Bubbles in the Bathtub

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) is going mainstream, with a prominent mention in a mainstream television program (sort of), not to mention new entries in Wikipedia and How Stuff Works. A recent episode of a new program called Life After People on the History Channel featured the GPGP. The premise of the program is speculation about what would happen to all of our man-made constructs if people were to suddenly disappear from the face of the earth one day. Last night's episode (The Capital Threat) focused on Washington DC and Los Angeles. The Los Angeles segments followed the GPGP and noted that the patch would continue to grow for many years after people because of all of the plastic currently floating in the ocean that has not yet reached the GPGP.

The show ends with the sobering note that our plastic garbage will likely be our longest lasting legacy, outlasting our steel megastructures and monuments of solid stone. After 600 hundred years the plastic trash will have photo-degraded into smaller and more toxic elements and continue to impact wildlife long after we are gone (they even have a video vignette of a hawksbill sea turtle).

While our sudden disappearance from the Earth is unlikely, the take home message is that even if we were to completely stop using plastics today they will continue to accumulate in the environment for many years. Some significant steps are needed to gain control of plastic and mitigate the long-term price we are going to pay for our current irresponsible practices.

Photo gallery from the episode

This episode of Life After People will be airing again (all times are US eastern)...
Tonight (11 May) at 11pm
Tomorrow (12 May) at 3am
17 May at 5pm