According to a new study, there are more than 79,000 tonnes of ocean plastic and other trash (mostly plastic) all within a 1.6 million square kilometer area of the North Pacific Ocean (600,000 square miles). That’s 16 times larger than previous estimates. That’s twice the size of Texas.

Must Read: How to Detox From Plastics and Other Endocrine Disruptors

“The Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” is a collection of garbage located halfway between Hawaii and California. Winds and ocean currents form gyres, think of water spiraling down the drain in a vortex. These gyres draw in litter from around the world. Garbage gets trapped in the gyres and eventually large pieces break down into smaller pieces, which are ingested by marine life. The patch is growing at an alarming rate. The patch is not a solid mass of plastic. It’s not like the news pictures indicate. Some of the trash is easily visible to the naked eye, but the microplastics make up the bulk of the patch. Satellite imagery doesn’t show a giant mountain of garbage. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch looks like a cloudy soup intermixed with larger items, like jugs, fishing gear, and shoes, etc.

Related: Ocean Plastic To Triple Within A Decade

Much of the garbage is rather large. “We were surprised by the amount of large plastic objects we encountered,” said Julia Reisser, from the Ocean Cleanup Foundation. “We used to think most of the debris consists of small fragments, but this new analysis shines a new light on the scope of the debris.”

A sample that was collected during a 2015 expedition showed the majority of the garbage is microplastics less than 0.5 cm in diameter. The Ocean Cleanup Foundation launched the expedition to look at the eastern part of the patch. They used 30 vessels and a C-130 Hercules airplane to acquire and catalog more than one million pieces of plastic.

Related: Drinking Bottled Water Means Drinking Microplastics, According To Damning New Study

The new study suggests the total amount of microplastics in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch totals more 1.8 trillion pieces, a number that far exceeds earlier estimates.

The study was based on a three-year mapping effort conducted by an international team of scientists affiliated with the Ocean Cleanup Foundation, six universities, and an aerial sensor company. The Ocean Cleanup Foundation is a non-profit organization that spearheaded this research, which is the most complete and thorough study ever done on the garbage patch. It was published in the peer-reviewed journal Nature Scientific Reports.

Related: Many Hand-me-down Plastic Toys Are Toxic for Kids

https://www.facebook.com/TheOceanCleanup/videos/1910496008983438/

It’s estimated that 80% of the trash in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is from North America and Asia. The trash from North America’s coast takes around six years to reach the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, while Japan’s garbage takes about a year.

People have been focusing on microplastics, because it’s likely to be the one to have the most adverse effects on marine life, because of ingestion. But we need to understand the full-size picture of plastics, starting from the tiniest piece to larger debris.” – Laurent Lebreton, lead author of the paper.

When you go out into the middle of the ocean, you find that there’s a lot more fishing gear than was expected.”

A lot of focus has been pushed toward land-based sources of plastic and waste and single-use plastic, and that’s fair, but it’s also good to remind us that that’s not the only source, that fishing and aquaculture and marine-based sources also contribute to the problem.”

Sources:

• The Great Pacific Garbage Patch – The Ocean Cleanup
• Evidence that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is rapidly accumulating plastic – Nature.com
• Great Pacific Garbage Patch is 16 times bigger than previously estimated, study finds – CBC
• World’s largest collection of ocean garbage is twice the size of Texas – USA Today

Sudan was our last male northern white rhino. He was 45. Sudan was suffering from multiple infections in his advanced age. He was euthanized Monday by a veterinary team in Kenya, a tam that had fought for years to save him.

We at Ol Pejeta are all saddened by Sudan’s death. He was an amazing rhino, a great ambassador for his species, and will be remembered for the work he did to raise awareness globally of the plight facing not only rhinos, but also the many thousands of other species facing extinction as a result of unsustainable human activity.

One day, his demise will hopefully be seen as a seminal moment for conservationists worldwide.” – Richard Vigne, Ol Pejeta Conservancy CEO

Rhinos around the world are on the brink of extinction, and this is mostly due to poaching. Rhino horn has been highly prized in Chinese traditional medicine and as a decorative component of daggers carried by many Yemeni men. Around 30,000 rhinos from five species remain worldwide. Two species in Indonesia, the Sumatran and Javan rhinos, have around or less than 100 individuals.

Must Read: Drinking Bottled Water Means Drinking Microplastics, According To Damning New Study

Sudan spent the last years of his life under 24-hour protection from armed guards. His horn had been chopped off to deter poachers, though it had begun to grow back. His guards regularly foiled poaching attacks. But the effort to save the northern white rhino seems to have come too late for a real turnaround.

But the Subspecies May Still Survive

Researchers saved the sperm from Sudan, and from four other male northern white rhinos before they died. They think they might be able to produce a calf via in vitro fertilization. The researchers would fertilize one of the female eggs with the frozen sperm. The team could then use a female of a closely related species, the southern white rhino, as a surrogate.

