The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) is in the central North Pacific Ocean. A massive moving marine dump, it accumulates vast amounts of debris, predominantly plastic waste.
Factors of its formation include ocean currents, poor waste disposal practices, and geography. Also called the Pacific trash vortex or the North Pacific Garbage Patch, it accumulates over decades.
It's driven by the powerful currents of the North Pacific Gyre. This swirling oceanic vortex draws in garbage from the Pacific Rim, the coastal nations bordering the Pacific Ocean.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a vast, diffuse area with intense concentrations of plastic particles. Particles range from large, recognizable items like discarded fishing nets, bottles, and containers to microplastics.
Unlike organic matter, plastic doesn't readily biodegrade. Instead, it breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces through photodegradation. Sunlight weakens the plastic, making it brittle and prone to fragmentation.
Pacific Rim
Much pollution comes from land-based sources in countries along the Pacific Rim. Poor waste management infrastructure, rapid industrialization and population growth contribute to garbage in rivers and the ocean.
Waterways carry the debris out into the open ocean where it eventually gets caught up in the gyre. Fishing can add to the problem. Discarded or lost fishing gear like nets, lines and traps (ghost gear) persists in the ocean for unlimited years.
It entangles marine life and contribute to the overall plastic load. Maritime shipping and offshore oil and gas operations also cause accumulation of debris.
The GPGP is a repository for hazardous chemical contaminants. Plastics can also attract toxic chemicals from surrounding water.
When marine life forms ingest plastics, they also absorb the toxins. Fish exposed to microplastics carry up to 36 different toxic substances. This toxic load builds up in larger predators through bioaccumulation.
Impact on Marine Life
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is is a serious threat. Marine animals ingest trash causing internal injuries, malnutrition, starvation and painful death. Seabirds confuse small pieces with food, and feed plastic to their chicks.
Larger pieces of plastic can entangle marine animals, leading to drowning, terror and starvation. Accumulated debris also provides a surface for invasive species.
Sea turtles mistake plastic bags for jellyfish, eat them and consequently die in agony. Even small organisms like plankton consume microplastics. This disrupts the entire marine food web with risks to all marine life.
Microplastics in the food chain eventually reach humans through seafood consumption. Long-term health effects may include oxidative stress, DNA damage, organ dysfunction, metabolic disorder, poor immune response, neurotoxicity, reproductive and developmental toxicity and chronic disease.
Disruption in natural food chains causes species population imbalances. Decline of species harmed by pollution triggers a cascading effect in the food web and the overpopulation of other species.
Communities dependent on marine resources deal with economic hardship as ocean health declines. Increased need for beach clean-ups and government initiatives adds to the economic strain.
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