Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch, the Continent of Garbage
91A New Continent
There is a new continent in the Pacific Ocean.
Actually it has been forming for years. It was documented in the 1950's. It is larger now, by some reports twice the size of Texas. And growing. The most amazing thing of all is the substance of the island.
Plastic. Trash. Junk. Mountains of trash that has not and will not biodegrade is trapped in an area roughly 10 million square miles in size. The North Pacific Gyre is an area of swirling currents moving in a clockwise pattern that the major ocean currents lead into. Think of it as an aquatic roundabout in heavy traffic- very difficult to get off of. Over time the plastics and trash that has been intentionally and accidentally (remember the Nike sneaker wash of 1990?) dumped into our oceans has found its way to the North Pacific Gyre and remains there. Accumulating at an alarming rate it is literally forming a continent made of trash.
The Problem
Plastic, as we know, does not biodegrade but it does break down into smaller and smaller pieces. The material is breaking down into tiny particles of plastic "sand". Small cellular marine animals ingest the plastics and die. Large marine animals ingest the plastic and die, or they get tangled in it and die.
Apparently the mass of the plastic particles is six times more than the mass of the natural plankton in the area. This large expanse of ocean is becoming unhealthier and unhealthier, and less and less navigable. The plastic is found at depths of up to 30 meters. It is literally creating a landmass. But that's still not all.
Green Peace estimates that a million sea birds a year die form ingesting plastics. The plastic fills their stomachs, they can't digest it and they die, slow agonizing deaths by starvation with full bellies. Sea turtles mistake floating shopping bags for jelly fish, and even the small single celled creatures that act as natural filters for the water have been discovered with colorful flecks of plastic in their transparent bodies. One soda bottle can break down in enough small particles to leave one on every beach in the world! Why is this a problem? Read on!
The plastic as it breaks down releases large amounts of toxic substances into the water of the Pacific ocean. What ever might have originally been stored in the plastic: DDT, PCBs, other oils and pollutants, is all released into the water as the plastic breaks down. Anyone for some fresh, wild caught Pacific Salmon?
Sailing Around the Vortex
In 1998 Charles Moore and his crew sailed through the vortex, about 1,000miles, and, using fine mesh net sampled the water at different levels for plastics and plankton. He wrote that daily, as far as the eye could see, plastics and trash floated and bobbed in the waves. The estimate is that there is 46,000 pieces of plastic per square mile of ocean in this area.
Plastic in the Open Ocean
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The Solution
In one way there isn't one. All of that plastic cannot be cleaned out of the ocean. Scientists say that the only solution is to reduce, even eliminate our use of plastics. Even oif we totally stopped using it now the plastics all ready on Trash Island would stull be there in a thousand years. If we stopped using it now, thousands of pieces of plastic would still sink to the bottom of the ocean and disrupt the fragile ecosystems there. In 2001 the average American used over 200 lbs of plastic. A large percentage of that was not recycled.
Future scientists will be able to recognize the twentieth century by a layer of colorful plastics in the layers of earth they dig through. Ocean currents willcontinue to deposit the trash into the vortex as long as we continue to be irresponsible with the earth. By being ecologiclaly responsible we can keep it from getting worse. It always starts with the small things. Here are a few you can do.
1. Use canvas bags to shop.
2. Take your own mug to Starbucks.
3. Recycle plastic as much as you can.
4. Use glass and other recyclable materials when possible.
5. Limit the amout of things you buy that are encased in plastic.
By starting here we can ultimately make a difference.
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Links For More Information
- Greenpeace | Pacific trash vortex
animation of the vortex by Greenpeace - Best Life Magazine: Health & Fitness: Our oceans are turning into plastic...are we?
Best Life magazine empowers men to continually improve their physical, emotional and financial well-being to better enjoy the most rewarding years of their lives.
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A really useful hub. I knew, generally, that we were dumping trash into the oceans, but I didn't realize it reached such momentous proportions.
Thank you for this Hub! I was trying to find it again when I wrote about recycling. Thank you Thank you.
Great Hub. we all need to be worried about this.
Wow. I had no idea. Very interesting hub. It's not just individual participation that is neccesary. Manufacturers use so much plastic in packaging its ridiculous. Some of the presents my daughter recieved for christmas had more plastic in the packaging then the toy itself.
Is it not possible that there is a great mind on this planet who can devise a "plastic magnet"? That is, something that draws plastic to itself without harming the environment. I am not a scientist, biologist, or engineer but it would seem to me that this is possible. Allowing the Pacific Ocean to become increasingly toxic is simply not acceptable.
Wonderful Hub Marye,
It's sickening to see the results of such collective ignorance. You've done a marvelous job of presenting an issue we can each address, even if only at the personal level in the ways we consume and dispose.
As a native Californian who participates in beach clean-ups this makes me sad. Hey fellow Hubbers: When you are at the beach, make sure to pick up all your trash + make it a point to pick up 2-3 pieces that are not your own. You would be amazed at the crap we've found ... right along barefoot 5 year olds playing in the waves.
