www.latimes.com/environment/story/2019-10-02/calif…

Storm water runoff from the roads is going to be increasingly in the eco-headlines. Microplastics in the ocean could be considered to be a bigger problem than global warming as if the entire human population suddenly disappeared, what would be...www.latimes.com/environment/story/2019-10-02/calif…

Storm water runoff from the roads is going to be increasingly in the eco-headlines. Microplastics in the ocean could be considered to be a bigger problem than global warming as if the entire human population suddenly disappeared, what would be left? There's an interesting documentary on that here bit.ly/343upWf - it's rather surprising.

From the LA Times article:

"Sediment samples were also collected from 20 sites. Scientists found that many microplastics do indeed sink and accumulate on the seafloor, and that the highest concentrations of microparticles were in areas that received large volumes of wastewater and stormwater discharges. Public attention and scientific study, they said, need to focus beyond just the plastic floating on the surface.

Scientists were also taken aback by the sheer amount of particles coming from stormwater runoff, as well as the “black rubbery fragments” that made up almost half of all the particles collected from these samples.

“No one had looked at all the water rushing off the streets during rainfall events to see whether that had plastics in it,” said estuary institute scientist Rebecca Sutton, the study’s lead author. “That makes all that driving we do something to think about, not just in the Bay Area, but any setting where there are cars.” " Show more