Maya Ellison
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) is the largest accumulation of plastic in the open ocean, located between Hawaii and California. It is a gyre of marine debris particles, with plastic making up 99.9% of this debris. While it is impossible to know the exact amount of debris in the patch, a 2019 study estimated that it contains roughly 79,000 metric tons of plastic, or 1.8 trillion pieces of trash. This figure is up to 16 times higher than previously estimated and is more than double the size of Texas. The GPGP is a serious environmental concern, with plastic pollution posing risks to the health and safety of marine animals and humans alike.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Location | Between Hawaii and California |
| Size | 1.6 million square kilometres (620,000 square miles) |
| Weight | 79,000 metric tons (up to 129,000 metric tons) |
| Number of Pieces | 1.8 trillion |
| Percentage of Plastic in Debris | 99.9% |
| Composition | Microplastics, mesoplastics, macroplastics, and megaplastics |
| Microplastics Percentage | 87% |
| Mesoplastics Percentage | 1.3% |
| Macroplastics Percentage | 0.1% |
| Megaplastics Percentage | 0.04% |
| Items Found | Plastic lighters, toothbrushes, water bottles, pens, baby bottles, cell phones, plastic bags, nurdles, fishing gear, shoes, wrappers, bottle caps, etc. |
| Health and Safety Risks | Animals confusing plastic for food, entanglement, ingestion of toxic chemicals, disruption of behaviour and health |
| Number of Affected Species | 900 |
| Percentage of Affected Species on IUCN Red List | 17% |
| Plastic to Marine Life Ratio | 180:1 |
| Cleanup Efforts | The Ocean Cleanup removed more than one million pounds of trash (0.5% of the total) by the end of 2024; a 2,000-foot-long unmanned boom aims to collect 150,000 pounds in a year |
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What You'll Learn
- The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the largest accumulation of plastic in the ocean
- It's made up of microplastics, mesoplastics, macroplastics, and megaplastics
- The plastic comes from land-based sources, boats, and marine sources
- It's located between Hawaii and California
- It poses risks to marine life and human health
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the largest accumulation of plastic in the ocean
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (also known as the Pacific Trash Vortex or North Pacific Garbage Patch) is the largest accumulation of plastic in the open ocean. It is located in the central North Pacific Ocean, between Hawaii and California, and is bounded by the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. This gyre is formed by four currents—the California Current, the North Equatorial Current, the Kuroshio Current, and the North Pacific Current—which rotate clockwise around an area of 20 million square kilometres (7.7 million square miles).
The Garbage Patch is not a continuous mass of plastic but rather a widely dispersed area of "peppery soup" consisting primarily of suspended microplastics, with larger items such as fishing gear and shoes interspersed. Microplastics are pieces of plastic smaller than 5mm in size, often microscopic, that are broken down from larger pieces of plastic. They are nearly ubiquitous in the marine environment and can be harmful to marine life, as animals may mistake them for food.
The amount of plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is difficult to measure, as the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre is too large for scientists to trawl, and denser debris can sink several meters beneath the surface. However, a 2019 study estimated that there are roughly 79,000 metric tons of plastic in the patch, or 1.8 trillion pieces of trash, with plastic making up 99.9% of this debris. This figure is up to 16 times higher than previously estimated and is more than double the size of Texas.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is believed to be rapidly accumulating, with a 1988 paper predicting that it had increased "10-fold each decade" since 1945. The patch poses risks to the health and safety of marine animals, with 900 species having encountered marine debris, 92% of which was plastic. It also has health and economic implications for humans.
Efforts are being made to clean up the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. By the end of 2024, the Ocean Cleanup had removed more than one million pounds of trash from the patch, or 0.5% of the total accumulated trash. Other methods, such as a 2,000-foot-long unmanned boom, have also been proposed to collect plastic from the patch.
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It's made up of microplastics, mesoplastics, macroplastics, and megaplastics
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the largest accumulation of plastic in the open ocean. It is located between Hawaii and California and is believed to cover 1.6 million square kilometres, consisting of 45,000–129,000 metric tons of plastic. This figure is up to 16 times higher than previously estimated.
The Garbage Patch is made up of microplastics, mesoplastics, macroplastics, and megaplastics. While microplastics dominate the area by count, 92% of the mass of the patch consists of larger objects. Microplastics are plastic fragments smaller than five millimetres in length. They can come from larger plastic pieces that have broken apart, resin pellets used for plastic manufacturing, or microbeads, which are small manufactured plastic beads used in health and beauty products. Microbeads can pass through water filtration systems and end up in the ocean, posing a threat to aquatic life.
Mesoplastics range in size from 0.5 to 5 centimetres. Macroplastics are typically categorised as anything larger than 5 millimetres, but some sources define them as between 5 and 50 centimetres. They can lead to the entanglement of marine megafauna and, as they break down over time, they generate large numbers of microplastics. Megaplastics are larger than 50 centimetres or 100 millimetres.
The size of plastic pieces in the Garbage Patch varies, with some plastic over 50 years old. Items found include plastic lighters, toothbrushes, water bottles, pens, baby bottles, cell phones, plastic bags, and nurdles.
