Recently, it has been said that an eighth continent has formed, but this is no ordinary landmass, instead it is made entirely out of manmade trash. In the Pacific Ocean, between the coast of California and the Hawaiian Islands, lies a so-called “patch” of waste, mainly consisting of plastic (Transoceanic Trash). It is called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also known as the Pacific Trash Vortex. The patch extends over a vast area in the North Pacific Ocean, its true size today is still considered undetermined because it estimates vary greatly, no estimates are exact due to the changing wind and ocean currents, as well as the growing volume of debris (Great Pacific Garbage Patch). The trash that makes up this mass, comes from all over the world, garbage has been found from Russia, China and Korea (Transoceanic Trash). This immense trash pile has no right to be polluting the oceans and harming the wildlife and must be addressed.
This disastrous build up of garbage did not happen overnight and was not a surprise; many oceanographers and climatologists had predicted the formation of this Great Pacific Garbage Patch would form. Research regarding this topic of concern started as early as 1985, when high concentrations of neustonic plastic were recorded in the North Pacific Ocean (The Quantitative Distribution and Characteristics). It has been said the actual physical discovery of the patch was by a racing boat captain, Charles Moore, who was crossing this area when sailing from Hawaii to California when he found himself surrounded by bits of plastic (Biography of Captain Charles). From a bird’s eye view or simply just viewing the “patch” with the naked eye, the litter is almost impossible to see. It is made up of extremely small pie...
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...es New Threat to Marine Life. Time Newsfeed, n.d. Web. 3 Feb. 2014. .
"Quantitation of persistent organic pollutants adsorbed on plastic debris from the Northern Pacific Gyre's “eastern garbage patch”." RSC Publishing. N.p., n.d. Web. 3 Feb. 2014. .
THE QUANTITATIVE DISTRIBUTION AND CHARACTERISTICS OF NEUSTON PLASTIC IN THE NORTH PACIFIC OCEAN, 1985-88. N.p., n.d. Web. 4 Feb. 2014. .
Scientists Study 'garbage patch' in Pacific Ocean. CNN.com, n.d. Web. 4 Feb. 2014.
The North Pacific Gyre, home to the north pacific Garbage Patch, occupies the zone of the subtropical High between Haeaii and California. It is the largest and best studied of the gyress, though still fraught with unknowns. It is thought to be the trashiest, though this question is still being studied. Covering more than 20 million square miles, it is the largest on earth and therefor the planet’s largest garbage dumps. (Humes, 2012, p.
The plastic apocalypse is upon us. Our oceans are currently burdened by massive expanses of floating plastic products and shreds extending farther than the eye can see in multiple locations. The biggest of these, located in the North Pacific Ocean,1 is known by many as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. This dangerous collection of trash is surrounded by the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre,1 or a series of circling currents located in the Southern Hemisphere that carry plastics and other slow-degrading garbage and trap them inside its bounds.2 This specific Garbage Patch stretches from North America to Japan and the plastic-to-water ratio varies throughout.1 Because of this phenomenon, plastic is being distributed throughout oceans and deposited
Do you know that people are polluting oceans in so many ways, and what we are doing about it. First, my evidence shows that two billion people within thirty miles of the coast create 100 million metric tons of coastal plastic waste (Doc.1). In my own words, this evidence show that all this pollution is really harmful to ocean creatures and us. More evidence is that the North Pacific Gyre has collected lots of these pollutants, so it is nicknamed the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (O.I.). This shows how we are polluting the oceans. My next evidence shows that a Beach Act was passed in 2000 saying the EPA or the Environmental Protection Agency will help states test and monitor coastal water pollution to protect swimmers (Doc.2). This evidence
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is sometimes referred to as the Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch and the Pacific Trash Vortex is a floating patch of garbage that has collected in the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, which is located in the middle of two high-pressure areas between Hawaii and California. The majority of the garbage, which is also called marine debris, in the patch is plastic, but items made from other materials such as glass and rubber are also present. Though the garbage patch is too large and goes too deep under the surface of the ocean for scientists to determine exactly how much garbage is in it, they have collected up to 750,000 bits of plastic one square kilometer (CITE). This sort of debris floating around in the ocean is dangerous for several reasons. One important reason is that marine animals mistake some of the garbage, especially plastics, for food (CITE). Another reason that the floating debris is so dangerous is because it can block sunlight from reaching deeper levels of the ocean, and thus, it removes the energy source for many autotrophs like alga...
Fifty-million plastic bags enter the Australian waters every year, causing the death of thousands of sea creatures. Imagine you went on a trip to the Great Barrier Reef. As you arrive, it is clear to see garbage floating on the ocean and you can only imagine what rubbish lies beneath the surface. This disturbs me! What are we doing to our beautiful, yet innocent marine life?
