Kevin Crosby

Ms, Maciver
http://education.nationalgeographic.com/education/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/?
ar_a=1
News and Views
Summery
In today's world almost everything is made of plastic. But what people don't see is the
effect it has on the environment and where a lot of the plastic we trough out or litter goes. What
you many not also be aware of is that there are two island of trash between the California and
japan. There two island are the effect of using plastic for around 100 years. A hundred years has
caused way more damage then you may think and thats just a short time in earth's history.
These two islands of trash are called the western Garbage Patch and the Eastern
Garbage Patch. Theses to floating island are linked together by the north pacific subtropical
convergence zone. This is where the hot water from south pacific meets up with cooler water
from the arctic. This causes the circular motion that moves the depre into the piles and back and
forth between islands. This motion of water is also caused by the wind and the rotation of the
plant. The currents of the water forces the plastic to form in this two island formation.
Because plastic is not biodegradable the plastic doesn't wear down it just breaks into
smaller pieces. This island of plastic is not just floating on the water made up of big pieces of
plastic. Most of the plastic breaks down into micro plastics that are so small you can see it with
your eyes. This causes the water to look cloudy. On top of this the debris is not just floating it
sinks to the bottom of the ocean. Around 70% of marine debris sink to the bottom of the ocean.
However because of the use of plastic marine life is affected.
Almost every animal in the sea is affected by this. Sea turtles will mistake the plastic for
bags of jellies. Albatrosses will often think plastic for fish eggs. They will give them to their

chicks this leads to starvation or ruptured organs. Seals and other mammals sometimes get
trapped in the plastics.
Reflection
When I first started reading this article I was extremely surprised about that was
happening. I never hear of this before and I couldn't believe it was happen and that I never
heard of it. I know that plastic was hurting the environment but I didn't think it was like this. I
thought it was wrong how no country felt that they had to fit the problem especially because
80% of this debris comes off the land of North America and Asia. The worst part was the harm it
was causing marine life. Animals are dying because of the actions of humankind.
Glossary
1. Biodegradable - capable of being decomposed by bacteria or other living organisms.
2. Microplastics - are small plastic particles in the environment and have become a
paramount issue especially in the marine environment.
3. Oceanographers - is the branch of Earth science that studies the ocean.
4. Photodegradation - is degradation of a photodegradable molecule caused by the
absorption of photons, particularly those wavelengths found in sunlight, such as infrared
radiation, visible light, and ultraviolet light.
5. Mammals - a warm-blooded vertebrate animal of a class that is distinguished by the
possession of hair or fur, the secretion of milk by females for the nourishment of the
young, and (typically) the birth of live young.