Garbage+Patch(Where)

The Garbage Patch - The Where?
Also known as the Pacific Trash Vortex, the Great Pacific Garbage Patch is an area of floating trash estimated to be in excess of 600,000 square miles, or twice the size of the state of Texas, and weighing 3.5 million tons.
 * Where is the garbage patch?**

Large quantities of trash wash up on islands within the North Pacific Gyre and shorelines surrounding it, such as those of Alaska and Japan. Piles of garbage up to 10 feet deep cover the beaches of some islands of the Hawaiian archipelago. Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, seabirds and marine mammals are killed annually when they ingest or become tangled in plastic debris.
 * Where does is it have its impact on ?**

On the Midway island Wildlife Refuge, located on an isolated atoll in the middle of the Pacific, 40% of the 500,000 albatross chicks that are born each year die of starvation or dehydration, their stomachs filled with plastic debris that is mistaken for food.

The plastic in the ocean also creates a toxicity hazard. Although the use of toxic chemicals have been banned, they do not degrade and still remain dispersed in seawater. The chemicals do not dissolve in water and are readily absorbed by oil-based plastic. The tiny pieces of plastic are then, ingested by fish or other sea animals, who are eaten by larger creatures. Therefore, creating a higher concentration of toxins in our food chain.

There are 2 garbage patches: The Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch, and the Western Pacific Garbage Patch. The garbage patches are connected by an ocean, and pick up trash from all over the world. The Western Garbage Patch is located between Japan and Hawaii. It is somewhat smaller than the Eastern Pacific Garbage Patch, located between California and Hawaii.
 * Where does the Garbage in the Garbage Patch come from?**

The North Pacific Gyre is formed by four ocean currents: the North Pacific Current, California Current, North Equatorial Current and Kuroshio or Japan Current.

The rotational pattern described by the North Pacific Gyre draws in waste material from the shorelines of the North Pacific Ocean, including the coastal waters off North America and Japan. As material circulates in the current, wind-driven surface currents gradually move floating debris toward the center-taking up to 15 years to make it from shore to center.

Approximately 80% of the debris within the Garbage Patch comes from land, washing down from rivers and storm drains, or being swept off beaches by tides. The remaining 20% is from cargo containers that fall from oceangoing ships and spill their contents. Floating trash, the vast majority of which is plastic, is captured by rotating ocean currents and accumulates within the North Pacific Gyre.

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