Tonight i wanted to post about something i have a deep passion for. The environment is something that should be of more concern to the human population but unfortunately it seems to matter less and less everyday. We should all take care of this planet. We depend on this planet each and everyday, yet we treat it like shit. We act like we have another earth to go to whenever this one runs out. We don't . Not like earth at least.
This brings me to the reason Im writing this and that is something called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. In case you are unfamiliar with this on going problem here it goes.. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a gigantic island looking collection of trash and debris. It is bad. It is located in the North Pacific Ocean and is a dangerous threat to Marine life it comes in to contact with. The Garbage patch is actually made of two separate areas. One of them is located off the coast of Japan, known as the Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch. The Western Garbage Patch is between Japan and north of Hawaii. Both of them border the North Pacific Gyre that consists of winds, rotation of the earth and heavy currents. It was discovered that these three things keep the trash in a constant swirl, like a trash infested whirlpool. It pulls waste from the Asian and north American coasts. The warm water from the south converges with the colder water from the Arctic and forms a sort of tunnel of trash that debris travels back and forth between the two patches in a circular pattern, with the center of all this madness being relatively calm which allows the garbage to stay trapped in an endless spin cycle.
There are all kinds of different types of trash in the Patches, but it is mainly made up of non biodegradable materials like plastic, remaining stuck in this garbage patch for 15 years or more. These non biodegradable materials dont break down and re enter the earth but instead break down to tiny pieces then sinks to the ocean floor. This plastic is going to sit there until it gets so toxic it will start infecting the Marine life and ecosystem.
One of the animals directly being affected by this disgusting hazard is the albatros. If you visit or research the beaches of Midway you can plainly see the dead birds, stomachs full of plastic garbage and other caught in old fishing nets.
y Nurdles have also become a major problem, since they are perfect replicas of fish eggs. The fish eat these, which after being in the ocean for awhile have absorbed toxins and pollutants. Once some of the finish are infected it's only a matter of time before they pass on the infection to the rest of the birds they come in to contact with.
The end result of all of this is a Texas sized garbage patch made up of microscopic plastics, some of which aren't visible to the naked eyd. The plastics break down to tiny pieces which in turn makes the soupy garbage mix.
In conclusion, if we don't do something about these garbage patches will get out of hand. It's not a matter of " will it happen " but a matter of when. So next time you have a piece of trash in your hand and you don't see a trash can, or the next time you want to throw away a plastic bottle in with the regular trash, have a little patience and wait until it can be properly disposed. If we all did just a little bit, it will eventually add up to a lot.
Thanks for reading.
(brought to you by garbagepatch.net)