![pacific garbage patch pacific garbage patch](https://blogs.ubc.ca/communicatingscience2014w112/files/2014/10/trash-strewn-beach.jpg)
The aforementioned plastic comes from a tonne of sources including plastic cutlery, single-use carrying bags and plastic water bottles - to name a few.
PACIFIC GARBAGE PATCH PATCH
The plastic pieces in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch are classified into four categories based on their sizes: Microplastics can’t always be seen through the naked eye, and hence, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch cannot be easily seen by satellite images. That is estimated to be roughly 200 pieces of plastic per person around the world.Īnother common misconception is the visibility of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch from space. A research study showed that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch has around 1.1 to 3.6 trillion pieces of plastic. It is estimated that 1.15 to 2.41 tonnes of plastic enter the ocean through the rivers, every single year. three times the size of France! Trash in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch Moreover, it is said that the patch is roughly 1.6 million square kilometres in size, i.e. However, it is just a floating patch of trash on the ocean’s surface that seems to look like an island due to the pollutants’ close proximity. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is divided into two parts - the Eastern Garbage Patch that extends from California to Hawaii and the Western Garbage Patch that extends from Hawaii to Japan.Ī common misconception about the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is that it is an actual island as it is referred to as a ‘plastic island’.
![pacific garbage patch pacific garbage patch](https://c1.staticflickr.com/5/4045/4589291652_91dcd50aa3_b.jpg)
Moreover, the patch shifts from west to east and north to south, based on seasonal changes in winds and currents. On average, it is noted that this huge patch moves around 35°N to 42°N and 135°W to 155°W. However, due to changing ocean currents and winds, the shape and location of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch are always changing. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is located in the Pacific Ocean between Hawaii and California. Where is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch located? The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also called the Pacific Trash Vortex, is the largest of the five ocean garbage patches on Earth. It is, however, now used as a perfect example of catastrophic marine pollution (i.e., of debris accumulation in the oceans and seas). Unfortunately, this situation has come to media attention only in the past couple of decades.
![pacific garbage patch pacific garbage patch](https://www.feri.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/165685068sst1595665899-scaled.jpg)
This great accumulation of marine debris has been a threat to our marine lives for years. In the week it took to cross the subtropical high, no matter what time of day I looked, plastic debris was floating everywhere: bottles, bottle caps, wrappers, fragments.”Ĭharles Moore alerted the oceanographer, Curtis Ebbesmeyer who proceeded to officially call it the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch”. It seemed unbelievable, but I never found a clear spot. He wrote of this discovery: “As I gazed from the deck at the surface of what ought to have been a pristine ocean, I was confronted, as far as the eye could see, with the sight of plastic. Moore (an oceanographer and boat captain) as he was returning home from the Transpacific sailing race in 1997 when he came across this huge patch of garbage while going through the North Pacific Gyre. The term “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” was coined by Charles J.