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Great Pacific Garbage Patch

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Great Pacific Garbage Patch Great Pacific Garbage Patch National Geographic Resource Library | Encyclopedic Entry The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a collection of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean. Marine debris is litter that ends up in the ocean, seas, and other large bodies of water. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a collection of marine debris in the North Pacific Ocean. Also known as the Pacific trash vortex, the garbage patch is actually two distinct collections of debris bounded by the massive North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. Map by NOAA Great Pacific Garbage Patch The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a huge area of marine debris. Marine debris is garbage in the ocean. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is the world's biggest area of marine debris. It is in the North Pacific Ocean. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch stretches from the West Coast of North America to Japan. It is made up of two parts. One is the Western Garbage Patch, near Japan. The other is the Eastern Garbage Patch, between Hawaii and California. Strong ocean currents carry marine debris into the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Once there, the trash builds up over time. Plastics are the biggest problem. They do not wear down completely. They only break into smaller and smaller pieces. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is mostly tiny bits of plastic. These small pieces are called microplastics. They cannot always be seen. Often, they just make the water look like a cloudy soup. Larger things, like fishing nets or shoes, are mixed into this soup. It doesn't get any better beneath the surface of the water. The seafloor under the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is an underwater garbage heap. Over time, most marine debris sinks to the bottom. Marine Debris Litters the Ocean No one knows for sure how much debris is in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Most of it comes from cities and towns in North America and Asia. The rest comes from ships. Plastics are the most common kind of marine debris. Most of this debris comes from plastic bags, bottle caps, plastic water bottles and Styrofoam cups. The sun breaks these plastics into smaller and smaller pieces. Even if they can't be seen, they are still there. Marine debris can be very harmful to marine life. For example, turtles often mistake plastic bags for jellies, their favorite food. Albatrosses mistake plastic pellets for fish eggs. They then feed the pellets to their chicks. Often, the chicks die. Seals are also in danger. They can get tangled in plastic fishing nets. Seals often drown in these nets. Marine debris is affecting the entire food chain. For example, algae are underwater plants. Plankton are tiny critters that eat algae to survive. Plankton get eaten by other animals, like whales. But microplastics stop sunlight from reaching underwater algae. Without sunlight, the algae won't grow and spread. Without algae, plankton won't have enough food. And without plankton, whales won't have any food either. Plastics also contain harmful pollutants. These dangerous chemicals are poisoning the water. They are also making fish and marine mammals, such as whales and seals, very sick. What To Do About The Patch Cleaning up marine debris is not easy. Many microplastics are the same size as small sea animals. Nets that can scoop up garbage would catch these animals too. In any case, the ocean is just too big to clean. Scientists say it would take one year for 67 ships to clean up just a tiny part of the North Pacific Ocean. They say the best answer is to stop throwing away so much plastic. Citation: Great Pacific Garbage Patch. www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/. Accessed 13 Nov. 2019. Vocabulary abandon to desert or leave entirely. absorb to soak up. accumulate to gather or collect. aerial existing, moving, growing, or operating in the air. algae (singular: alga) diverse group of aquatic organisms, the largest of which are seaweeds. apex predator species at the top of the food chain, with no predators of its own. Also called an alpha predator or top predator. assess to evaluate or determine the amount of. autotroph organism that can produce its own food and nutrients from chemicals in the atmosphere, usually through photosynthesis or chemosynthesis. available ready for use. bankrupt to cause a person or organization to lose their money or other funding and resources. Biodegradable able to decompose naturally. bound to limit or confine. cargo goods carried by a ship, plane, or other vehicle. catamaran sailing vessel made of two large flotation devices and a frame above them. climatologist person who studies long-term patterns in weather. compound to combine or put together. comprise to contain or be made up of. conjure to imagine or bring to mind. consume to use up. consumer person who uses a good or service. convergence zone area where prevailing winds from different areas meet and interact. current steady, predictable flow of fluid within a larger body of that fluid. debris remains of something broken or destroyed; waste, or garbage. decompose to decay or break down. dedicate to sincerely devote time and effort to something. dense having parts or molecules that are packed closely together. discard to throw away. dispose to throw away or get rid of. drone unmanned aircraft that can be guided remotely. durability ability to resist wear and decay. ecologist scientist who studies the relationships between organisms and their environments. entangle to tangle or twist together. environment conditions that surround and influence an organism or community. expedition journey with a specific purpose, such as exploration. extent degree or space to which a thing extends. food chain group of organisms linked in order of the food they eat, from producers to consumers, and from prey, predators, scavengers, and decomposers. food web all related food chains in an ecosystem. Also called a food cycle. funding money or finances. ghost fishing continued trapping and killing of marine life by a discarded fishing net floating at sea industrial having to do with factories or mechanical production. international organization unit made up of governments or groups in different countries, usually for a specific purpose. leach to separate materials by running water or another liquid through them. malleability degree to which something can be shaped or molded. manufacture to make or produce a good, usually for sale. marine having to do with the ocean. marine debris garbage, refuse, or other objects that enter the coastal or ocean environment. marine mammal an animal that lives most of its life in the ocean but breathes air and gives birth to live young, such as whales and seals. microplastic piece of plastic between 0.3 and 5 millimeters in diameter. navigate to plan and direct the course of a journey. nutrient substance an organism needs for energy, growth, and life. ocean gyre an area of ocean that slowly rotates in an enormous circle. oceanographer person who studies the ocean. offshore having to do with facilities or resources located underwater, usually miles from the coast. oil rig complex series of machinery and systems used to drill for oil on land. organ group of tissues that perform a specialized task. organism living or once-living thing. pellet small, rounded object. phenomenon an unusual act or occurrence. photodegradation process by which a substance is broken down by exposure to light. plankton (singular: plankton) microscopic aquatic organisms. plastic chemical material that can be easily shaped when heated to a high temperature. Plastiki (2009) sailing vessel made partly of plastic water bottles used to travel from San Francisco, California, to Sydney, Australia. pollutant chemical or other substance that harms a natural resource. population total number of people or organisms in a particular area. predict to know the outcome of a situation in advance. prevent to keep something from happening. previous earlier, or the one before. producer person or organization that creates (produces) goods and services. resin clear, sticky substance produced by some plants. responsibility being accountable and reliable for an action or situation. rupture to break or tear. seafloor surface layer of the bottom of the ocean. seafood fish and shellfish consumed by humans. shipping transportation of goods, usually by large boat. stable steady and reliable. starvation dying from lack of food. threaten to scare or be a source of danger. toxic poisonous. transition movement from one position to another. trawl to fish by dragging a large net along the bottom of the body of water. vortex column of rotating fluid, such as air (wind) or water. yachting sport of racing large sailing vessels. .
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