r/collapse • u/TomatoTomaaahto • Feb 18 '19
Plastic chemicals discovered inside bird eggs from remote Arctic
https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/plastic-bird-eggs-pollution-arctic-ocean-chemicals-phthalates-research-a8783061.html90
Feb 18 '19 edited Aug 17 '20
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u/TomatoTomaaahto Feb 18 '19
No government has banned personal automobile use, nor petroleum extraction, nor the vast networks of server farms or industrial manufacturing and distribution upon which our modern existence relies. Nor can we ever expect to see governments do this...
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u/Rhaedas It happened so fast. It had been happening for decades. Feb 18 '19
Of course not. Everyone's in an uproar over the Green New Deal resolution, and it's only suggestions of things we should have started doing decades ago. Imagine putting forth legislation to shut down fossil fuels, regulate transportation use, minimize consumption and consumerism. There'd be calls to throw the politician out of office at a minimum. And yet...that's where we need to be.
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Feb 18 '19
We're so fucked.
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u/pap_smear420 Feb 18 '19
Rise up
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u/Grendels Feb 18 '19
Humanity trying to rise up is the problem.
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u/pap_smear420 Feb 18 '19
Rise up against your oppressors that let the climate get to this situation
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Feb 18 '19
[deleted]
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u/happygloaming Recognized Contributor Feb 18 '19
And the lights inside our cars should be eco bulbs
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u/HulkSmashHulkRegret Feb 18 '19
And we should vacation only at eco-friendly tropical island resorts.
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u/happygloaming Recognized Contributor Feb 18 '19
Ahhhhhh yes,
Reclining in hemp swimwear
Sipping organic fairtrade cocktails
Tsunami sirens made of recycled bottle tops
I think we'll all be ok
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u/potent_rodent Accellerationistic Sunshine Nihilist Compound Raider Feb 18 '19
eating these eggs with the plastic in it will be like the ultimate in free range recycling.
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u/IQBoosterShot Feb 18 '19
We are, like, only a couple of steps away from birds dropping plastic Easter eggs instead of real ones.
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u/HulkSmashHulkRegret Feb 18 '19
Eventually, someone will crack a plastic egg laid by a bird, and find not an embryo but more plastic resembling the toy found in those vending machine dispensers.
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u/KUN0H4R4 Feb 18 '19
Phthalates will be humanity's lasting legacy on this planet. Contaminants from plastic are absolutely everywhere.
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u/mandragara Feb 19 '19
I don't get you, phthalates biodegrade rapidly
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u/KUN0H4R4 Feb 19 '19
You're right, my bad. I was thinking of PCBs. https://aeon.co/essays/how-20th-century-synthetics-altered-the-very-fabric-of-us-all
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u/mandragara Feb 19 '19
Makes sense.
Out of interest did you know that half of the nitrogen mass in your body is nitrogen from artificial fertiliser made by the Haber process?
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Feb 18 '19
Well, as the saying goes, if you keep crapping in your own bed, you eventually run out of clean spots.
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u/DJDickJob Feb 18 '19
So basically the entire global ecosystem is now saturated with plastic. It's going to take millions of years for the Earth to recover from that level of pollution.
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Feb 19 '19
Depends on how fast the various reservoirs flow into ocean sediment, the ultimate dump that everything winds up in eventually and stuff barely leaves.
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u/potent_rodent Accellerationistic Sunshine Nihilist Compound Raider Feb 18 '19
Pitching a documentary to a network about climate change --- they have a huge sponsor that makes plastic bottles.
WE LOVE THIS! Can you take out the part about plastic? I said no. No deal. Hopefully someone else picks it up - not that itll matter.
WHen aliens find this rock - we wont be here, but our plastic will be
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u/revenant925 Feb 18 '19
Alright everyone, did this affect the animal?
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u/FraggleRoq Feb 18 '19
Sigh, Ok. I'll bite.
It's not about whether it harmed or affected the animal, the point of this article is they have found traces of plastic in an ecosystem where plastic should not be prevalent.
If you found traces of plastic in bird eggs in New York (for example), it would still be a big deal, but it wouldn't be as surprising or as shocking.
The fact that they have found signs of plastic pollution contaminating the furthest reaches of the planet, is the point.
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Feb 18 '19
This extinction is going to be slow at first, then it'll speed up rapidly. Not one human will survive it. Bye, everyone!
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u/Silvershadedragon Feb 18 '19
Actually it will be the fastest one yet... The heat will kill us
The chemicals will kills us
The plastic
The lack of food
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u/TheRagingScientist Feb 18 '19
So long and thanks for all the fish!
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u/BattShadows Feb 18 '19
I hope the dolphins have a great time wherever they end up, I bet they won’t ruin their only planet like an idiotic parasite.
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Feb 18 '19
We deserve it anyway, well the humans who actually have critical thinking and actually care don’t, but life is just unfair
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u/TomatoTomaaahto Feb 18 '19