Malaysian Plane Search Leads to Extensive Amount of Ocean Garbage
By Brett Kihlmire
Some rights reserved by cesarharada.com
As days turned into weeks and weeks into a month, many are wondering how Malaysia Flight 370 can’t be found with practically every industrialized nation aiding the search for the missing aircraft. Simply put, the Indian Ocean is over 24 million square miles with an average depth of 12,762 feet. That’s a lot of space to cover and although the crash is presumed to be in the southern Indian Ocean, the chances of finding the plane are still slim due to a problem none probably even knew existed; our oceans are liquid landfills.
Floating Debris Not Only Pollutes, It Distracts
While floating debris is usually a telltale sign that a plane or a ship had met its watery grave somewhere in the vicinity, mankind’s disregard for the ocean has made finding even the most obvious objects a frustrating and fruitless endeavor. Early on in the search, large metal pieces believed to belong to the plane were found. As it would turn out, these parts were the remains of one of thousands of shipping containers lost to the ocean every year.
In addition to metal debris from shipping containers and recklessly discarded fishing equipment, plastic objects are among the most commonly retrieved pieces of debris. Australian based science agency CSIRO estimates that there are between 12,500 to 17,500 pieces of plastic choking the waters around Australia. If that isn’t alarming, there are three massive garbage patches in the Pacific Ocean; one near California, another near Japan and another in the center of the Pacific.
What Effect Has This Had on the Search?
Because the plane is believed to have sunk to the depths, most vessels involved in the search are using radar in an attempt to find the wreck large blips on the device, which often turn out to be large pieces of fishing equipment. As a result, large quantities of time and resources have been wasted bringing hunks of metal and debris up to the surface just to find out it was the product of human negligence and not the wreck.
Is There Still Hope?
Fortunately there are organizations dedicated to freeing our oceans from harmful pollutants such as fishing debris and plastics. Through the use of community organizing and education, non-profit organizations such as the Plastic Pollution Coalition and the Team Ocean Foundation are taking action to help clean up our oceans and prevent further pollution. One such aim is to convince lawmakers across the United States to raise the value of collected plastic from 0.05 cents to 0.25 cents per piece to encourage recycling, as was the original intent. Quite possibly the greatest operation being undertaken is the deployment of sea drones. These non-fuel-reliant drones have been deployed to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch near the United States to sift and collect plastics from the ocean. Being that these plastics can be recycled, this initiative is a win-win for the earth, for not only can new plastic products can be created from the collected plastic, our oceans will be free of toxic garage. Combined with an increased value for recycled bottles and education initiatives, the drones are the tip of the spear in the war on marine pollution.
References:
http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/03/31/3420870/ocean-garbage-malaysia-airplane-search/
http://plasticpollutioncoalition.org/
http://teamoceanfoundation.org/index.php/Projects/24-7-cleaners.html
http://hereandnow.wbur.org/2014/04/01/ocean-pollution-garbage
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/04/140404-garbage-patch-indian-ocean-debris-malaysian-plane/
http://planetivy.com/life-2/92281/search-missing-plane-reveals-shocking-extent-sea-pollution/
http://www.cnn.com/2014/03/21/world/missing-plane-ocean-garbage/
http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2014/04/02/malaysia-airlines-plane-search-garbage_n_5074920.html
