For anyone wanting the scientific paper being referred to in the journal Geology (without opening the NY Times article) here is the link: https://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/geology/article/doi/10....

I wonder which creatures will celebrate the plastic in our oceans.

Bacteria.

Earth is essentially populated by bacteria,* which in turn allows a handful of temporary mutated offshoots to live for a few moments alongside it.

* Looking at species count, mass, count of individuals, or species longevity, or probably eighteen other factors.

It was also great for mammals. They had the brains, they just had to wait for their chance.

Slightly off topic but evidently there's growing evidence and consensus that it was not an asteroid that did the dinos in. It's unfortunate that mainstream media continues to perpetuate the myth.

https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2018/09/dinosau...

Without qualified dissenters, progress would be much slower, and arguments would be far less robust.

Greta Keller happens to be a 73-year-old paleontology and geology professor at Princeton University. And the uncharming, unprofessional name-calling? "You know you’re over the target when the flak is heaviest."

These may of course be related.

Dinging one side of the planet might have had something to do with vulcanism near the antipodes.

And evidence of a massive meteoric impact and global impacts is widespread, as well as generally supported by impact and geophysical modelling.