The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

There has been much research in the effort of how to effectively clean and recycle the plastic that has accumulated in the Great Pacific garbage patch. Many studies have found that the process of actually trying to scoop up what is now a plastic soup like substance could pose a number of issues. Some researchers say that the garbage patch could possibly be half the size of the United States which would be a huge financial challenge for any country to undertake. Charles Moore, an internationally recognized expert on marine plastic pollution and the man who discovered the vortex, says “cleaning up the garbage patch would bankrupt any country that tried it” (Moore). Not only is it a huge financial challenge, but because the Great Pacific garbage patch is located a great distance from any country’s coastline, there has not been a nation to step up

20 billion pounds of the world’s plastic winds up in the ocean annually. This plastic can be found swirling, covering about 40% of the world’s oceans surfaces (Center for Biological Diversity). Carried by water currents and wind combined, these man made, non-biodegradable materials have accumulated in the middle of the Pacific Ocean to form the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP), also known as “the world’s largest landfill.” Estimated to be twice the size of Texas, the Patch spans from the West Coast of North America to Japan (National Geographic). Often thought of as large islands of floating plastic, in reality the GPGP is an area of plastics broken down into smaller polymer molecules distributed across the ocean (Grant A Harse). This area of tiny plastic polymers raises concerns of bio magnification, animal harm, ocean pollution, and human use of plastics. Because the GPGP is so far from any country’s coastline and is difficult to track, no nation is willing to take responsibility or provide funding to clean it up. In addition to this issue, policies that already have been formed only target point source ship dumping. 80% of ocean debris come from land, so only a small percentage of waste disposal from ships is addressed (Dautel, Susan). In order create a solution to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, human behaviors will have to change to reduce use and consumption of plastic and to push for urban runoff/nonpoint waste to be better addressed on the local, national, and

Everybody throws away trash with little or no thought about where it’s going. What you might not know is that a lot of trash goes into our ocean. You may think it is not a big deal and that it’s just a little bit of trash in a really big ocean, but it’s not just a little bit of trash. In fact, it’s a whole lot. There is a place between California and Hawaii called the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, but is better known as the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch”. This area is the largest landfill in the world and is completely in the ocean. What are the effects of the landfill on the environment and how can it be prevented and rehabilitated to its original state?

Today, scientists believe the world's largest garbage dump isn't on land but it is in the

Ocean currents corral trillions of decomposing plastic items and other trash into gigantic, swirling garbage patches (Pacific Trash Vortex)

More than six million tons of garbage finds it’s way into the oceans. Due to the currents, the garbage ends up in two different locations. Several hundred miles off the coast of Japan lies the Western Garbage Patch, and close to California lies the second patch, known as the Eastern Garbage Patch. Together these two patches of garbage mix to form the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

More than 750,000 pieces of microplastic can be found in just one square kilometer of it. Approximately 80 percent of its debris comes from land, 10 percent is made up of over 700,000 tons of commercial fishing nets, and the remaining 10 percent consists miscellaneous objects discarded by recreational and commercial ships. What is it? The Great Pacific Garbage Patch. The garbage patch lies in the Pacific Ocean between the west coasts of America and the East coasts of Asia. Because the effects on marine life caused by the Great Pacific Garbage Patch are detrimental to their habitat, diet, and

In the story, “Our Oceans Are Turning into Plastic… Are We?” by Susan Casey, Captain Charles Moore experiences what can be described as a living nightmare. In the Northern Pacific subtropical gyre, known as the Eastern Garbage Patch, Captain Moore sees the piles and piles of used, bottles, nets, ropes, bath toys, jugs, and traps, all creating a layer of “plastic crap” above the ocean’s surface, staying completely still in a windless current less body of water. The experience of seeing what you care about be completely changed because of pollution or simple human neglect. Personally, I have an instance of this in the first house that I remember living in. What was once a house that had a lot of connections from not only me, but others in the

Marine debris is more than ugly, it kills. There are two proposed plans to cleanup the North Pacific Garbage Island. An island that is made of garbage, primarily plastic. It is over 100 kilometers wide. That is an unbelievable amount of trash. That trash island is floating in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, between Hawaii and California. It has been spun together over time by currents, and the atmospheric pressure in the middle of the ocean is stronger than average. The island’s plastic has melted together, creating a bed of plastic for the rest of the trash to lie on. A a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a a

In the article, "Plastic in Our Oceans", Kimberly Amaral discusses the everyday uses of plastic and how it can be beneficial to humans, but harmful to marine life. As fishermen casually dump waste overboard, animals mistake it for food sources, such as a turtle mistaking a plastic grocery bag for a jellyfish. From the trash brought out to sea, gyres, large circulations of water, carry the garbage through currents, spreading it to all over the ocean, specifically to the central gyre. Amaral notes common ways for marine life to die from plastic, which include entanglement by plastic rings, consumption of plastic bags and pellets which stuff the intestines and lead to health problems, and suffocation. As researchers today work hard to discover

Over the few years, humans have discarded millions of tons of garbage into the oceans. Ever wonder where the cup you threw out this morning will end up? Or the plastic spoon you used for lunch? How about the cap of a water bottle? The calamitous plastic ends up in the water, taking thousands of years to decompose. The consumption of plastic by the marine life is perilous and the leading cause of death for life on shore.

Currently, 300 million tons of plastic are manufactured to supply the world demand and between 5 and 13 million tons are found in the ocean (Katsnelson, 2015). Based on current trends, by 2050, 2,000 million tons of plastic will be manufactured to supply the worlds demand for plastic, meaning more pollution in the oceans (Vaughan, 2016, May 23). As Richard Thompson has stated, “While some of the plastic floats at the surface, the heavier pieces sink to the ocean floor making it hard to clean up the waste” (Katsnelson, 2015). Some of the waste comes from fishing materials or cargo ships. For example, fishing nets, buoys and other debris that is left behind from fishermen lead to the

In the documentary “Inside the Garbage of the World”, the main social problem being explained is that there has been a great influx of plastic and other type of garbage in oceans and their beaches. This buildup of pollution has largely affected the wildlife population ranging from animals on the beaches to the creatures of the ocean. In oceans, what is called ‘garbage patches’, a large buildup of garbage that flow to one area in the oceans, are being created. Approximately 50 percent of all plastic sinks to the bottom of the ocean floor but about 2 times that much is actually already on the ocean floor. In fact, according to the documentary, there is a garbage patch that is to the left of California that is the size of half of the United States. Each year, about 4.7 million tons of plastic goes in the ocean a year and it is estimated that by 2050, there will be another 33 billion tons of plastic added to the present amount. Eighty percent of the current pollution comes from the land. According to marine researchers, twice as much plastic debris is one the ocean floor than it was 10 years ago. In the futures, plastic will break down into smaller pieces of plastic, creating a bigger problem from the habitat. This plastic pollution is one of the leading cause for beach and ocean inhabiting creatures be extinct because animals are mistaking these plastic pieces for food. When scientist began to dissect beach animals such as birds, they discovered that at least fifteen pounds of

The Garbage Patch of the Pacific Ocean contains marine debris which is solid material that is manufactured by humans and ends up in the ocean either

of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, the exact size remains unknown. In addition, Doucette warns us that this patch contains more than ten million tons of waste. She describes the area to be a “fetid swamp of debris where tiny bits of decaying plastic outweigh zooplankton- one of the most prolific and abundant organisms on the planet- by a ration of six-to-one”(Doucette). It is now apparent that the amount of plastic particles residing in our oceans is damaging the natural habit and this trash is not going anywhere. Due to the currents in the ocean, plastic particles are