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Agreed, but as a practical matter, we should be clear about where the vast majority of Ocean plastic comes from. https://i.imgur.com/D60ySOI.png https://i.imgu

Agreed, but as a practical matter, we should be clear about where the vast majority of Ocean plastic comes from. https://i.imgur.com/D60ySOI.png https://i.imgur.com/D60ySOI.png

contingencies 7y ago
That data is suspect.
- contingencies 7y ago
  Knowing there is no way those numbers are right I point out it's dodgy looking, get viciously downvoted (probably by some kind of yay US crowd who dislike people living in China having an opinion) but when the source is quoted has literally been corrected by its own authors.[0] Typical HN. [0] https://pubs.acs.org/doi/suppl/10.1021/acs.est.7b06377/suppl_file/es7b06377_si_002.pdf https://pubs.acs.org/doi/suppl/10.1021/acs.est.7b06377/suppl...
  - romaaeterna 7y ago
    I don't know what is "typical HN", but what you have linked to was only a correction in the table headings. They say in the correction notice that it "does not affect the data, only the table headings." They had switched "Model 1" and "Model 2" in the original. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.7b06377 https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.7b06377
    - contingencies 7y ago
      OK. Actually the reason I felt it was unlikely to be correct was that I have lived in both river deltas (a year each in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Zhuhai) as well as travelled extensively (Suzhou, Yangzhou, upper Yangtse, Jiangmen, etc.) and suspect given the manufacturing and residential density and geographic expanse of the lower PRD, it should have significant garbage versus Yangtse. How was the data gathered? Satellite? When was it gathered? The 2017 paper probably uses 2015 or earlier data, there have been substantial improvements on environmental issues in the PRD region (really China-wide) of late, but I'd still be surprised if it's substantially cleaner in plastic refuse terms than the Yangtse.
martin_a 7y ago
Now what? Nuke India/China? Also: What's the source of this information?
- romaaeterna 7y ago
  Source: “Export of Plastic Debris by Rivers into the Sea,” by Christian Schmidt et al., in Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 51, No. 21; November 7, 2017
- Baeocystin 7y ago
  More like invest in proper waste management and landfill facilities in the cities that border the main rivers in asia. Seriously, that's the answer. As it stands, a truly staggering amount of waste, of which plastics are only a fraction, is just straight dumped into these rivers because there's no way to handle it locally. Stopping the flow at the source through proven, straightforward waste management techniques would help the environment is innumerable ways, including the plastics problem.
im3w1l 7y ago
If I'm interpreting that image correctly, a large fraction of plastics is not coming from any of the top 10 sources.

Agreed, but as a practical matter, we should be clear about where the vast majority of Ocean plastic comes from. https://i.imgur.com/D60ySOI.png https://i.imgur.com/D60ySOI.png

contingencies 7y ago

That data is suspect.

contingencies 7y ago
Knowing there is no way those numbers are right I point out it's dodgy looking, get viciously downvoted (probably by some kind of yay US crowd who dislike people living in China having an opinion) but when the source is quoted has literally been corrected by its own authors.[0] Typical HN. [0] https://pubs.acs.org/doi/suppl/10.1021/acs.est.7b06377/suppl_file/es7b06377_si_002.pdf https://pubs.acs.org/doi/suppl/10.1021/acs.est.7b06377/suppl...
- romaaeterna 7y ago
  I don't know what is "typical HN", but what you have linked to was only a correction in the table headings. They say in the correction notice that it "does not affect the data, only the table headings." They had switched "Model 1" and "Model 2" in the original. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.7b06377 https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.7b06377
  - contingencies 7y ago
    OK. Actually the reason I felt it was unlikely to be correct was that I have lived in both river deltas (a year each in Shanghai, Shenzhen, Zhuhai) as well as travelled extensively (Suzhou, Yangzhou, upper Yangtse, Jiangmen, etc.) and suspect given the manufacturing and residential density and geographic expanse of the lower PRD, it should have significant garbage versus Yangtse. How was the data gathered? Satellite? When was it gathered? The 2017 paper probably uses 2015 or earlier data, there have been substantial improvements on environmental issues in the PRD region (really China-wide) of late, but I'd still be surprised if it's substantially cleaner in plastic refuse terms than the Yangtse.

martin_a 7y ago

Now what? Nuke India/China? Also: What's the source of this information?

romaaeterna 7y ago
Source: “Export of Plastic Debris by Rivers into the Sea,” by Christian Schmidt et al., in Environmental Science & Technology, Vol. 51, No. 21; November 7, 2017
Baeocystin 7y ago
More like invest in proper waste management and landfill facilities in the cities that border the main rivers in asia. Seriously, that's the answer. As it stands, a truly staggering amount of waste, of which plastics are only a fraction, is just straight dumped into these rivers because there's no way to handle it locally. Stopping the flow at the source through proven, straightforward waste management techniques would help the environment is innumerable ways, including the plastics problem.

im3w1l 7y ago

If I'm interpreting that image correctly, a large fraction of plastics is not coming from any of the top 10 sources.