Here are mostly dispiriting updates regarding two earlier blogs:
My January 10th posting (“Trash Talking”) reported that Joshua Tree National Park was being trashed by park visitors during the partial shutdown of the Federal government which lead to a lack of supervision by park authorities and a lot of stupid human tricks by hikers and campers.
It is now being reported that it will take 300 years or more for some portions of the park to recover from a mere 35 days of under-supervision. Garbage and human waste are being quickly removed, but scarred and fallen trees will take centuries to be redeemed.
The ONLY encouraging news here is that both public and private efforts have launched to protect Joshu Tree National Park and help nurse it back to its more pristine state.
My December 9th blog (“Plastic in Paradise”) described an effort to remove within five years at least half a gigantic garbage vortex in the Pacific Ocean through means of “The Ocean Clean-up” — a vessel with expansive outreaching mechanical arms which skim the top ten feet of the ocean to gather up large pieces of plastic before they are weathered into smaller and more environmentally threatening particles.
That admittedly quixotic but still inspiring effort apparently is not working, at least not in its current form — its beta test. Officially called System 001 but nicknamed “Wilson,” it is having trouble holding onto the garbage it collects, and a 60-foot section of arm has broken.
Founder Boyan Slat admits to problems — not unexpected with a test of technology that has never been tried before — but it is encouraging to read that he is not yet giving up.
JER
ALL OVER THE MAP 