plastic armageddon

The oceans are dying -- choking on plastic garbage.

The AP reports that researchers have discovered what one describes as "the great Atlantic garbage patch" circulating in the Sargasso Sea, between Bermuda and the Azore Islands off Portugal. It's the second such floating plastic midden found so far; the first, located between Hawaii and California was discovered about a decade ago.

A worse problem is that the surfaces of both the oceans are full of tiny plastic particles.

It's not hopeless. There must be a way to clean this mess up. It would be similar to vacuuming a carpet. The problem is, in order for that to happen we'd have to actually devote some serious resources and attention to it. And we're too busy fighting wars, propping up "too big to fail" banks, and figuring out more ways to cut taxes to mess with inconsequential stuff like the death of the planet.