HUMANS have not been very kind to our planet, and the oceans, in particular, bear the weight of never-ending pollution.
Each year, millions of tons of plastic and other waste products end up in the ocean.
This marine debris is almost never touched as clean-up efforts are simply far too expensive an endeavour for anyone to undertake.
So where does all the trash go, then?
Is it true that the garbage in the Pacific Ocean has converged into a huge, artificial island?
Verdict:
TRUE
The massive collection of debris in the Pacific Ocean has a formal name: the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
National Geographic explains that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch developed as spinning debris was brought together by the North Pacific Subtropical Convergence Zone.
This convergence zone is an area of deep-ocean currents where the warm waters of the South meet cooler water originating from the Arctic region.
Because these currents are constantly swirling, they form a whirlpool that draws in all sorts of floating debris within the area. Over time, trapped debris accumulates within the stable centre of the vortex, forming a 'garbage island'.
However, unlike a true island, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is not a solid mass, but rather a dense collection of floating pieces.
In 2018, scientists from The Ocean Cleanup project estimated that the patch covers 1.6 million square kilometres. In comparison, Texas, the second-biggest state in the US, is only 695,660 square kilometres large.
The same research team also claims that there are over 80,000 tonnes of plastic within the central area of the patch alone.
As the vast majority of the debris that makes up marine waste is non-biodegradable, the patch only continues to grow in size.
It should also be noted that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is not the only garbage patch in the ocean; it is simply the largest and most famous of its kind.
While some efforts have been made to clean up the garbage patches of the world, getting rid of marine debris is far more complicated than it sounds, and involves a lot of manpower and coordination.
Most garbage patches are also located in remote regions of the ocean, meaning no nation wants to take responsibility for them.
Additionally, the cost would be so high that Charles J. Moore, the oceanographer who first discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, has said cleaning up the garbage patch would "bankrupt any country" that tried it.
While the outlook sounds rather grim, there are dedicated parties working to keep these garbage patches from growing any further while humanity figures out how to clean up its own mess.
References:
1. https://theoceancleanup.com/
2. https://education.
3. https://marinedebris.noaa.gov/
4. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/
