Topic: Ocean Pollution

An estimated 20,000 shipping containers have been lost at sea over the last 15 years, often due to rough weather. Retired ecologist Russ Lewis describes finding items like Crocs and tennis balls washed up on Washington State beaches following a 2020 spill. The World Shipping Council reports that 250 million containers are shipped annually, but enforcement of reporting lost cargo remains difficult.

The European Union has finalized an agreement to ban various single-use plastics, including straws and stirrers, by 2021. However, the segment notes that 90% of plastic pollution in the oceans originates from ten rivers in Asia and Africa, suggesting that Western bans will have a negligible impact on global sea health.

A growing movement to ban plastic straws is gaining momentum, fueled by a viral 2015 video of a sea turtle with a straw lodged in its nose. Critics argue that straws are a small fraction of ocean plastic and suggest the ban may be a marketing push for the paper straw industry. The hosts discuss the practicality of paper straws and the emotional nature of environmental policy.

An Alameda-based company called The Ocean Cleanup is deploying massive floating tubes and netting to trap plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The system uses a U-shaped design to accumulate debris, which will then be collected by vessels acting as "garbage trucks of the ocean." The project aims to remove a significant portion of the 1.8 billion pieces of plastic currently polluting the waters between the U.S. and Hawaii.

A New York Times series by Ian Urbina exposes the lack of law enforcement on the high seas, documenting murders, modern-day slavery, and massive environmental crimes. The report notes that 90% of global goods are moved by sea, yet jurisdictional complexities make prosecution nearly impossible. The hosts suspect the timing of the report is linked to the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) negotiations.

Climate activists are criticized for using an analogy that global warming is equivalent to detonating four Hiroshima bombs every second. The hosts mock the theory that "missing" heat is hiding in the deep ocean and predict the movement will shift its focus to "ocean acidification" as temperature data fails to support warming. They reiterate their skepticism of computer models that cannot accurately predict short-term weather.

The environmental impact of plastic bags is examined, specifically their tendency to accumulate in trees and oceans. A documentary about Midway Island highlights the massive amount of plastic debris swirling in oceanic gyres. While modern plastics are designed to be biodegradable, the resulting micro-particles are being consumed by marine life, potentially entering the human food chain.