The World’s Largest Dump: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch

Kevin Trichtinger

I found this article in Discover magazine, “The World’s Largest Dump: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch” written by Thomas M. Kostigen.  The article can be found on the web at this address  http://discovermagazine.com/ and search for “Kostigen.”

                                                                                      Summary:

Mr. Kostigen describes his experience of going out to examine what is called the “Eastern Garbage Patch.”  This is one of two large areas in the Pacific Ocean where a huge volume of mostly plastic trash has gathered.  The spot is located at the point where several different currents cross which has caused plastic items that have been thrown into the ocean from North and South America to clump together.  The position is between Hawaii and California and is apparently much larger than people think.  It is spread out over an area of one and one half the size of the United States and in some areas is as thick as 100 feet.  A group called the Algalita Marine Research Foundation is studying the garbage to determine its effect on marine life.  So far they have found evidence that it suppresses phytoplankton and gets into the stomach of birds and marine animals that mistake it for food.  This garbage collection was first noticed after World War II when the world started using petroleum to develop plastics.  There has been a progressive increase in the plastics not only made but collecting in this garbage heap.  Besides the effect it has directly on marine life, there is concern about some toxicity from how the plastics absorb toxins.  These toxins are building up in wildlife.

Reaction:

 I was very upset that we are turning an area of the ocean into a trash dump and damaging the environment.  At first, I was wondering why people aren’t out there trying to clean it up. But it is hard to think of an area the size of the United States out there floating with some parts 100 ft deep. Clean up is not an easy option. I was also upset that we are poisoning the fish and getting them to build up in toxins.  In the article it pointed out that more than 2.5 billion people on this planet get most of their protein from the sea. Also, when I look around, so many things are packaged in plastic. It is scary to think some of it ends up in the oceans. I think we need to look at the use of plastics and how we dispose of them, or these clumps of garbage are going to continue to get bigger. 

Questions

1)      Is there a way to decrease our overuse of plastics containers?

2)      Would it be possible to gather up and deal with this massive dump?

3)      Can we develop some plastics that would biodegrade faster so they don’t take years to dissolve?