Higgenbotham's Dark Age Hovel

[FullMoon]

They've shown UV does good work on plastic. Plus just consider time scale. They'll be gone quickly. Probably faster than these crazy war mongering people.

[Higgenbotham]

“If we have these contaminants in our rainwater they’re getting into our groundwater,” Brahney said. “They’re infiltrating our soils. Every organism is interacting with rainwater.”

Ultimately, what all of this research reveals is that the planet is dirty, even if the filth can be hard to see. These chemicals are in the rain because they’re abundant in the environment — and they’re in the environment because they’re in the rain. And while there’s ongoing research, we don’t yet fully understand how those pollutants impact our bodies and our ecosystems. We just know they’ll be around for a very, very long time.

“To be honest, I cry, because there’s no walking this back,” Brahney said of microplastic pollution. “These particles don’t break down at a time scale that would be relevant. So yeah, we’re not escaping that.”

https://www.vox.com/climate/401600/pfas ... ution-rain

I suspect about 80 years from now there will be a subgroup of humans somewhere that will measure decreasing levels of microplastics in the bodies of their children versus the previous generation. That's about as optimistic as I can get.

[FullMoon]

For me, the more pressing issue is the population drop scenario. If such a sizeable percentage doesn't make it until plastics really are known to be dangerous, that sizeable number includes me and my family. The difficulties we'll face will make just making through dwarf any environmental concerns. I taught English abroad to students who came from pretty bad poverty. They always chose economic growth over environmental concerns because they were afraid of the effects of poverty more than the pollution economic growth brought. As an American, I found it astounding because even back then environmental protection was an important consideration. But not for them. Surviving and trying to rebuild will probably change perspectives quickly.even though we're infested with toxic plastics.