Great Pacific Garbage Patch

The great pacific garbage patch is thought to be mostly made up by thrown away fishing nets with fishing nets accounting for half the garbage.

Great pacific garbage patch. The great pacific garbage patch contains a staggering number of pieces of plastic estimated to be between 1 1 to 3 6 trillion. Marine debris concentrates in various regions of the north pacific not just in one area. The great pacific garbage patch stretches from the west coast of north america to japan. Learn more in these related britannica articles.

One is the western garbage patch near japan. The patch is actually comprised of the western garbage patch located near japan. Marine debris is litter that ends up in oceans seas and other large bodies of water. Ben lecomte spent 80 days swimming through the world s largest collection of marine litter.

The great pacific garbage patch also described as the pacific trash vortex is a gyre of marine debris particles in the central north pacific ocean it is located roughly from 135 w to 155 w and 35 n to 42 n. Get exclusive access to content from our 1768 first edition with your subscription. That s roughly 200 pieces of plastic for every person on the planet. The great pacific garbage patch is a collection of marine debris in the north pacific ocean.

The collection of plastic and floating trash originates from the pacific rim including countries in asia north america and south america. The other is the eastern garbage patch between hawaii and california. It is located halfway between hawaii and california. The great pacific garbage patch also known as the pacific trash vortex spans waters from the west coast of north america to japan.

It is estimated that 1 15 to 2 41 million tonnes of plastic are entering the ocean each year from rivers. The great pacific garbage patch is the world s biggest area of marine debris. Scientists also estimate that 20 percent of the great pacific garbage patch s volume of garbage is from the tsunami in japan in 2011. It is located in the pacific ocean and many environmentalists want it to be officially declared as a country.

The great pacific garbage patch is the best known of several such zones others of which exist in the atlantic and indian oceans. It is made up of two parts. It is in the north pacific ocean. The great pacific garbage patch is a rapidly accumulating pile of garbage described as being three times the size of france.