Plastic Rocks Are Starting To Appear On Hawaiian Shores

Scientists say a bizarre new type of geological structure is starting to form on the beaches of Hawaii — one that can only be described as a kind of "plastic rock."

We can now add this to the ever-growing list of strange things happening to our plastic waste, including the rise of the life-friendly plastisphere, and plastics trapped in Arctic ice and on the sea floor.

Source: io9.com...

It actually sounds like these plastic rocks may not be such a bad thing

[Patricia] Corcoran says some of the plastic is still recognizable as toothbrushes, forks, ropes, and just "anything you can think of." Once the plastic has fused to denser materials, like rock and coral, it sinks to the sea floor, and the chances it will become buried and preserved in the geologic record increase.

From the source article. It also says that they may revert to oil in the right burial conditions. Mother nature is amazing

Well, maybe it is better that these things are combining to form rocks. I suppose the plastic sooner or later bonds to things in the ocean. This may help a little, but if we keep dumping trash in the ocean, the concentration will keep growing and still poison the sea. It will make the fish inedible to us in a hundred years. Small fish with fast reproduction will possibly be able to adapt. many generations happen in ten years. Humans have longer reproduction cycles so we do not have the adaptability to genetically pass on positive mutations in the years it takes for us to get to reproduction age. We will die before we can reproduce eventually. So we won't be able to eat food from the sea eventually if we do not reverse our misdirection.

We need to quit producing plastics at the rates we are, cutting production in half. We need to recycle all the plastic to make sure it does not end up poisoning the land and water. But I fear it won't happen in time to stop this. We are actually made primarily out of a renewable rubber held together by elastins. Rubber and plastic are way different, our heart and veins need to be elastic or rubberized or we have problems. Oh well, I guess there is no use complaining, Society will not change anyway till everyone starts dropping like flies. Better for the Social Security fund anyway....but wait, they stole all the money out of it, we need contributers to add to the fund. How can they pay in if they turn to plastic and can't work?

a reply to: koperniguz