Thanks for this great hub. As caretakers of this world we are definitely falling below the bar on this issue, it just takes someone like you to bring it to the foreground to get enough attention. Great job!
I had no idea how out of control it had gotten. Thank you for posting this!!!
i grow up in the pacific ocean, and this is very sad for me, i think we need to get everybody ready to help, i am currently forming a team from all over americas to help this important situation , please every body help if you can one way or another , rescatame dice el mar. send a comment if your ready to help . peace OATS
I have a couple of Ideas i would like to get out there to maybe germinate and affect a change. Governments are affected by the people they govern, many directly through democratic processes, so if the people pressure the governments enough they will have to listen. I would propose two things. One, we should push for a complete ban on the production and use of new plastic. there is more than enough already for the purposes we use it for, and two we should use it as a recyclable resource, to be actually 'mined' from the oceans and the environment for re-use... If society wants plastic they should have no choice but to obtain it from where it has been discarded. Cleaning up the environment would be a buisness, so the corporations could make their money, while doing a world of good. Literally.
this information is saddening. Thanks for posting and helping to increase cosial awareness that our oceans needs our help.
Really People!?!
This is a hoax if I've ever read one. where are the pictures?
everyone needs to stop waiting for the government to do something. there are plenty of people with boats and fishing net....can't ANYONE get up and get out there and start DOING something themselves??????
Although I can't readily find pictures...Where do you think the garbage that gets dumped off of barges daily by the tons really goes to? Atlantis? The Earth's core?
I love , Malcolm Latwat, or aka Malcolm "the twat". We are all going to love paying 40% more for many products while the rest of the world keeps right on making and using plastic. Simple minds believe Utopia can be created through government.
does anyone know of a group that i could help with this island of trash
2 points I would like to make.
from the article...
The Solution
In one way there isn't one. All of that plastic cannot be cleaned out of the ocean.
"Tell me why we cannot get ships out there to start picking this crap up and burning it? OK it will take an effort by the nations to donate ships cranes manpower etc. and it may take years and decades but at least the effort will be being made. And for bigger thinkers maybe we could start thinking about compacting this stuff and sending it into space."
Scientists say that the only solution is to reduce, even eliminate our use of plastics.
"How about we simply make biodegradeble plastic? We already can make it they just don't want too because they don't want containers decomposing with all the headaches that that could produce. Well tough make the plastic to start degrading in say a year and for starters definitely make all things like garbage bags biodegradable in a year or even less and if in a year someone goes to get a bag in their cupboard and it's already decomposed go buy another one. Small price to pay.".
"How about we simply make biodegradeble plastic?"
Because plastic never truly biodegrades. It just breaks up into smaller and smaller particles of plastic, it doesn't get converted to different materials.
wow really intresting thanks helped alot with my school project i did n't know it was that bad
wow, im from the pacific ocean and have no idea about the plastic thingy. very informative. Thank you and nice hub.
Well...........everybody. We can make all the comments we want about how horrible the plastic situation has gotten, but I think the only real answer to this is for mother nature to cleanse the planet once again with a good sized asteroid like it did 65 million years ago. Man does not deserve to exist here with his atittude.
Unfortunately, this information is very misleading! I absolutely believe we should do everything we can to fight pollution, but we need to be truthful. The implication here is that there is some huge pile of floating plastic out in the Pacific ocean (eg. "continent", "island", and "mountains of trash"). This simply isn't true. But the truth is disturbing enough. There IS a large expanse in the Pacific Ocean that contains a high concentration of very ,very small pieces of suspended plastic. This IS disturbing, but they are not visible from satelite, plane, or even boats (well maybe a small one, if you look real hard). That's why there aren't any pictures (or islands, mountains ,or continents). I hope we can find a solution to our pollution problems, but let's be truthful!
um pictures please???
I joined green peace when I was drunk at livestock in florida in the 80's but this sounds load a load of chrap to me.Instead of worrying about this,why don't we worry about the travisties that happen to humans in Africa and China that are being abused everyday and don't even get me started about the middle east.If you want to save the world, then first save the people of the world and then woory about this fake continent in the Pacific.People are so nieve and if I told you that the sky was falling would you believe that also.Wake up and get edjucated about whats going on in this world.As my grandfather said believe nothing of what you read and half of what you see son.
The plastic in the world's oceans is indeed a problem, but you are doing a real disservice to the cause by overstating it as you (and many others) have. Do a google search on the subject to see where you've gone off the rails. There's no visible island, let alone a continent, and the plastics absorb hazardous chemicals more than they leach them. Don't "Algore" out on me, man.
I think we need to wake up as human beings and think about what we are doing to this planet and to each other!
Ok well we know the rubbish is there?? Who the hell is going to clean it up? Is it going to stay there so it will be a story to tell on Oprah and the internet? Or are all the countries who contributed to it thinking of ways to clear it up? Oh by the way, the other oceans need not be left out...they seem to be polluted also.
Humans have not been on this earth that long, look at what we have done to it in that short time. Look what we are doing to each other.
I like to think I am a positive person, lets all go into the New Year getting things right.
