Trash washed ashore in Hawaii from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch
A garbage patch is a gyre of marine debris particles caused by the effects of ocean currents and increasing plastic pollution by human populations. These human-caused collections of plastic and other debris are responsible for ecosystem and environmental problems that affect marine life, contaminate oceans with toxic chemicals, and contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. Once waterborne, marine debris becomes mobile. Flotsam can be blown by the wind, or follow the flow of ocean currents, often ending up in the middle of oceanic gyres where currents are weakest.
Within garbage patches, the waste is not compact, and although most of it is near the surface of the ocean, it can be found up to more than 30 metres (100 ft) deep in the water.[1] Patches contain plastics and debris in a range of sizes from Microplastics and small scale plastic pellet pollution, to large objects such as fishing nets and consumer goods and appliances lost from flood and shipping loss.
Garbage patches grow because of widespread loss of plastic from human trash collection systems. The United Nations Environmental Program estimated that "for every square mile of ocean" there are about "46,000 pieces of plastic".[2] The 10 largest emitters of oceanic plastic pollution worldwide are, from the most to the least, China, Indonesia, Philippines, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Egypt, Malaysia, Nigeria, and Bangladesh,[3] largely through the rivers Yangtze, Indus, Yellow, Hai, Nile, Ganges, Pearl, Amur, Niger, and the Mekong, and accounting for "90 percent of all the plastic that reaches the world's oceans".[4][5] Asia was the leading source of mismanaged plastic waste, with China alone accounting for 2.4 million metric tons.[6]
The best known of these is the Great Pacific garbage patch which has the highest density of marine debris and plastic. The Pacific Garbage patch has two mass buildups: the western garbage patch and the eastern garbage patch, the former off the coast of Japan and the latter between Hawaii and California. These garbage patches contain 90 million tonnes (100 million short tons) of debris.[1] Other identified patches include the North Atlantic garbage patch between North America and Africa, the South Atlantic garbage patch located between eastern South America and the tip of Africa, the South Pacific garbage patch located west of South America, and the Indian Ocean garbage patch found east of South Africa listed in order of decreasing size.[7]
^ ab"Marine Debris in the North Pacific A Summary of Existing Information and Identification of Data Gaps" (PDF). United States Environmental Protection Agency. 24 July 2015.
^Maser, Chris (2014). Interactions of Land, Ocean and Humans: A Global Perspective. CRC Press. pp. 147–48. ISBN 978-1482226393.
^Jambeck, Jenna R.; Geyer, Roland; Wilcox, Chris (12 February 2015). "Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean" (PDF). Science. 347 (6223): 769. Bibcode:2015Sci...347..768J. doi:10.1126/science.1260352. PMID 25678662. S2CID 206562155. Archived from the original (PDF) on 22 January 2019. Retrieved 28 August 2018.
^Christian Schmidt; Tobias Krauth; Stephan Wagner (11 October 2017). "Export of Plastic Debris by Rivers into the Sea" (PDF). Environmental Science & Technology. 51 (21): 12246–12253. Bibcode:2017EnST...5112246S. doi:10.1021/acs.est.7b02368. PMID 29019247. The 10 top-ranked rivers transport 88–95% of the global load into the sea
^Franzen, Harald (30 November 2017). "Almost all plastic in the ocean comes from just 10 rivers". Deutsche Welle. Retrieved 18 December 2018. It turns out that about 90 percent of all the plastic that reaches the world's oceans gets flushed through just 10 rivers: The Yangtze, the Indus, Yellow River, Hai River, the Nile, the Ganges, Pearl River, Amur River, the Niger, and the Mekong (in that order).
^Robert Lee Hotz (13 February 2015). "Asia Leads World in Dumping Plastic in Seas". Wall Street Journal. Archived from the original on 23 February 2015.
