太平洋中的垃圾島Scientists believe the trash washes down from places such as the San Francisco Bay Area or Japan Plastic is filling the Pacific Ocean by Paul Rogers / @2009 San Jose Mercury News
Scientists who returned to the San Francisco Bay area this week after an expedition to the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” brought piles of plastic debris they pulled out of the ocean. But what alarmed them most, they said, was the nearly inconceivable amount of tiny, confetti-like pieces of broken plastic.
They took hundreds of water samples between the Farallon Islands and the notorious garbage patch 1,000 miles west of California. And every one had tiny bits of plastic floating in it. And the closer they sailed to the garbage patch, which some researchers have estimated to be twice the size of Texas, the more plastic pieces per gallon they found.
"Marine debris is the new man-made epidemic. It's that serious," said Andrea Neal, principal investigator on the Kaisei, a research ship on the trip. Neal said crews on the tree-week voyage discovered tiny jellyfish eating bits of the plastic debris. The jellyfish are, in turn, eaten by fish like salmon or tuna, which people eat.
Because the plastic pieces contain toxic chemicals, state toxicologists have taken hundreds of the objects, along with more than 300 fish to an environmental chemistry lab in Berkeley. They want to see if any chemicals are moving up the food chain.
"Every day, every night we'd pull up samples and pour the water through a sieve. It would be completely clogged with tiny pieces of plastic." said Margy Gassel, a research scientist with the California Environmental Protection Agency. "It was so disturbing." The research was the most extensive look yet at the garbage patch, a collection of mostly plastic debris located 1,000 miles north of Hawaii. The bobbling debris field, where currents swirl everything from discarded fishing line to plastic bottles into one soupy mess, was discovered in the mid-1990s. The garbage patch is emerging as a major international environmental concern.
Not only do its plastics pose a potential chemical threat, but birds, sea turtles and other marine life die when they eat or become entangled in floating plastic. Invasive species such as crabs, barnacles and other marine life also can attach themselves to it and float across the globe.
Mary Crowley, who co-founded Project Kaisei, said time is of the essence. "The floating pieces of plastic - large and small-are like a spreading cancer on the ocean, " she said. "It's impossible for me to think of what the ocean might be like in another 30 years if we don't change."
More Information
According to Answers.com about 20% of the Pacific Garbage Patch's garbage comes from ships. A typical passenger cruise ship, for example produces over eight tons of solid waste weekly, much of it ending up in the water. It takes about five years for air and water currents to carry debris from the west coast of North America to the garbage patch, while garbage from Asia's east coast takes about a year.
Grammar
The jelly fish are, in turn, eaten by fish like salmon or tuna, which people eat.
in turn=one by one, (wait a turn).
*Each student, in turn, gave a report to the whole class.
in turn=and then, or next in order
*After the bread is removed from the oven, it is, in turn, placed in a cool dry place.
in turn-talk about an action is much like what was mention earlier.
*The goal of this project is to train twelve teachers. Each teacher will, in turn, go and train twelve other new teachers.
Vocabulary
inconceivable-令人无法想像的，不可思议的，难以置信的。in-有否定之意, conceivable-可想像的，可理解的，可相信的。
*It is inconceivable that their new product could be so popular in such a short time!
notorious-famous with bad name.恶名昭彰的，声名狼藉的。
*He is one of the most notorious bank robbers in the country.
*The credit card company is notorious for having an unreasonably high interest rate.
epidemic- 泛滥的现象（问题），传染病，大势流行。became serious problem, disease.
*Due to the unemployment epidemic, thousands of people are without a job.
*The flu epidemic caused many schools to close temporarily.
clog-clogged/clogging-something (stuff) stuck prevent water drain effectively.塞满，堵塞，甚麽东西堵塞 用“with".
*Freeways in L.A. are always clogged with traffic during rush hour.
*The pipes are clogged with fallen leaves.
swirl-move around in a circular motion, very very quick. 打转，使卷曲，旋转
*Snowflakes swirled in the brisk wind as we were driving through the wilderness.
*The water rapids swirled violently and sent the raft downstream.木筏，下游
entangle-cause something or someone to be caught.使纠缠,使卷入，使陷入.
*The bear got entangled by the trap set by the hunters.
*The swordfish got entangled in the fishing net.
*The governor was entangled in the political scandal. 州长.
debris-little piece of something that had broken.
confetti-like-made of small pieces of paper, glass or something, colorful.
sieve (n)-a thing with fine net can drain the water out or let water come straight through.
disturbing-upsetting, very unpleasant.
extensive look-take closely and careful look
bobbling-floating on the water up and down.
barnacles-very small sea animal with shell, adhesive on rock or the bottom of the boat.蚌,蚵,蟹类的寄身物.
time is of the essence- something is of the essence, mean something is very important.
Chat Room
expedition/trip/trek/safari/voyage
expedition-journey with mission/purpose 探险,作战,为特殊目的所作的旅行,远征,出征.
*shopping expedition-专门为了shopping 目的的旅逰.
trip-vacation or a short trip to visit a place or somewhere..旅行,远足,或去某个地方
*Make a trip to the bathroom
trek-a hard, difficult trip with foot walk or hike.
safari-exploring in a wilderness such as Africa. 非洲狩猎探险.
voyage-travel on (under) the sea or alter space. 海上,海底或外太空探险.
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conjunctions-连接词 not only.. ,but/ both .. and .../neither ..nor
not only A, but also B-不仅是甲，也是乙
Not only 放在句首，要用倒装句型。
*Not only does the library have books, but it also has magazines.
both A and B-是甲，也是乙，二者皆是
neither A nor B-不是甲，也不是乙， 二者都不是。
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