Tag: Environment

The Sargassum Arrives!

Buck Banks

15 million tons/5 miles wide

Mh2>A 15 million-ton, 5,000-mile-wide patch of seaweed known as the Great Atlantic Sargassum Belt is making landfall throughout the southern Atlantic and Caribbean coasts, disrupting vacations and marine activities as it collects and rots along the shore. An annual open-sea phenomenon, this year’s crop is the largest on record (see map) and is expected to inundate shorelines for months.

No More Plastic Microbeads. Thanks, Obama!

Trish

beadsJust when you think Obama can’t do anything cooler, he does it.

Here’s some news to end 2015 on a high note. Pres. Obama has signed a ban on plastic microbeads. Who cares, you ask? You should. This is huge.

A microbead is any solid plastic particle that is less than 5 millimeters and is used for the purpose of exfoliating or cleansing, according to the bill.

These tiny plastic beads have become ubiquitous in hundreds of products ranging from body scrubs to toothpastes. They provide an exfoliating sensation for users and are designed to wash down drains.

Toothpaste? Who knew? That means most of us have been ingesting plastic microbeads for years. I bet if you took a random poll of any group of people and asked if they prefer to brush their teeth with plastic microbeads or something they recognize on the label like say, baking soda, they’d choose the baking soda.

It’s not just us swallowing all this tiny plastic. Would you like the catch of the day fried, blackened or grilled, and with or without plastic microbeads?

In September, a study published in Environmental Science & Technology reported that more than 8 trillion microbeads were entering the country’s aquatic habitats daily. The volume was enough to coat the surface of 300 tennis courts every day…

Not only are they hard to clean up because they are about the size of a pinhead…Some marine life mistake small plastic as food particles. Scientists are researching whether microplastics affect the health of marine life once ingested and if chemicals transfer to humans who eat those species later, according to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

Yes, he turned around the economy, but banning plastic microbeads is one big reason we’re going to miss Pres. Obama, even if the next president is a Democrat.

Oh Vanna! Response to Pat Sajak from a Science Blogger

Trish

If you’re behind on your Pat Sajak news (and who, besides your grandmother, isn’t?), the Wheel of Fortune host recently tweeted the following:

I now believe global warming alarmists are unpatriotic racists knowingly misleading for their own ends. Good night.

What those ends are is never explained but climate change deniers often hint at a conspiracy on the part of scientists to get people to pollute less, conserve resources, and achieve a healthier planet. Jack-booted thugs!

Greg Gladen, who posts at Science Blogs, provided the perfect image for a tweet back to Sajak, which said, “Suggestion for Wheel of Fortune puzzle!” You see it here.

You Only Have to Be 25 Years Old to Be Part of the Problem

Trish

50%

Of the carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere since the start of the industrial age was produced since 1990, according to a new report from the United Nations’ Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. The group urges major reforms to how energy is produced and consumed globally, including not exploiting every last fossil fuel deposit left on earth.