Must Read: Trump Tells EPA to Dismantle Clean Water Rules

If that doesn’t work, scientists could potentially transform northern white rhino skin cells into stem cells. They would then coax those stem cells into eggs. They would then fertilize the eggs.

Since the last two remaining northern white rhinos are closely related there would need to be a way to diversify the subspecies. The stem cell option could help with that, as scientists could use any samples from any of the deceased rhino.

Many conservationists think we’d be better off spending that money elsewhere. The cost is at $800,000 to $10 million per attempt. We’re in the middle of a mass extinction, as and this scares the hell out of anyone who understands how systems work. Do you think the northern white rhino is deserving of such incredible expense to bring it back from extinction or is our money spent better elsewhere?

Sources:

• The Last Male Northern White Rhino Is Dead, but the Subspecies Could Still Survive – Futurism
• World’s last male northern white rhino has died – The Mercury News

The amount of plastic in world’s oceans is expected to triple within a decade according to a new UK government report called the “Foresight Future of the Sea.” The report found that 70% of the litter in our oceans is non-degradable plastic, and the amount of litter in our oceans is projected to increase by a factor of three between 2015 and 2025.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o-NidY_8b-0

Both the opportunities and the challenges set out in this important report are global in scale and demand our urgent attention. We must keep pushing our scientific understanding of the oceans, harness new technologies, and support commercial innovation.” –Tariq Ahmad , Foreign and Commonwealth Office Minister

Plastic chokes marine wildlife and causes numerous other health issues by exposing marine life to toxic chemicals. We also eat these toxic chemicals when we eat seafood. Around 150 million tons of plastic float in our oceans and eight million more tons of plastic come into the ocean each year, according to the World Economic Forum. It is estimated that by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in our oceans by weight if we don’t change our ways soon.

The UK was one of 193 countries that signed a resolution to eliminate plastic pollution in our oceans. A month later the UK outlawed the manufacture of products containing microbeads.

Related:

• How to Detox From Plastics and Other Endocrine Disruptors
• Drinking Bottled Water Means Drinking Microplastics, According To Damning New Study
• Many Hand-me-down Plastic Toys Are Toxic for Kids
• Microbeads – They’re In Face Wash, Body Scrubs, Toothpaste, and Our Food
• Microplastics in Sea Salt – A Growing Concern

• Trump directs EPA to begin dismantling clean water rule – LA Times
• US Drinking Water At Risk From Trump’s Cuts To Pollution Rules – New Scientist

The holy grail of clean energy is fusion power. Researchers at MIT have just received $50 million in funding to help make it happen. MIT has joined forces with a startup called Commonwealth Fusion Systems, and together they paln to have a pilot fusion power plant in 15 years.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zjl4T6nISao

If we succeed, the world’s energy systems will be transformed. An entirely new industry may be seeded potentially with New England as its hub.” – Maria Zuber Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor

Nuclear Fusion vs. Nuclear Fission

Nuclear fusion is the energy source that powers the sun, the stars, and hydrogen bombs. Not to be confused with nuclear fission, which is what’s used in nuclear power plants. Fission splits atoms to release energy, and this produces long-lived and deadly radioactive waste products. As of now, there are zero fusion reactors. Nuclear fission isn’t that difficult, but fusion, on the other hand, is very difficult (more on fission and fusion or see the video below).

Most of us don’t want more nuculear power plants. Many argue that nuclear fission is cleaner than the burning of fossil fuels, but there is the issue of the byproduct of radioactive waste and the infamous incidents like Chernobyl and Fukushima.

Nuclear fusion occurs when 2 light isotopes are combined to create a single heavier isotope. The fusion process releases helium and almost unfathomable amounts of energy, without the nuclear waste that results from nuclear fission. But efforts to use nuclear fusion have often petered out, leading to the joke that nuclear fusion is the energy of the future — and always will be.

Clean energy brings to mind wind, solar, hydro, and geothermal. Hydro and geothermal are reliable energy, but they are location specific. You either have access to it or you don’t. Another type of clean energy that looks very promising is wave, or ocean energy, but it’s yet to be cost-effectively harnessed. For solar there’s photovoltaic solar energy and solar hot water. And we have wind energy of course. The sun must be shining or the wind must be blowing, so until the battery revolution gets further along, we cannot rely on them as a primary power source. The right breakthroughs in energy storage mean that wind and solar systems are on their way to usurping the dominance of fossil fuels.

But fusion could do better if we can harness it. But the problem with fusion is the extremely high temperatures and pressures involved. We’re talking about star power here. In order to successfully create a fusion reactor, we first need to heat and pressurize plasma to sun-like conditions. Challenging, to say the least. But well worth it if we can pull it off.

