five-years.  Mercury is described as a “pervasive environmental contaminant that can negatively imp

Human-made materials outweigh living biomass

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                        Journal Nature A PinP photo. The year 2020 may mark the crossover point when human-made mass surpasses that of living biomass according to a study published in Nature this week. The mass embedded in human-made items, such as buildings, roads and machines, has doubled every 20 years for the past 100 years. These findings underscore the increasing impacts that humans have on Earth. Since the first agricultural revolution humans have halved plant biomass, from around 2 teratonnes (2,000,000,000,000 tonnes) to the current value of around 1 teratonne, through land-use changes such as agriculture and deforestation. The increasing production and accumulation of human-made objects (termed anthropogenic mass) has also contributed to a shift in the balance between living and human-made mass. Ron Milo and colleagues estimate changes in global biomass and human-made mass from 1900 to the present day. They show that at the beginning of the twentieth century, the mass of hu

Microplastics found in oysters, clams on Oregon coast, study finds. (Last year, Canadian scientists discovered high levels of microplastics in B.C.’s oyster beds). Is our clothing to blame?

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EurekAlert Pacific oysters, farmed in the U.S. Photo by NOAA. Tiny threads of plastics are showing up in Pacific oysters and razor clams along the Oregon coast -- and the yoga pants, fleece jackets, and sweat-wicking clothing that Pacific Northwesterners love to wear are a source of that pollution, according to a new Portland State University study. Story here. RELATED: More bad news for the world’s oceans - out of Canada!

Reduce plastics! PLEASE SIGN!

We must keep single-use plastics out of our oceans.

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Greenpeace -   More here. Poster by Jessica - NOAA marine debris program.

More bad news for the world’s oceans - out of Canada!

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by Larry Powell Pacific oysters - with salt and lime.  By Guido - Flickr . A team of Canadian researchers has found that BC’s premier oyster-growing region off the east coast of Vancouver Island, is “highly contaminated” with micro plastics. The team, from Simon Fraser University, says it is now important to find out if the oysters themselves are ingesting the plastics. If they are, it could have implications for the health and quality of the product itself, Canada’s oyster-farmers, in general and the entire industry, worldwide. The scientists found micro-plastics at all 16 sites sampled within Lambert Channel and Baynes Sound, indicating "widespread contamination of these regions with these particles." That is Canada's prime growing area for the Pacific oyster ( Crassostrea gigas ). It is also feared the microplastics could accumulate trace metals which, in turn, could harm the oysters and other organisms on the sea-bottom.  Dynabeads, a mag

Study confirmed plastic beach debris a danger to wildlife.

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SIMON FRASER UNIVERSITY At current rates of plastic production, by 2050 the total mass of plastics in our oceans will outweigh the biomass of fish.  — World Economic Forum. More here. Pieces of plastic that washed ashore after a storm.  Pacific Ocean beach in San Francisco. Source:  Plastic Oceans. Author: Kevin Krejci.

$180 B investment in plastic factories feeds global packaging binge

the guardian Colossal funding in manufacturing plants by fossil fuel companies will increase plastic production by 40%, risking permanent pollution of the earth. Story here. RELATED:  Big oil invests $180B in plastics, merging two planet-killing industries

‘Software disease’ — The hazards of plastic, net wrap and twines

    Canadian  Cattlemen Animal Health: Ingestion of plastics has become a common killer. Story here.

Humans face a shocking, chemical-induced reproductive crisis

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treehugger Endocrine disrupting chemicals in our environment have damaged male sperm, most of which are now misshapen and unable to swim properly. Story here. Plastics like this  contribute to the problem. 

President Obama's Cancer Panel: Eat Organic, Avoid Plastics

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By Leah Zerbe - Rodale Institute Au '10 Our organic table at Old Market Sq. in downtown Winnipeg, Manitoba. 2006. l.p. photo A landmark report says the U.S. government has been grossly underestimating the effect of environmental toxins on our cancer risk.

Scientists Uncover New Ocean Threat From Plastics

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By Steve Connor, Science Editor - the Independent - Thursday, 20 August 2009 . Plastic pollution is not just unsightly but it could be to toxic to humans and animals. The North Pacific Gyre, which traps untold amounts of plastic particles in its eddies. (Credit: Algalita Marine Research Foundation)