Green Geezers' Bookshelf: "Thicker Than Water" by Erica Cirino

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I highly recommend Thicker Than Water by Erica Cirino, who has combined science and writing to invite us on her journey all over the world to learn about the ocean plastic crisis. 

This book is chock full of information, presented in an exceptionally readable way, as Cirino moves from the decks of a 54 foot sloop on an expedition to the North Pacific Gyre – coined "The Great Pacific Garbage Patch," to collect samples from a plastic-infused ocean, (and in turn, plastic-infused fish bellies), to Kristian Syberg's lab in Denmark where all those samples were brought to be studied, to New Orleans with its toxic refineries and chemical complexes, to plastic-laden villages and beaches in Thailand, to plastic saturated Kamilo beach in Hawaii, and even back in time to 1972 when microplastics were first mentioned in scientific papers by scientists like Gerald Scott and Edward J. Carpenter.

This book is not only a chronicle of Ms. Cirino's work, but also a call to action for communities and legislators around the world to join the fight to eliminate plastic pollution. Most importantly, Thicker Than Water is an interesting, informative, and vividly detailed story that needs to be read and shared by everyone.

Once your attention has been captivated, and you want to read more about micro- and nano-plastics, as I certainly do, below are some jumping off points for your research. (I will add these sources to my cumulative "Link Dump" later in the month on the Green Geezers blog.)

Please join me in sharing this blog around social media so that the ocean's plastic crisis gets as much attention as possible. The more support Thicker Than Water receives, the more support the crucial work to clean up our oceans receives. It all starts with awareness of the problems, and that awareness starts with books like Thicker Than Water. 

 

Thicker Than Water

© 2021 by Erica Cirino

Island Press, 2000 M Street, NW Suite 480-B, Washington, DC 20036-3319

Library of Congress Control Number: 2021935869

KEYWORDS: albatross, Bakelite, bioplastic, Cancer Alley, eastern North Pacific Gyre, Great Pacific Garbage Patch, gyres, Mariana Trench, microplastic, Midway Atoll, nanoplastic, petrochemicals, plastic ban, Plastic Change, PFAS, plastic industry, plastic pollution, recycling. 

 

Erica Cirina:

Website   

Twitter:  @erica_cirino

The Safina Center 

 

FURTHER INFORMATION: (From Ms. Cirina's Notes pages.)

National Geographic Resource Library. 2019. "Great Pacific Garbage Patch." 


Turns, A. 2018. "Saving the Albatross: 'The War Is Against Plastic and They Are Casualties on the Frontline.'" Guardian.

 

Parker, L. 2018. "Facts About Plastic Pollution." National Geographic.  


Gulick, A. 2010. Salmon in the Trees: Life in Alaska's Tongass Rain Forest. Seattle, WA: Braided River. 

 

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. 2019. "Coral Reef Ecosystems."


US Fish and Wildlife Service


 Carrington, D. 2020. "Microplastic Particles Now Discoverable in Human Organs." Guardian.


 Ragusa, A., et al. 2021.  "Plasticenta: First Evidence of Microplastics in Human Placenta." Environment International 146 (January): 106274.


 

GREEN GEEZERS BLOG SOURCES:

Thicker Than Water - Erica Cirino 


Cancer Alley – Wikipedia


© Terri DelCampo 2022 – all rights reserved.

 

 

Comments

  1. Blaze McRobJanuary 17, 2022 at 6:33 PM

    This is most certainly a five-star review from you, Terri! Keep coming up with more of the articles that I, and many others, want to read.

    ReplyDelete

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