This was mentioned before. Plastic is used in all sorts of applications for its durability and lack of reactivity. It doesn't rot. It doesn't corrode. In certain environments it dries out and cracks but that's about it.
While there's a lot of plastic in the ocean it's relatively thinly distributed. It's not like there's a bunch of bottles floating in one place. It's a bunch of plastic dust in the water column. Any sort of bacteria or chemical that is self sustaining enough to be dropped in the ocean and expected to clean up the plastic would likely wreak havoc on all sorts of things. Any sort of bacteria or chemical that is sensitive enough that it won't wreak havoc in the environments where we don't want it to likely can't be applied in a effective or economical manner in the oceans.
> While there's a lot of plastic in the ocean it's relatively thinly distributed. It's not like there's a bunch of bottles floating in one place. It's a bunch of plastic dust in the water column.
But it's distributed over a very large area, and affects sea-life. Guess what that means for people who consume fish?
I don't know how it affects sea-life. Other than the occasional scare-tactic picture of a turtle with a plastic web stuck to it, what is the systemic effect? Sure there's lots of plastic in the ocean; there's lots of sand too. What's really at issue?
The United Nations Ocean Conference estimated that the oceans might contain more weight in plastics than fish by the year 2050.[33] Some long-lasting plastics end up in the stomachs of marine animals, mature and immature.[6][34][35] The food chain is affected as the plastic attracts seabirds and fish. When marine life consumes plastic allowing it to enter the food chain, this can lead to greater problems when species that have consumed plastic are being eaten by other predators.
Besides the particles' danger to wildlife, on the microscopic level the floating debris can absorb organic pollutants from seawater, including PCBs, DDT, and PAHs.[40] Aside from toxic effects,[41] when ingested, some of these are mistaken by the endocrine system as estradiol, causing hormone disruption in the affected animal.[38] These toxin-containing plastic pieces are also eaten by jellyfish, which are then eaten by fish. Many of these fish are then consumed by humans, resulting in their ingestion of toxic chemicals.[42] While eating their normal sources of food, plastic ingestion can be unavoidable or the animal may mistake the plastic as a food source.[43][44][45][46][47]
Marine plastics also facilitate the spread of invasive species that attach to floating plastic in one region and drift long distances to colonize other ecosystems.[15] Research has shown that this plastic marine debris affects at least 267 species worldwide.[48]
Plastic fails to degrade - fish eats, breathes or otherwise absorbs plastic - plastic is now in fish - plastic fails to degrade - fish is caught - plastic fails to degrade - fish, along with thousands of other fish, is caught - plastic continues to fail to degrade - fish are processed into ready meals... can you guess where the plastic (which is still failing to degrade, by the by) is going to end up?
Again with the loaded words. And what is the actual health issue? Do we imagine that fish are exposed to more plastic than the average human? Not likely. We already accept plastic into our lives continuously.
In a couple hundred million years the Earth will regenerate, new species will evolve, etc.
I do think we have a responsibility as self-aware beings to pick up after ourselves, but at the same time the Earth will be fine long-term. You could even say it's fine now. Yes, species are going extinct at an alarming rate, but we came from the Earth too and are not the only contributing factors to Earth's various disasters. I'm not about to throw trash out the window because of that fact, it's just that I don't have so much anxiety about totally destroying the planet. Maybe we will destroy the planet inasmuch as we can't live on it anymore, but that's our own damn fault and it's almost nothing compared to the longevity of the Earth.
While there's a lot of plastic in the ocean it's relatively thinly distributed. It's not like there's a bunch of bottles floating in one place. It's a bunch of plastic dust in the water column. Any sort of bacteria or chemical that is self sustaining enough to be dropped in the ocean and expected to clean up the plastic would likely wreak havoc on all sorts of things. Any sort of bacteria or chemical that is sensitive enough that it won't wreak havoc in the environments where we don't want it to likely can't be applied in a effective or economical manner in the oceans.