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If there a trillions of plastic pieces in Arctic ice, then what about our oceans and rivers? Think of life with plastic bits in our water supply. How will life

If there a trillions of plastic pieces in Arctic ice, then what about our oceans and rivers? Think of life with plastic bits in our water supply. How will life survive with plastic bits in water?

userbinator 12y ago
Think of life with plastic bits in our water supply. Filters work really well to remove those, but most of the other life on Earth doesn't use filtered water... regardless, these plastic bits seem pretty inert.
- DanBC 12y ago
  Inert, yes. But they can fill the digestive system of some creatures who then cannot eat enough food to survive. I'm not sure how relevnt it is here though. http://ocean.si.edu/laysan-albatross-plastic-problem http://ocean.si.edu/laysan-albatross-plastic-problem
  - ars 12y ago
    You know those pictures are faked right? (Maybe it says that there, I didn't check.) This microparticles would not have that affect anyway though.
    - TheSpiceIsLife 12y ago
      Can you please provide a reference to prove fakery. I immediately suspected the photos looked setup, but am having trouble finding proof.
    - DanBC 12y ago
      As far as I know the poctures are real. If you xan find any source that credibly shows he did anything but photograph carcasses then I'll accept the images are faked. Here's a video where he claims to disect a corpse. Is this also faked? http://www.midwayjourney.com/2010/07/10/midway-journey-ii-junk-food-ii-our-first-dissection http://www.midwayjourney.com/2010/07/10/midway-journey-ii-ju... You say that these microplastics would not have this effect. Here are some articles suggesting that microplastics may be killing fish and other wildlife: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/microplastic-pollution-in-the-great-lakes/ http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/microplastic-pollu... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16709045 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16709045
      - ars 12y ago
        I can't find it. My understanding is he posed the birds to show how how much garbage would be found in them. I'm not saying birds don't have plastic in their stomach though, just not that much. I can believe microplastics would kill tiny animals, but not larger ones. It doesn't belong in water either way.
        DanBC 12y ago
        I'm not sure what you're saying - did he add plastic? (That would destroy the credibility of the photographs) or did he take a bird corpse and pose the corpse but without adding any plastic? (That would be a stupid thing for him to do but is irrelevant to the plastic argument) Birds can survive with some plastic, they swallow stuff for their gizzard anyway, but they mistake plastic for food and die from eating too much which prevents them eating enough food to get nutrition. I think this is accepted and not controversial. Microplastics are eaten directly by many animals. As shown hy the links I provided some of those plastics migrate from the stomach to the bloodstream. The plastics are then part of the foodchain. The plastics absorb contaminants. So it's not just inert plastic, it is the PCBs and DDT and etc that the plastics contain that are problematic.

If there a trillions of plastic pieces in Arctic ice, then what about our oceans and rivers? Think of life with plastic bits in our water supply. How will life survive with plastic bits in water?

userbinator 12y ago

Think of life with plastic bits in our water supply. Filters work really well to remove those, but most of the other life on Earth doesn't use filtered water... regardless, these plastic bits seem pretty inert.

DanBC 12y ago
Inert, yes. But they can fill the digestive system of some creatures who then cannot eat enough food to survive. I'm not sure how relevnt it is here though. http://ocean.si.edu/laysan-albatross-plastic-problem http://ocean.si.edu/laysan-albatross-plastic-problem
- ars 12y ago
  You know those pictures are faked right? (Maybe it says that there, I didn't check.) This microparticles would not have that affect anyway though.
  - TheSpiceIsLife 12y ago
    Can you please provide a reference to prove fakery. I immediately suspected the photos looked setup, but am having trouble finding proof.
  - DanBC 12y ago
    As far as I know the poctures are real. If you xan find any source that credibly shows he did anything but photograph carcasses then I'll accept the images are faked. Here's a video where he claims to disect a corpse. Is this also faked? http://www.midwayjourney.com/2010/07/10/midway-journey-ii-junk-food-ii-our-first-dissection http://www.midwayjourney.com/2010/07/10/midway-journey-ii-ju... You say that these microplastics would not have this effect. Here are some articles suggesting that microplastics may be killing fish and other wildlife: http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/microplastic-pollution-in-the-great-lakes/ http://www.scientificamerican.com/article/microplastic-pollu... http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16709045 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16709045
    - ars 12y ago
      I can't find it. My understanding is he posed the birds to show how how much garbage would be found in them. I'm not saying birds don't have plastic in their stomach though, just not that much. I can believe microplastics would kill tiny animals, but not larger ones. It doesn't belong in water either way.
      - DanBC 12y ago
        I'm not sure what you're saying - did he add plastic? (That would destroy the credibility of the photographs) or did he take a bird corpse and pose the corpse but without adding any plastic? (That would be a stupid thing for him to do but is irrelevant to the plastic argument) Birds can survive with some plastic, they swallow stuff for their gizzard anyway, but they mistake plastic for food and die from eating too much which prevents them eating enough food to get nutrition. I think this is accepted and not controversial. Microplastics are eaten directly by many animals. As shown hy the links I provided some of those plastics migrate from the stomach to the bloodstream. The plastics are then part of the foodchain. The plastics absorb contaminants. So it's not just inert plastic, it is the PCBs and DDT and etc that the plastics contain that are problematic.