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The plastic comes from land-based sources, boats, and marine sources
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also known as the Pacific Trash Vortex, is a gyre of marine debris particles in the central North Pacific Ocean. It is a collection of plastic and floating trash from the Pacific Rim, including countries in Asia, North America, and South America. The patch covers approximately 1.6 million square kilometres and consists of 45,000 to 129,000 metric tons of plastic debris. While the exact amount of plastic in the patch is unknown, it is estimated to contain 1.8 trillion plastic pieces weighing 79 kilotonnes.
The plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch comes from a variety of sources, including land-based sources, boats, and marine sources. According to studies, 80% of the plastic in the ocean originates from land-based sources, while the remaining 20% comes from boats and other marine sources. These percentages can vary by region. For example, a 2018 study found that synthetic fishing nets made up nearly half of the mass of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch due to ocean current dynamics and increased fishing activity in the Pacific Ocean.
Land-based sources of plastic include consumer and industrial products, such as plastic bags, bottle caps, water bottles, and Styrofoam cups. These items often end up in the ocean due to improper disposal and poor waste management systems in some countries. For example, after China banned plastic imports in 2018, countries like Indonesia became dumping grounds for plastic waste originating from the United States.
Boats and other marine sources contribute to the remaining 20% of plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. This includes plastic pollution from the shipping, fishing, and aquaculture industries. Lost or discarded fishing nets, also known as "ghost nets," are a significant concern as they directly impact the economy and marine habitats worldwide. The introduction of synthetic fibres in fishing gear has led to accidental and deliberate gear losses, further contributing to ocean plastic pollution.
Additionally, the durability, low cost, and malleability of plastic have led to its increased use in various products, resulting in a higher volume of plastic debris entering the ocean. Plastic does not biodegrade but breaks down into smaller pieces, known as microplastics, through a process called photodegradation. These microplastics dominate the Great Pacific Garbage Patch by count, and their small size makes it difficult to detect and remove them from the ocean.
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It's located between Hawaii and California
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the largest accumulation of plastic in the open ocean. It is located between Hawaii and California, in the central North Pacific Ocean. It was discovered by a racing boat captain, Charles Moore, who was sailing from Hawaii to California after competing in a yachting race.
The Garbage Patch is a gyre of marine debris particles, bounded by the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, formed by four currents: the California Current, the North Equatorial Current, the Kuroshio Current, and the North Pacific Current. The area in the centre of the gyre is very calm and stable, and the circular motion of the gyre draws debris into this stable centre, where it becomes trapped.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is not a solid mass of plastic but is instead made up of small bits of plastic, or microplastics, smaller than 5mm in size, suspended throughout the water column. These microplastics are often microscopic and can be suspended just beneath the ocean surface, making the patch difficult to detect by satellite imagery or even by casual boaters or divers in the area.
The amount of plastic in the patch is difficult to measure, as the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre is too large for scientists to trawl, and denser debris can sink below the surface. However, researchers have estimated that the patch covers 1.6 million square kilometres and contains 79,000 metric tons of plastic, or 1.8 trillion pieces of trash. This figure is up to 16 times higher than previously estimated and is more than double the size of Texas.
The plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch comes from a variety of sources, including land-based sources, boats, and other marine sources. A 2018 study reported that synthetic fishing nets made up nearly half of the patch's mass, due to ocean current dynamics and increased fishing activity in the Pacific Ocean.
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It poses risks to marine life and human health
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, located between Hawaii and California, is the largest accumulation of ocean plastic in the world. It spans waters from the West Coast of North America to Japan. The patch is made up of the Western Garbage Patch, located near Japan, and the Eastern Garbage Patch, located between Hawaii and California.
The patch poses risks to marine life and human health in several ways. Firstly, marine animals often mistake plastic for food due to its size and colour, leading to malnutrition and health complications. Loggerhead sea turtles, for example, mistake plastic bags for jelly, while albatrosses feed plastic resin pellets to their chicks, causing them to die of starvation or ruptured organs. Turtles and seals also get trapped in abandoned fishing nets, a phenomenon known as "ghost fishing".
Secondly, as plastics break down into microplastics, they release colourants and chemicals such as bisphenol A (BPA), which have been linked to environmental and health issues. These microplastics are then ingested by marine organisms, affecting their health and entire ecosystems, including human food chains.
Thirdly, plastics can absorb pollutants from seawater, such as PCBs, which then enter the food chain when consumed by marine life. This transfer of toxins through the food chain can have fatal consequences for aquatic organisms and potentially impact human health as well.
The economic implications of plastic pollution are also significant. Studies have estimated that plastic pollution reduces the value of marine ecosystem services by $500 to $2500 billion per year.
Finally, the ingestion of plastic by marine life can lead to entanglement, behavioural issues, and overall health and existence threats. About 900 species have encountered marine debris, with 92% of these interactions involving plastic. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch contains approximately six pounds of plastic for every pound of plankton, highlighting the severity of the issue.
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Frequently asked questions
It is estimated that the patch contains 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic weighing 79,000 metric tons.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the largest accumulation of plastic in the open ocean. It is located in the central North Pacific Ocean, between Hawaii and California.
The patch contains a mix of microplastics, mesoplastics, macroplastics, and megaplastics. Microplastics dominate the area by count, but larger objects make up 92% of the patch's mass.
Organizations like The Ocean Cleanup are working to remove plastic from the patch. They have deployed various technologies, such as a 2,000-foot-long unmanned boom, to collect plastic pollution. The goal is to remove 50% of the patch's plastic within five years.
