Sunday, December 11, 2011

More on the Tsunami of Junk

For some reason I can't stop thinking about the coming tsunami of Japanese junk that will start washing up on west coast shores in about 2 years. It's 5 M metric tons, or 5.5 M tons. Looking at the simulation, it will impact from about Los Angles to Vancouver(*), a distance of about 1500 miles, so we're talking about

4200 lbs/yard -- one car every yard

or

1400 lbs/ft -- two refrigerators every foot

or

5 lbs/mm -- a toaster over every millimeter

As a commenter pointed out yesterday, at least one group in Oregon, SOLV, is already on the case.

(*) Yes, I know some of the stuff will sink, or currents will take it down or up the coast, or back out to sea, etc, and it's not going to be cars or refrigerators but smaller, more floatable stuff. Stop being such a fussbucket and play with me here.

No comments: