World continues to dump massive amounts of plastic into the ocean

The Plastic ‘Convergence Zone’ Above Hawaii is One Area Where Plastic Trash is Accumulating

More and more plastic trash is being dumped into the world’s oceans:

May 16, 2017

{There is} more than five trillion pieces of plastic littering the seas – … increasingly breaking down and entering the food chain – {some of which accumulates in} the Great Pacific Garbage Patch . . . estimates put the debris field located between the coast of California and the Hawaiian Islands at between 700,000 square kilometers and 15 million square kilometers. Similar patches of waste blight other oceans, but the one in the Pacific is the most expansive.

And every year, a further 8 million tons of plastic is dumped into the world’s oceans . . . http://www.dw.com/en/green-entrepreneur-sets-sights-on-great-pacific-garbage-patch/a-38855785

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a massive area of ocean in America between California and Hawaii, where loads of plastic waste gathers. 05/15/17 http://www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/39921749

May 16, 2017

Researchers have documented the world’s highest known density of plastic particles, according to an article published in the US’s peer-reviewed Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Scientists said the nearly 38 million pieces of trash – or 21 to 671 items per square meter (11 square feet) – included toy soldiers, dominoes, toothbrushes and hundreds of hardhats in an array of shapes, sizes and colors.

“The quantity of plastic there is truly alarming,” Jennifer Lavers, a research scientist at Australia’s University of Tasmania and the lead author of the report, told the Associated Press news agency. “It’s both beautiful and terrifying.” Lavers said she sometimes found herself being mesmerized by the variety and colors of the rubbish that litters the island before the tragedy of it would sink in again.

Ten kilometers by 5 kilometers (6 by 3 miles), Henderson Island, part of Britain’s Pitcairn Islands group, sits about halfway between New Zealand and Chile in the Pacific Ocean, about 5,000 kilometers from the nearest landmass. Lavers said the location puts the 3,700-hectare (9,000-acre) island, an UNESCO World Heritage site, at the edge of a vortex of currents known as the South Pacific Gyre, which tends to capture and hold floating trash, leading to an estimated 3,500 pieces washing up daily on Henderson’s shores. http://www.dw.com/en/the-remote-pacific-island-awash-with-our-plastic-trash/a-38855304

The amount of plastic refuse being dumped in the oceans is both staggering and harmful. There are also plastic garbage patches in the Indian Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean.

Consider also the following:

Once waterborne, debris becomes mobile. Flotsam can be blown by the wind, or follow the flow of ocean currents, often ending up in the middle of oceanic gyres where currents are weakest. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is one such example of this, comprising a vast region of the North Pacific Ocean rich with anthropogenic wastes. Estimated to be double the size of Texas, the area contains more than 3 million tons of plastic. The gyre contains approximately six pounds of plastic for every pound of plankton. The oceans may contain as much as one hundred million tons of plastic. Islands situated within gyres frequently have coastlines flooded by waste that washes ashore; prime examples are Midway and Hawaii. (Marine Debris. Wikipedia, viewed 02/13/15)

No one should be putting plastic trash into the oceans. Plastics become toxic as they break down.

As far as how Christians should view the environment, going to the book of Genesis is a good place to start.

Notice:

15 Then the Lord God took the man and put him in the garden of Eden to tend and keep it. (Genesis 2:15)

Humans were to be stewards over God’s creation.

Now notice something else about it:

24 Then God said, “Let the earth bring forth the living creature according to its kind: cattle and creeping thing and beast of the earth, each according to its kind”; and it was so. 25 And God made the beast of the earth according to its kind, cattle according to its kind, and everything that creeps on the earth according to its kind. And God saw that it was good.

26 Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.” 27 So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. 28 Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.”

29 And God said, “See, I have given you every herb that yields seed which is on the face of all the earth, and every tree whose fruit yields seed; to you it shall be for food. 30 Also, to every beast of the earth, to every bird of the air, and to everything that creeps on the earth, in which there is life, I have given every green herb for food”; and it was so. 31 Then God saw everything that He had made, and indeed it was very good. (Genesis 1:24-31)

Pollution is not good. Christians and others should not dump plastic trash into the oceans.

Humans are not properly tending the Earth. They are destroying it. And they will be judged for it:

18 The nations were angry, and Your wrath has come, And the time of the dead, that they should be judged, And that You should reward Your servants the prophets and the saints, And those who fear Your name, small and great, And should destroy those who destroy the earth. (Revelation 11:18)

Pollution, which tends to be caused by greed and/or ignorance (which is not always intentional), is destroying the Earth.

Some items of related interest may include:

The Bible, Christians, and the Environment How should Christians view the environment? Does the Bible give any clues? What are some of the effects of air, water, and land pollution? Is environmental pollution a factor in autism and death? Do pollutants seem to double the autism risk? What will Jesus do? Here is a link to a related sermon: Christians and the Environment (there is also YouTube video available titled Air Pollution, Autism, and Prophecy).
GMOs and Bible Prophecy What are GMOs? Since they were not in the food supply until 1994, how could they possibly relate to Bible prophecy? Do GMOs put the USA and others at risk? Here is a related YouTube video GMO Risks and the Bible.
Chimeras: Has Science Crossed the Line? What are chimeras? Has science crossed the line? Does the Bible give any clues? A video of related interest is Half human, half pig: What’s the difference?
Does God Have a 6,000 Year Plan? What Year Does the 6,000 Years End? Was a 6000 year time allowed for humans to rule followed by a literal thousand year reign of Christ on Earth taught by the early Christians? Does God have 7,000 year plan? What year may the six thousand years of human rule end? When will Jesus return? 2026 or 20xx? There is also a video titled The 6000 Year Plan: Is the end of humanity’s reign almost up? Here is a link to the article in Spanish: ¿Tiene Dios un plan de 6,000 años?
When Will the Great Tribulation Begin? 2017, 2018, or 2019? Can the Great Tribulation begin today? What happens before the Great Tribulation in the “beginning of sorrows”? What happens in the Great Tribulation and the Day of the Lord? Is this the time of the Gentiles? When is the earliest that the Great Tribulation can begin? What is the Day of the Lord? Who are the 144,000? Here is a version of the article in the Spanish language: ¿Puede comenzar la Gran Tribulación en 2016 o 2017? ¿Es el Tiempo de los Gentiles? You can also see the English language sermon videos: The Great Tribulation from the Mount of Olives and Can the Great Tribulation begin before 2020? A shorter video is: Will the Great Tribulation Start in 2017?