Recently, an uninhabited island in the South Pacific Ocean was found to be polluted with 38 million pieces of plastic that had been carried over by currents (Wang, “No one lives on this remote Pacific island”). The island, dubbed ‘trash island’, is home to diverse animal populations that have all been devastated by the pollution. On the beach, hundreds of birds were seen dead by reporters and scientists. When analyzed, the primary cause of death turned out to be consumption of plastic. When animals ingest plastic, it clogs their stomach and poisons their body with toxic chemicals. These toxic chemicals cause an array of issues, such as reproductive and endocrine problems. Eventually, this leads to death (Knoblauch, “The environmental toll of plastics”). But due to the nature of plastics, it can take hundreds or even thousands of years to completely degrade, meaning that as plastic pollution continues to build up, more places like ‘trash island’ will be discovered. According to conservation scientist Alex Bond, “…[The island] is just an indicator of what’s floating around out there” (Wang, “No one lives on this remote Pacific
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the largest garbage dump in the world. According to estimates made by experts, the patch holds approximately three and a half million tons of garbage. Majority of this garbage is made of plastic. This waste is a threatening problem to the patch’s surrounding wildlife. Many animals are caught in the floating pieces of trash and it is the cause of the deaths of about one million birds and about one hundred thousand other sea animals. Due to the oceans nature and constant moving currents, the trash is also constantly moving. Therefore the size of the patch never stays the exact same. However, scientists believe it be approximately two times the size of Texas. The plastic is mostly broken down from larger materials into small pieces. The patch has been referred to as one scientist as a, “plastic soup”. This garbage poses such a threat mainly because it does not biodegrade. These plastics will be in the ocean essentially forever. Many plastics also contain chemicals, and absorb other chemicals and pollutants they become exposed to. These newly absorbed toxins are then leaked and distributed back into the ocean over time. The chemicals can directly enter the bodies of the animals which consume them. A study was being conducted by scientists of the fish that inhabit the area around the patch. What the researchers found inside the belly of one fish (that was no larger in size than that of a finger), was eighty four small fragments of plastic. It does not take scientists to recognize the impact of this problem, Zach Gold, who is sixteen, is from Santa Monica California. Zach enjoys s...
This pollution problem is so ubiquitous plastic can be found throughout the marine environment from coastlines to near shore lagoons to remote ocean hotspots where plastics caught up in marine currents. And gathered up into huge garbage patches that swirl
http://serc.carleton.edu/NAGTWorkshops/health/case_studies/plastics.html “Ocean Plastic Pollution” Biomass Packaging Company NP web 16 April 2014 http://bomasspachaging.com/education/ocean-plastic-pollution The “Plastic Trash Vortex” National Geographic. NP Web. 16 April 2014. http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/great-pacific-grabage-patch/?ar_a=1.
Have you ever seen trash island? This is an island that is made out of non-biodegradable plastic and other trash. It floats in the Pacific ocean about 100 miles from the coast of California. The objects that float in the island cause a huge threat to wildlife including sea turtles and sharks. This has already caused a mass extinction in some types of plankton and fish. Today it is a huge problem. Will there ever be a solution?
McLendon, Russell. “What is the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch?” Mother Nature Network. N.p., 24 Feb. 2010. Web. 23 Apr. 2010.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a stretch of several thousand miles where plastic and other debris gather due to what is called the North P...
...ic and get ill from it. All this trash can kill the mammals in the ocean even if it’s just floating on top of the water. It’s still harmful to them and humans. It can kill, suffocate or poison the mammal. If humans decide to go swimming in the ocean and choke on a piece of plastic that breaks into pieces and they open there mouth for some reason and get trash in their mouth they can choke and maybe die. Just because people like to put their trash anywhere they please.
Research from the University of California San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography said that species in the ocean consume a projected 12,000 to 24,000 tons of plastic every year in the Pacific Ocean (Nall, 2014). Pollution of recyclable materials in the oceans is one of the leading causes of why some marine species are nearing extinction. Many authors of articles and books analyzing this topic tend to agree that pollution of our oceans is a problem. The future of this problem is where their ideas tend to differ. The following four literature reviews attempt to demonstrate and support my belief that pollution is getting worse in the ocean and more marine life ecosystems are being affected, but there are things that we as humans can do
...harges of Human-made Debris Comprise the Largest Source of Marine Debris in Oceans World-wide (nearly 80%)." Plastic Debris Rivers to Sea Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 16 Mar. 2014.