Pacific garage patch

1. Pacific garage patch By : malikeasterling

2. Background information The Great Pacific garbage patch, also described as the Pacific trash vortex, is a gyre of marine debris particles in the central North Pacific Ocean located roughly between 135°W to155°Wand 35°N and 42°N.[1] The patch extends over an indeterminate area, with estimates ranging very widely depending on the degree of plastic concentration used to define the affected area.

3. Ecosystem Ocean debris is continuously mixed by wind and wave action and widely dispersed both over huge surface areas and throughout the top portion of the water column. It is possible to sail through "garbage patch" areas in the Pacific and see very little or no debris on the water's surface. It is also difficult to estimate the size of these "patches," because the borders and content constantly change with ocean currents and winds. Regardless of the exact size, mass, and location of the "garbage patch," manmade debris does not belong in our oceans and waterways and must be addressed.

4. Population The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (also sometimes called the Eastern Garbage Patch) is an area with an intense concentration of marine trash located between Hawaii and California. The exact size of the patch is unknown however because it is constantly growing.

5. History The world's largest garbage dump is a vortex of oceanic trash -- most of which is made up of small particles of discarded plastic -- known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. This behemoth of garbage has accumulated over the past several decades in the northern Pacific Ocean. The massive rubbish heap sits about 1,000 miles (about 1,600 kilometers) north of the Hawaiian Islands and can extend at times as far as the California coast near San Francisco. The whirling body of trash moves and changes shape with ocean currents, making it difficult to estimate the size of the marine dump accurately. The size is also difficult to estimate because much of the trash sits below the water's surface. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is actually one of several such floating garbage dumps around the world

6. policy's and results Besides killing wildlife, plastic and other debris damage boat and submarine equipment, litter beaches, discourage swimming and harm commercial and local fisheries. The problem of plastic and other accumulated trash affects beaches and oceans all over the world, including at both poles. Land masses that end up in the path of the rotating gyres receive particularly large amounts of trash. The 19 islands of the Hawaiian archipelago, including Midway, receive massive quantities of trash shot out from the gyres. Some of the trash is decades old. Some beaches are buried under five to 10 feet of trash, while other beaches are riddled with "plastic sand," millions of grain-like pieces of plastic that are practically impossible to clean up.

7. I think this can happen again because people still litter and make the world dirty

9. Citations http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/earth/oceanography/great-pacific-garbage-patch2.htm http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/garbagepatch.ht http://geography.about.com/od/globalproblemsandissues/a/trashislands.htm http://curiosity.discovery.com/question/discover-great-pacific-garbage-patch http://www.questia.com/library/journal/1G1-275850978/plastic-the-great-pacific-garbage-patch-and-international