I guess the only real solution would be to dragnet the area with a fine enough net to get all the plastic. of course, that would pick up every living thing in the net too, but it sounds like only the lowest food chain animals will survive there anyways due to the plastic. we might have to consider the area lost at somepoint and attempt to reclaim it.
Just to think of how much crap we all throw away is sickening and to know that all that plastic is in the oceans and in lakes, rivers and on the ground makes me sad. I have been livin by the three R's (reduce, reuse, recycle) for 12 years and wish more people would to.
"How about we simply make biodegradeble plastic?"
Because plastic never truly biodegrades. It just breaks up into smaller and smaller particles of plastic, it doesn't get converted to different materials.
Wrong. Scientists have already discovered a nylon-eating bacteria. Just as plastics came from this earth, nature will find a way to break it down or cope with it. Keep polluting fellas.
This issue is larger then anything... I wonder why they never talk about this... Its because they are trying to bankrupt the population of the earth with ridiculous taxes on carbon....
Another adverse side effect of course from the production or change in production of biodegradable plastics is that they must be produced from food crops that as we saw from the biodegradable fuel era is that they affect global food markets and costs... thus again affecting third world countries... again affecting global policies... taking another 50 years of democratic debates. Humanity is doomed!
couldnt we like clean all of it up put it on a big ars rocket and shoot it at the sun and all of it burn up?
That is awful! but why can't they build a gigantic boat and ship it out with a huge net attached to it and scoop all the plastic and stuff into the boat or push it to shore so it can be recycled?? would that work?
OMG! That's really, really, terrible. I agree, everyone should know about this. Everyone should take action on it. Also, mabe factories and other people could find a material that is strong enough to hold items, and animals can digest it. Then, throwing grocery bags into the ocean wouldn't do as much harm as it is now. In addition, like Maddy said 20 hours before me, we should take a big boat and just scoop up all of the trash - but both of those ideas are probably easier said then done...
Has anyone even seen a picture or actually seen this mountain?
lets use less water nd things
this is insane. do you think we can one day extract pieces of this plastic land-form and recycle them?
In a 1999 published study by the Algalita Marine Research Foundation reported that there were 6 times more plastic than plankton in the North Pacific Gyre. This is three times greater than noted in their reports ten years earlier.
Hats off to Ron Lund. After four and a half billion years of evolution humans have managed to do more harm to our very fragile planet in the last 200 years than is even imaginable. For such an intelligent species humans are undoubtedly the most ignorant,stupid creatures ever to inhabit this wonderful planet. I personally welcome that asteroid.
WOW! i cant believe that its twice the size of texas! how horrifying it must be for the fish! we really ought to do something about this! PRONTO!
I am saddened at this attrocity and how we go on to allow it to exist. God is not pleased, and we will eventually see more of the aftermath if we do not be mindful of this carelessness! Lets try to do something each day to improve upon our terrible actions, so this will not, someday, be in our own backyards.
I m not sure if being skeptical means not being able to read and listen to the material that u r given. For the most part the plastic is very heavy, so its actually under the water like 20 or 30 meters for you yanks its like 60 to 90 feet below the surface of the ocean.
We all need to reform our terrible ways and not be so short sighted. Clean up is possible and in hopefully my lifetime I will see change. To give up now is to doom our species in the name of the american dream. recycle reuse and stop buying all the crap that we don t need.
i only learned of the plastic situation that we have,last night.I believe we could take some advise the Indian's,gave us, to respect the earth,to give back what we have used,that we own nothing on this earth,we use it,and give it back,at our death.Where do we put old apliances,and computers,I bet that's a scary sight also.Please show pictures since they do speak volume;s,we as humans and Americans need the shock factor.The company's need to also be held accountable ,better ways to manufacture products using plastic.The grocery store's should not provide plasic bags and make it known the customer needs to bring there canvas bags,which could save the store money.Also and imbose a fine for not sparating plastic items.This may seem harsh but it work;s.
I think those plastic product companies and the producers of its raw materials must help to clean up the mess and garbages of this sort wherever it could be found in our planet earth. This is our home and so it must be kept tidy. Should they fail to shoulder the resposibility, then the maker of this home will act against them in the future-Revelation 11:18.
So true! Great hub.
How about looking into cleaning this mess up. I have a few ideas on how to cleanup this and pay for for itself. of course all hands will be paid adquility. the rest will be Non-Profit.Unless you can up with all the needed equipment,seasoned crew and funding You will not need me. but upon my 30+ years on and around my travles upon the ocean .I know a few this as to how mother ocean works This could and should work.I hope to you A.S.A.P
ver interesting
I've heard of this garbage patch. So sad. :(
so... what did greenpeace do?
I just think that garbage in the ocean is just wrong all the animals that are dying is just sad because of that island
It is great I like it
Angela Harris 4 years ago
Wow, I had heard of this but didn't know it was this bad. I take my plastic bags back to the store to reuse them and try to buy products with less packaging. It looks as if I'm going to have to be even more environmentally conscious. Thanks for this startling information.