Garbage patch: Difference between revisions

Revision as of 09:21, 22 February 2024

Revision as of 16:50, 24 March 2024

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{{short description|Gyre of marine debris}}

[[File:Beach trash (30870156434).jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|Trash washed ashore in Hawaii from the [[Great Pacific Garbage Patch]]]]

A '''garbage patch''' is a [[ocean gyre|gyre]] of [[marine debris]] particles caused by the effects of [[ocean current]]s and increasing [[plastic pollution]] by human populations. These human-caused collections of plastic and other debris, causeare responsible for ecosystem and environmental problems that affect marine life, contaminate oceans with toxic chemicals, and contribute to [[greenhouse gas emissions]]. Once waterborne, marine debris becomes mobile. Flotsam can be blown by the wind, or follow the flow of ocean currents, often ending up in the middle of [[oceanic gyre]]s where currents are weakest.

Within garbage patches, the waste is not compact, and although most of it is near the surface of the ocean, it can be found up to more than {{convert|100|ft|m|order=flip}} deep in the water.<ref name="debris north pacific">{{cite web |date=24 July 2015 |title=Marine Debris in the North Pacific A Summary of Existing Information and Identification of Data Gaps |url=http://www.epa.gov/region9/marine-debris/pdf/MarineDebris-NPacFinalAprvd.pdf |website=United States Environmental Protection Agency}}</ref> Patches contain plastics and debris in a range of sizes from [[Microplastics]] and small scale [[plastic pellet pollution]], to large objects such as [[Ghost net|fishing nets]] and consumer goods and appliances lost from flood and shipping loss.