The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is characterised by a significant accumulation of plastics and marine debris trapped by a rotating system of ocean currents. It is located in the North Pacific Ocean between California and Hawaii covering an area of some 617,000 sq miles; an area more than 6 times that of the UK.

Plastics and their impact on us and our environment, were an enduring concern in 2018. In March of that year a team revealed that they had tested 259 samples of bottled water from nine countries and plastic was found in “bottle after bottle, brand after brand”. Typically, there were ten particles per litre the width of a human hair, and 314 smaller ones per litre. A few weeks later, marine conservationists warned that the patch is at least four times, and possibly as much as 16 times bigger than previously thought, and growing exponentially. In October, scientists found the first evidence of plastic in a human digestive system!

When talking about the environment, Greta Thunberg states, “Some people say we are not doing enough to fight climate change. This is not true because to ‘not be doing enough’ suggests you are doing SOMETHING. In reality we are doing NOTHING. The politicians say it is EVERYONE’S fault – this means no one can be blamed or held accountable and is an easy way to pass the problem on to someone else”.

PS – I wrote this blog originally during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Some will argue that this was a disaster waiting to happen and that it is nature’s way of revenge for mans’ inhumanity to other animals* (it is thought the virus jumped species from bats via captive pangolins in Wuhan, China) and disregard for the environment generally. Furthermore, the planet cannot sustain the current exponential population growth indefinitely though projections are that the rate of growth will level by 2100, indeed may go into decline**. The bubonic plague of 1347, for example, killed an estimated 475 million people worldwide and the population took some 200 years to recover. Are we prepared for the next crisis?

PPS – I digress. This month (December’25) the government announced plans for improvement in the welfare of certain farm animals, the outlawing of ‘sport’ trailing, the banning of aversive training tools for working and pet dogs and the outlawing of puppy farms. This will almost certainly be a compromise as farmers argue that their profitability and ability to remain in business will be affected especially coupled with recent changes in inheritance tax laws!

Below are links to further blogs discussing this:

https://volatileplanet.blog/2020/04/03/a-planet-in-crisis-is-this-the-beginning-of-the-end/
https://volatileplanet.blog/2020/06/15/its-official-the-sixth-mass-extinction-is-here/
**https://volatileplanet.blog/2019/03/02/population-explosion-or-decline/
*https://volatileplanet.blog/2021/02/13/negative-interrupters-vs-positive-interrupters/