The Great Pacific Garbage Patch: A Plastic Soup

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also known as the Pacific Trash Vortex, is a collection of plastic and other debris floating in the Pacific Ocean. It was discovered in 1997 by Charles Moore, a yacht racing boat captain, who noticed millions of pieces of plastic surrounding his ship. The patch is located between Hawaii and California, covering an estimated 1.6 million square kilometers or 620,000 square miles. It is the largest accumulation of plastic in the open ocean and is estimated to contain 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic, weighing approximately 100,000 tonnes. The patch is not a solid mass but a dispersed area of floating trash, including microplastics, mesoplastics, and larger objects, with a density of four particles per cubic meter.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the largest accumulation of plastic in the ocean

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) is the largest accumulation of plastic in the ocean. Located in the central North Pacific Ocean, it spans an estimated 1.6 million square kilometres or 620,000 square miles, making it larger than twice the size of Texas. The patch is a collection of marine debris, primarily plastic, that has accumulated due to the presence of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, a large system of swirling ocean currents that pull trash towards its centre, creating a garbage vortex.

The GPGP was discovered in 1997 by Charles Moore, a racing boat captain who was sailing from Hawaii to California after competing in a yacht race. Moore and his crew noticed millions of pieces of plastic surrounding their ship and alerted oceanographer Curtis Ebbesmeyer, who named the region the "Eastern Garbage Patch". The patch is comprised of the Western Garbage Patch, located near Japan, and the Eastern Garbage Patch, located between Hawaii and California.

The size and density of the GPGP vary due to seasonal and interannual variabilities of winds and currents. While the patch's location and shape are constantly changing, it is estimated to contain more than 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic, weighing approximately 100,000 tonnes. This weight is equivalent to more than 740 Boeing 777s. The centre of the patch has the highest density, with larger pieces of plastic observed to resurface more rapidly than smaller pieces.

The plastic in the GPGP has been measured since the 1970s, and calculations show that microplastic mass concentration is increasing exponentially. Microplastics, or tiny pieces of plastic smaller than 0.5 cm, dominate the area by count, but larger objects make up 92% of the patch's mass. Some of the plastic in the patch is over 50 years old, and items such as plastic lighters, toothbrushes, water bottles, and plastic bags have been found. The input of plastic into the patch is greater than the output, and unless sources are mitigated, the amount of plastic will continue to rise.

It covers an estimated 1.6 million square kilometres

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a large accumulation of plastic waste in the Pacific Ocean, spanning an estimated 1.6 million square kilometres. This makes it roughly twice the size of Texas and equivalent to 620,000 square miles. The patch is located between Hawaii and California and is a result of the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, a system of spinning ocean currents that pull trash towards its centre, creating a garbage vortex.

The size of the patch was determined through an extensive sampling effort involving 30 boats, 652 surface nets, and two flights to capture aerial imagery. The ever-changing location and shape of the patch are influenced by seasonal and interannual variabilities of winds and currents. The patch is not a solid mass, but a dispersed area of floating plastic debris, with a low density of four particles per cubic metre. This makes it difficult to detect, even by satellite imagery or boaters and divers in the area.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is composed of an estimated 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic, weighing approximately 100,000 tonnes. The mass concentration of microplastics in the patch is increasing exponentially, with calculations showing that the input of plastic is greater than the output. This is due to the durability and non-biodegradability of plastic, which allows it to persist in the region and break down into smaller pieces over time.

The plastic debris in the patch includes a range of items, from toothbrushes and water bottles to fishing gear and shoes. Some of the plastic in the patch is over 50 years old, indicating the longevity and persistence of this pollution. The vast majority of plastics retrieved by the Ocean Cleanup Project were made of rigid or hard polyethylene or polypropylene, as well as derelict fishing gear such as nets and ropes.

The patch is made up of 80% microplastics

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) is the largest accumulation of plastic in the open ocean. It is located halfway between Hawaii and California and is roughly twice the size of Texas or three times the size of France, covering an estimated surface area of 1.6 million square kilometers.

The GPGP is the largest of the five offshore plastic accumulation zones in the world's oceans. It is bounded by an enormous gyre, the biggest of five huge, spinning circular currents in the world's oceans that pull trash towards their center and trap it there, creating a garbage vortex. The North Pacific Tropical Gyre, in particular, attracts garbage into its center, where it tends to remain. The GPGP's location and shape are constantly changing due to seasonal and interannual variabilities of winds and currents.

The concentration of microplastics in the GPGP has been increasing exponentially since the 1970s, indicating that the input of plastic into the patch is greater than the output. This trend is expected to continue unless plastic production and consumption are reduced. The current solution of dragging large nets across the GPGP to clean up plastic may solve one aspect of the problem but puts the organisms living there at risk.

In addition to microplastics, the GPGP contains mesoplastics (0.5-5 cm), macroplastics (5-50 cm), and megaplastics (>50 cm). At the time of sampling, there were more than 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic in the patch, weighing an estimated 100,000 tonnes. This is equivalent to over 740 Boeing 777s.

It was discovered in 1997 by Charles Moore

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, also known as the Pacific Trash Vortex, is the largest accumulation of plastic in the open ocean. It is located between Hawaii and California, roughly twice the size of Texas, and covers an estimated surface area of 1.6 million square kilometers or 620,000 square miles. The patch consists of an estimated 1.27 to 2.66 million tons of trash and debris, with 100,000 tons of plastic floating in it, equivalent to over 740 Boeing 777s. The center of the patch has the highest density, with the outer boundaries being less dense.

> "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. It seemed unbelievable, but I never found a clear spot. 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..."

Moore has since dedicated his life to battling plastic pollution in the ocean and has been collecting samples from the Garbage Patch to study the micro and nano-plastics in the water. He founded the Algalita Marine Research and Education organization in 1999 and has stayed at the forefront of what he calls the "Great Plastics Awakening," raising awareness about the growing problem of plastic pollution.

The patch is constantly changing shape and location

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) is constantly changing shape and location due to seasonal and interannual variabilities of winds and currents. The GPGP is located in the central North Pacific Ocean and is bounded by an enormous gyre—the biggest of five huge, spinning circular currents in the world's oceans that pull trash towards their centres and trap it there, creating a garbage vortex.

The North Pacific Subtropical Gyre, located a few hundred kilometres north of Hawaii, links the Western Garbage Patch near Japan, and the Eastern Garbage Patch between the US states of Hawaii and California. The Eastern Garbage Patch was discovered by Charles Moore in 1997 while sailing from Hawaii to California after competing in a yacht race. Moore and his crew noticed millions of pieces of plastic surrounding their ship.

The GPGP's location and shape are influenced by the variability of winds and currents, with floating objects that are predominantly influenced by currents and less by winds likely to remain within the patch. By simulating concentration levels in the North Pacific, researchers have been able to track the location of the patch, demonstrating significant seasonal and interannual variations.

The patch is not a solid mass, but a dispersed area consisting primarily of suspended microplastics, with larger objects that have not yet fragmented into microplastics. These microplastics are often microscopic and can be difficult to detect, even with satellite imagery. The patch covers an estimated 1.6 million square kilometres or 620,000 square miles, with a mass of 45,000–129,000 metric tons.

The GPGP is a dynamic system, with plastic debris constantly entering and exiting the patch. The concentration of microplastics in the patch is increasing, indicating that the input of plastic is greater than the output. Factors such as wind speed, sea state, and plastic buoyancy influence the vertical mixing of debris within the patch, with buoyant plastic eventually floating back to the surface in calmer seas.

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