10/25/11 Written by: USA Today, Published by: A Gannet Company Summary
Up to 20 million tons of debris is floating in the Pacific Ocean from Japans tsunami and could reach the shores of Hawaii by early 2013. A Russian training ship spotted some debris in the ocean. The ship also spotted a Japanese fishing boat that was traced back to a place in Japan. Researchers projected that the debris will reach the continental U.S. by 2014. It also said that the debris is located in a 2000 mile long by 1000 mile wide area. They don't know how much debris sank and how much is still floating. Scientists want boaters to go to debris they sight and give them data about what is in there. http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/environment/story/2011-10-25/japan-tsunami-debris-hawaii-usa/50914576/1?csp=34news&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+usatoday-NewsTopStories+%28News+-+Top+Stories%29
Opinion/Reflection
I cannot believe that there is that much debris in the ocean. Ive heard about debris floating around in the news and other things but I didn't hear that it was this bad. We need to find some way to clean all of this up because it could affect animals and humans in Hawaii first and then the US. The good part about all of this is that they are getting good research out of it and they know where its coming from and how it got there. We talked about debris like this in class one time about how pollution came together in a huge pile and is still floating.
Questions
- How are we going to get rid of this debris?
- What will we do if the trash reaches the U.S?
- Has this affected any of the marine animals in the area?
- Is this debris affecting the global climate change?
-I knew about giant piles of trash floating in the ocean I just never knew there was one so close to the U.S. In my opinion we should work faster and harder to get these piles of debris out of the ocean. Althought this wasn't exactly humans fault and more natural disaster we still share some of the blame and should do everything in our power to get rid of this debris. There is a creak in my backyard and when I was younger me and some of my friends would go back there and collect glass. We would spend hours collecting and in the end we would fill many plastic bags with glass. We did this only along three or four houses but just think if we did it around the whole creek how much glass we'd have. And then think if we did it for an entire ocean. All of this pollution in the little stream behind my house will end up in an ocean eventually and each year the pollution builds up more which is why we need to work hard and fast.
ReplyDelete- If we cleaned out all the little streams would the ocean be less polluted?
- What do animals think the debris is? Food, a predator, etc.
- Will we wait for the trash to reach us to take action?
The numbers are quite staggering but I have almost become accustomed to seeing these outrageous statistics about pollution. I believe that most people also have become accustomed to hearing these absurd facts which is why action is not occurring. I remember having Earth Day in elementary school and doing some sort of eco-friendly project with my teachers and classmates every year. The sad part is that if Earth Day was everyday, my school still could not make up for the pollution deficit we have created. Cleaning our earth has to be a global movement and it has to start now. To find out more about pollution prevention go to http://www.epa.gov/p2/
ReplyDelete-Do land mammals get affected just as bad by pollution in bodies of water as fish and other water animals?
-What had a worse affect on earth, the Japanese tsunami or the BP oil spill in the gulf?
-What are steps in precaution you can take to limit the amount of debris after a tsunami?
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ReplyDeleteI think it's really gross with all of the debris in the ocean. I go to the shore over the summer and swim in the ocean, but with all of this trash, I'm not sure if it's a good idea to swim in it anymore. When it reaches the U.S., the only thing we could do is just pick it back up and clean the shore. But the problem with this is that the trash could easily go back into the ocean. This could be an ongoing cycle.
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that tsunamis could impact the environment by moving debris into the ocean to float around. There was nothing that the human population could do to prevent this since it was a natural disaster but, pollution still needs to be looked into more to obtain a safe and healthy earth. There is a creek near my house that is full of bottles and trash and some friends of mine go down there to clean it up. By the next week it is completely back to how it was before we cleaned it. This shows that this problem is never going to go away.
ReplyDelete~How can pollution be removed from the ocean?
~Does this happen as a result of every natural disaster?
~How strong is the impact towards animals?