Up to 20 million tons of debris from Japan’s tsunami moving toward Hawaii

[tawadi]

http://l.yimg.com/bt/api/res/1.2/kc0mB6WJEeuetk9n3uwjQQ--/YXBwaWQ9eW5ld3M7cT04NTt3PTYzMA--/

Some 5 to 20 million tons of debris--furniture, fishing boats, refrigerators--sucked into the Pacific Ocean in the wake of Japan's March 11 earthquake and tsunami are moving rapidly across the Pacific. Researchers from the University of Hawaii tracking the wreckage estimate it could approach the U.S. West Coast in the next three years, the UK Daily Mail reports.

Read more at:
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/envoy/20-million-tons-debris-japan-tsunami-moving-toward-143640503.html

[FSogol]

1. When will someone invent aircraft carrier-sized robots to clean debris out of the ocean?

:shrug:

[tawadi]

7. Probably not in our lifetime. eom

[snooper2]

2. Might be good for some scrappers...

probably get $50-$100 for that boat hull alone...

[tawadi]

5. Of course my mind goes the other direction

I'm wondering if there are any skeletons or personal artifacts in the debris.

[Johonny]

11. I see the makings of a reality show

[AsahinaKimi]

3. On the bright side...

A nice Used Car may wash up on the beach, for someone who can't afford transportation. I wonder, if I can get a new Honda?

[FSogol]

4. Internal combustion engines hate water. Better wish for a nice bike.

;)

[snooper2]

6. You should say, hate salt water :)

hydro lock isn't that hard to fix...

It's the salt the really fucks an engine

[Major Hogwash]

8. This is an excellent opportunity for someone to create a lot of jobs cleaning this mess up!!!

And if President Obama is smart, he will call for those jobs to be created TOMORROW!!!

Don't blow this opportunity, Mr. President.
Please.
Call for those jobs to be created, use an executive order or sumpthin, and get that trash cleaned up.

[tawadi]

9. There were many lost 'opportunities' after the BP spill in the Gulf

But it seemed almost as if BP owned the beaches, not the U.S.:-(

[ellisonz]

10. I don't think we even have the maritime capability to clean up this mess.

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2009/05/first-great-pacific-garbage-patch-clean-up-effor-to-begin-next-month.php

[Major Hogwash]

12. Sure we do. We're Americans. The last part of "Americans" is "I can". Think positive.

That's really all we need to do, is pitch in and "get 'r done".

There is no "I" in "Success"!
We all have to pull together on something of this magnitude.

[ellisonz]

14. I'm positive we can clean it up from the beaches...

But having lived in Hawaii and heard discussions on cleaning up the garbage patch from people in the environmental industry. I'm pretty sure right now we have neither the technology presently to conduct such a massive operation over such a large area.

This isn't building Liberty Ships. Frankly, it's a bigger challenge than fixing Deepwater Horizon.

I have major doubts we're going to do much to get it out of the ocean.



See the size of that grey area? It's a search area 6 times the size of Texas.

Now overlay this map on that one:

[yoyossarian]

13. Well, there goes the neighborhood!

Actually, this is the best example of free trade, not to mention that ol' Invisible Hand we hear so much about, but seldom see...