Read on Twitter
The problem with plastic pollution in our oceans and the systemic changes needed to stop this crisis.
A thread focused on the infamous Great Pacific Garbage Patch:
@39CSustain #39CSustain #PacificGarbagePatch
A thread focused on the infamous Great Pacific Garbage Patch:
@39CSustain #39CSustain #PacificGarbagePatch
What is the Great #PacificGarbagePatch (GPGP):
The GPGP is an accumulation of debris in the North Pacific Ocean that contains an estimated 80,000 tonnes of plastic. It is actually made of two "patches" that are bound by the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. (1/19)
The GPGP is an accumulation of debris in the North Pacific Ocean that contains an estimated 80,000 tonnes of plastic. It is actually made of two "patches" that are bound by the North Pacific Subtropical Gyre. (1/19)
The two patches are the Western Garbage Patch located near Japan and the Eastern Garbage Patch located in between the U.S. states of Hawaii and California. The circular motion of the ocean gyre draws the debris in where it then becomes trapped. (2/19)
While the GPGP is just one of many of our ocean's garbage patches, it is the most well-known due to the massive amounts of trash it has accumulated. (3/19) https://theoceancleanup.com/great-pacific-garbage-patch/
According to scientists of @TheOceanCleanup a total of 1.8 trillion plastic pieces are estimated to be floating in the patch. 94% of the total is represented by microplastics while most of its mass is represented by larger pieces of trash. (4/19)
A big amount of the trash is also abandoned fishing gear such as fishing nets, ropes, oyster spacers, eel traps, and crates. (5/19) https://www.nationalgeographic.org/article/great-pacific-garbage-patch-isnt-what-you-think/?utm_source=BibblioRCM_Row
The larger pieces of debris in the #PacificGarbagePatch are not biodegradable, so they are likely to just break down into smaller and smaller pieces of plastics, adding to the issue of microplastics plaguing the waters. http://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=a9h&AN=147480607&site=ehost-live&scope=site (6/19)
Thus, the GPGP and other such garbage patches can be thought of as a sea of microplastics w/ scattered large pieces of trash. However, these patches are not actually islands of trash like many people think they are. About 70% of marine debris actually sinks to the bottom-
(7/19)
(7/19)
of the ocean and so the trash in the GPGP is actually spread across surface of ocean all the way to the seafloor beneath garbage patch (according to https://www.nationalgeographic.org/encyclopedia/great-pacific-garbage-patch/) (8/19)
So why is this a huge plastic pollution problem:
While all different types of trash make up the GPGP, the majority of it is plastic. Since plastic breaks up into smaller pieces rather than biodegrading, the tiny microplastics are very difficult to remove from the sea. (9/19)
While all different types of trash make up the GPGP, the majority of it is plastic. Since plastic breaks up into smaller pieces rather than biodegrading, the tiny microplastics are very difficult to remove from the sea. (9/19)
These microplastics are often mistaken for food by marine life, and once the plastic enters the food web, it can contaminate the human food chain through bioaccumulation. According to @TheOceanCleanup, 84% of plastic samples they collected was found to have at- (10/19)
least one PBT chemical. This means that the animals mistaking the plastics as food are also ingesting its harmful chemicals. As stated in the above tweet, this can harm humans as well through the food chain. (11/19)
On top of that, larger trash such as fishing nets pose a risk of entanglement for marine life. Check out this link to read more about the impacts of the plastic. https://www.epa.gov/trash-free-waters/impacts-mismanaged-trash (12/19)
Now we have established that this is a massive plastic pollution problem! So why has this been going on for so long? (13/19)
The big problem is the hold that the plastic industry has on the world. Plastic is cheap, durable, malleable and so it is used in a vast amount of products around the world. Despite the constant #WarOnPlastic, the plastic industry remains strong. (14/19)
Thus, despite efforts from organizations such as @TheOceanCleanup to clean the #PacificGarbagePatch, unless we find a way to prevent the debris from entering the ocean in the first place, it's just going to keep accumulating in ocean gyres such as the GPGP. (15/19)
This means that the real problem at hand is #plasticprevention. A global-scale effort is necessary in order to fight the problem of plastic polluting our oceans. In 2019, the plastics industry was reported to generate more than 300 million tons of plastic a year. We need- (16/19)
to stop focusing on the efforts of individuals such as the plastic straw movement and a push for recycling, and instead focus on requiring corporations to limit plastics production. If we do not stop producing more plastic then despite amazing new technologies to clean- (17/19)
the garbage patches (such as @TheOceanCleanup's), then plastic will continue to enter our ocean and eventually become trapped in a gyre, adding to the garbage patches once again. (18/19)
