Howard+Research+Paper

Why can’t we stop the Plastic Vortex

Garbage patch ( also known as Plastic Vortex ), was discovered in 1997 by Charles J. Moore. People considered it as a big problem. And it’s been 13 years, the garbage still exists, that reveals the garbage patch is hard to get rid of. Up to today, the garbage patch is 4 times the size of Japan.

In order to stop the Plastic Vortex, we should know the reason why the Plastic Vortex exists and the source of the garbage, then we can know why it’s so hard to stop the Plastic Vortex.

There are two major causes of the Plastic Vortex, first is the ocean current and the second is the people who produced those garbage.

Currents carry debris from the west coast of North America to the gyre in about six years, it sucks garbage deep below the surface once it is blown from the land, and that’s one of the reasons that the exact size of garbage patch is hard to calculate. We can’t stop the ocean currents because they are a natural process, and once there are garbages, they can’t easily get out because the ocean currents are pulling them in to the garbage patch.

There is no strong scientific data concerning the origins of pelagic plastics. The figure that an estimated 80% of the garbage comes from land-based sources and 20% from ships, is derived from an unsubstantiated estimate. There is whole a lot of garbage because a 3,000 passenger cruise ship produces over eight tons of solid waste weekly, some of which ends up in the patch. There is no way to stop them from littering unless they those people are aware of throw trash into the ocean is not an appropriate behavior.

Ocean is not a proper place to put garbage, and we should find a better way to dispose those trash instead of littering. In other words, mankind sucks.

Work Cited: [] [|http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/2010/04/23/20100423chandler-students-plastic-battle.html]