^Cózar, Andrés; Echevarría, Fidel; González-Gordillo, J. Ignacio; Irigoien, Xabier; Úbeda, Bárbara; Hernández-León, Santiago; Palma, Álvaro T.; Navarro, Sandra; García-de-Lomas, Juan; Ruiz, Andrea; Fernández-de-Puelles, María L. (2014-07-15). "Plastic debris in the open ocean". Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. 111 (28): 10239–10244. Bibcode:2014PNAS..11110239C. doi:10.1073/pnas.1314705111. ISSN 0027-8424. PMC 4104848. PMID 24982135.
A garbagepatch is a gyre of marine debris particles caused by the effects of ocean currents and increasing plastic pollution by human populations. These...
The Great Pacific garbagepatch (also Pacific trash vortex and North Pacific garbagepatch) is a garbagepatch, a gyre of marine debris particles, in the...
The North Atlantic garbagepatch is a garbagepatch of man-made marine debris found floating within the North Atlantic Gyre, originally documented in 1972...
The South Pacific garbagepatch is an area of ocean with increased levels of marine debris and plastic particle pollution, within the ocean's pelagic...
collection of human-created marine debris, known as the Great Pacific GarbagePatch. The North Pacific Subtropical Gyre and the much smaller North Pacific...
garbagepatch which has the highest density of marine debris and plastic. The Pacific Garbagepatch has two mass buildups: the western garbagepatch and...
reach the ocean. Their initial focus was on the Pacific Ocean and its garbagepatch, and extended to rivers in countries including Indonesia, Guatemala...
marine debris in its natural garbage or flotsam patch, in the same way the North Pacific Gyre has the Great Pacific garbagepatch. At the heart of the gyre...
capturing animals, concentration of plastic debris in massive marine garbagepatches, and increasing concentrations of contaminants in the food chain. In...
plastics, chemical sludge, and other debris known as the South Pacific garbagepatch. Earth's trade winds and Coriolis force cause the ocean currents in...
The GarbagePatch State – Wasteland is an ongoing transmedia, environmental artwork by Maria Cristina Finucci. The project aims to raise awareness about...
Pacific GarbagePatch' is massive floating island of plastic, now 3 times the size of France". ABC News. 23 March 2018. "'Great Pacific garbagepatch' 16...
challenges like overfishing and pollution, including a significant garbagepatch. Historically, the Indian Ocean has been a hub of cultural and commercial...
Cabbage Patch Kids were inducted into The Strong National Museum of Play's Toy Hall of Fame. Garbage Pail Kids The Garbage Pail Kids Movie Garbage Pail Kids...
this with fishing nets, saying they make up 46% of the Great Pacific garbagepatch. The fishing net statement derives from a 2018 study, which examines...
artist, architect and designer based in Rome. She is the founder of the GarbagePatch State. Maria Cristina Finucci is an Italian architect and artist, born...
Julia (9 April 2019). "Cetacean sightings within the Great Pacific GarbagePatch". Marine Biodiversity. 49 (4): 2021–2027. Bibcode:2019MarBd..49.2021G...
non-biodegradable plastic waste. The area contains the huge North Atlantic garbagepatch. Several nations and nongovernmental organizations have united to protect...
mass, similar to the North Atlantic garbagepatch.[citation needed] Great Calcite Belt North Atlantic garbagepatch López Miranda, José Luis; Celis, Lourdes...
widespread use. A more recently discovered problem is the Great Pacific GarbagePatch, a huge concentration of plastics, chemical sludge and other debris...
designed to parody the Cabbage Patch Kids dolls, which were popular at the time. Each sticker card features a Garbage Pail Kid character having some comical...
washing aground where it is known as beach litter. The North Atlantic garbagepatch is estimated to be hundreds of kilometers across in size. Other pollution...
up on beaches or collects in ocean gyres such as the Great Pacific GarbagePatch. About 80 percent of marine debris comes from land-based sources. Some...
with the biggest cleanup efforts centering around garbagepatches in the ocean. In 2017, a garbagepatch the size of Mexico was found in the Pacific Ocean...
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