This commercial investment success will benefit humanity by providing carbon-free power at scale in time to mitigate the deleterious effects of global warming.” – Maria Zuber

What’s New With Fusion? SPARC

A new superconducting compound dubbed YBCO, for yttrium-barium-copper oxide will be used to coat steel tape, creating much smaller but also much more powerful magnets than are currently available. These magnets should generate four times as strong a magnetic field and tenfold the power output of any existing fusion experiment, the team beleives.

By putting the magnet development up front we think that this gives you a really solid answer in three years, and gives you a great amount of confidence moving forward that you’re giving yourself the best possible chance of answering the key question, which is: Can you make net energy from a magnetically confined plasma?” – Dennis Whyte, director of MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center

Sources:

• MIT joins with private company to make fusion power happen soon – Digital Journal
• MIT Is Building The World’s Most Powerful Superconducting Magnets For an Amazing Cause – Science Alert
• The New Atomic Age Nuclear Fusion And Beyond – Oilprice.com
• MIT Aims To Bring Nuclear Fusion To The Market In 10 Years – WBUR

Scientists at Norway’s University of Bergen found that using toxic cleaning products has as much of an impact on health as smoking a pack of cigarettes a day.

The study tracked 6,000 people, with an average age of 34 at the time of enrollment in the study, who used the cleaning products over a period of two decades, according to the research published in the American Thoracic Society’s American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.Lung function declined in women who regularly used cleaning products. They, such as those who worked as cleaners, was equivalent over the period to those with a 20-cigarette daily smoking habit.

Related: How to Clean Your Floors with Homemade Non-toxic Cleaners Instead of Store Bought Chemicals

While the short-term effects of cleaning chemicals on asthma are becoming increasingly well documented, we lack knowledge of the long-term impact. We feared that such chemicals, by steadily causing a little damage to the airways day after day, year after year, might accelerate the rate of lung function decline that occurs with age.” – Dr. Cecile Svanes, professor at the University of Bergen in Norway, senior author of the study.

Must Read: How To Heal Your Gut

The study measured lung function by testing the amount of air the subjects could forcefully breathe out. They examined the results alongside a questionnaire where participants were asked about they use cleaning products. The study found that women who used the cleaning products regularly have decreased lung capacity and an increased rate of asthma. The products seemed to affect women more than men, though the scientists noted that the number of male participants was limited. The mode of chemical cleaner—be it spray or other liquid—was not statistically relevant, only that a chemical cleaner was used.

When you think of inhaling small particles from cleaning agents that are meant for cleaning the floor and not your lungs, maybe it is not so surprising after all.” – Øistein Svanes, a doctoral student.

Recommended Reading:

• Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting – Recipes Included
• Start Eating Like That and Start Eating Like This – Your Guide to Homeostasis Through Diet
• How to Make the Healthiest Smoothies – 4 Recipes
• Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones

Much has been made of the diseases that will be released once the world’s ice has melted, but scientists have now raised a new concern: mercury. Published in Geophysical Research Letters, scientists found that mercury levels in permafrost soil are twice that of all other soils. An Arctic Council report predicts that 20 percent of the surface permafrost will melt by 2040, and large amounts of mercury will be released. The permafrost studied was taken from Alaska, and study co-author and scientist with the National Snow and Ice Data Center Kevin Schaefer says,

As permafrost thaws in the future, some portion of this mercury will get released into the environment, with unknown impact to people and our food supplies…”

Mercury Buildup

This mercury is built up from before the last ice age, which will likely have effects we might not have thought of. Mercury exposure and poisoning can lead to mood swings, insomnia, headaches, pain, and tremors, while chronic mercury exposure can lead to the development of serious neurological issues. The neurotoxin has been phased out of objects like thermometers, light bulbs, dental amalgams, and most vaccines, but people are most commonly exposed to mercury through seafood.

Heavy Metals

The timeline for climate change leaves little wiggle room. Yet things like the release of the mercury in the permafrost aren’t necessarily being considered. This study estimates that this is the largest deposit of mercury in the world. Who knows where that will end up?

Some of our best:

• Sugar Leads to Depression – World’s First Trial Proves Gut and Brain are Linked (Protocol Included)
• Detox Cheap and Easy Without Fasting – Recipes Included
• Start Eating Like That and Start Eating Like This – Your Guide to Homeostasis Through Diet
• How to Make the Healthiest Smoothies – 4 Recipes
• Holistic Guide to Healing the Endocrine System and Balancing Our Hormones

Sources:

• The Arctic is Full of Toxic Mercury and Climate Change is Going to Release it – Organic Consumer’s Association
• Permafrost Stores a Globally Significant Amount of Mercury – AGU Publications
• Melting permafrost in the Arctic is unlocking diseases and warping the landscape – Vox