Slides 1-32

The Great “Garbage Patch” Earth’s Largest Landfill is floating in the Pacific Ocean

Where did this trash come from? Water covers more than 70 percent of the planet's surface, making our rivers, lakes and oceans the lifeblood of our planet. Many of these bodies of water may be out of sight and out of mind, but our health may depend on their protection. Currently, scientists believe the world's largest garbage dump isn't on land…it's in the Pacific Ocean. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch stretches from the coast of California to Japan, and it's estimated to be twice the size of Texas. “ In some places, the floating debris—estimated to be about 90 percent plastic—goes 90 feet deep. Elsewhere, there are six times more pieces of plastic than plankton, the main food source for many sea animals. Where did this trash come from? Marine biologists estimate that about 80 percent of the litter is from land, either dumped directly into waterways or blown into rivers and streams from states as far away as Iowa.

The Great Pacific Garbage Patch started around the 1930's and is actually made up of three enormous masses of trash. The main one is the gyre which has given to two other trash masses, the eastern and western garbage patches. The eastern garbage patch is between Hawaii and California and the western garbage patch is east of Japan and west of Hawaii. All three patches are connected by one thin 6000 mile long current of called the Subtropical Convergence Zone. 90% of the ocean's trash is plastic!

North Pacific Subtropical Gyre A gyre is any manner of swirling vortex, particularly large-scale wind and ocean currents. Gyres are caused by the Coriolis effect The North Pacific Gyre has a clockwise circular pattern An accumulation of man-made marine debris known as the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch" is collecting in the gyre.

North Pacific Gyre

Current Pattern of the North Pacific Gyre

Facts about the Gyre The circulation is slow The area is an Oceanic Desert, filled with phytoplankton but very few large fish or mammals inhabit the area Since there are few fish, there are also few fishermen & sailors There are actually two areas of accumulating debris – the Western Pacific Garbage Patch and the Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch which sometimes join to form the Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Yellow dots represent plastics that are caught in the gyre Yellow dots represent plastics that are caught in the gyre. The surface of the ocean has 6 times more plastic than the plankton biomass.

A 2006 Greenpeace report says 80% of all the garbage in the GPGP came from land. And 80% of it is made up of plastics. The bad thing about plastic is that it doesn’t biodegrade, instead it photo-degrades meaning it breaks up into smaller and smaller pieces (called mermaid tears, or nurdles), but never fully disappears with most of it ending up on distant  shores. The GPGP is particularly dangerous for birds and marine life. Sea turtles think plastic bags are jelly fish and choke. Sharks and dolphins often get tangled and drowned. And sea birds eat the plastic and starve because they can’t digest it. The United Nations Environment Program estimated in 2006 that every square mile of ocean has about 46000 pieces of floating plastic!!! Plastic breaks up into smaller pieces then be sucked up by filter fish or eaten by other animals. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the biggest landfill in the world. But not only is it the biggest, it's in the ocean!!

Plastic bits called nurdles that have not been made into a product yet. Chemicals like DDT hitchhike onto the small pellets because they chemically attract to it. These chemicals get into the animal eating the plastic and either they die from this or we eat the animal and it gets into our system.

Eastern Garbage Patch Floats between Hawaii and California Twice as big as Texas Can be as deep as 30 meters text

The Trouble with Plastics in the Oceans While the plastics may not be visible to the eye, studies have shown that in some areas the concentration of plastics outnumbers the concentration of plankton by a ratio of 7:1. They will break down over time into smaller and smaller pieces while still maintaining their chemical make-up. As the pieces get smaller fish, mammals, birds and even plankton will consume the pieces which are not digestible.

This Laysan Albatross chick has been accidentally fed plastic by its parents and died as a result.

Jellyfish with garbage caught in its tentacles and seal with net around neck.

THE GREAT PACIFIC GARBAGE PATCH. PHOTO CREDIT: UNKNOWN. The crew saw plastic parts of all sizes floating on the ocean. Moore recognized disposable razors, bottles, fasteners, CD covers, bags and shoes. “It might sound unbelievable but there was not a single clear spot around us. It didn’t matter where we looked, garbage was floating around us everywhere”, Moore remembers.

Spinner dolphin playing with plastic bag                                  Spinner dolphin playing with plastic bag

Whitetip reef shark caught in fishing line

Garbage Patch Facts Plastics make up 90% of all floating trash in the world’s oceans The United Nations Environment Program estimated in 2006 that there were 46,000 pieces of plastic debris in every square mile The debris that accumulates is 80% from land and 20% from ships, including the United States and Japan It is estimated that debris reaches the center of the patch from Asia within 5 years and from the US in a year or less.

What’s the Solution? Organizations such as the Environmental Cleanup Coalition (ECC) have formed and are proposing to purchase large ships for removal Of the 200 billion pounds of plastic the world produces each year about 10% ends up in the oceans- in other word way to much to merely remove More recycling and tighter management of solid waste disposal Other ideas???

http://kibblesnmorebits.wix.com/the-great-pacific#!

Garbage Island: An Ocean Full of Plastic (Part 1/3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D41rO7mL6zM

Garbage Island: An Ocean Full of Plastic (Part 2/3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3GX-y1Z1w00

Garbage Island: An Ocean Full of Plastic (Part 3/3) http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X5ZKk11R56o